DE SMET — Fourth-seeded De Smet opened the Class 9B playoffs with a 61-8 victory against No. 13-seeded Colome on Thursday.

Britt Carlson threw for four touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Bulldogs, who improved to 7-2.

Carlson was 5 of 6 passing for 215 yards and carried the ball twice for 39 yards.

Kadyn Fast had two catches, both for touchdowns, for 87 yards and had one carry, which resulted in a 45-yard touchdown run.

Also having touchdown receptions for the Bulldogs were Tom Aughenbaugh and Ganon Henrich.

Aughenbaugh’s lone catch results in a 36-yard TD, while the lone catch fof Henrich resulted in a 61-yard touchdown.

Gannon Gilligan had 66 yards rushing and touchdown for De Smet, while Slayten Wilkinson had 56 yards rushing an a touchdown.

Special teams also got into the scoring act for the Bulldogs, as Edger Wilkinson blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown.

Defensively, RJ Cleveland led the way with eight tackles for De Smet, Henrich and Blake Jennings each had seven tackles, while Trace Van Regenmorter, Slayten Wilkinson and Grant Wilkinson each had six tackles.

Melville Deloye converted on all seven point-attempts after for the Bulldogs.

DeSmet will now host No. 12-seeded Gayville-Volin, which upset fifth-seeded Herreid/Selby Area 34-32, in the quarterfinals on Thursday. A start time has yet to be announced for the game.

Hitchcock-Tulare 44, Lemmon-McIntosh 24
TULARE — Erik Salmen rushed for five touchdowns and threw for another to lead eighth-seeded Hitchcock-Tulare to a 44-24 victory over ninth-seeded Lemmon-McIntosh in the opening round of the Class 9B playoffs on Thursday.

Salmen had a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs, a pair of 5-yard touchdowns runs and an 11-yard touchdown run. He connected on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Maynard.

Salmen finished with 219 yards on 31 carries for the Patriots, while converting on 5 of 9 passes for 43 yards.

Maynard finished with two catches for 34 yards Blaze Binger had five carries for 17 yards, while Nowell added 14 yards on three carries.

Defensively, Hitchcock-Tulare limited the Cowboys to 159 yards rushing and just 51 yards through the air.

The Patricks also recorded four interceptions, including two by Nowell.

Jackson Maynard had five solo and eight assisted tackles for Hitchcock-Tulare, while Binger had five solo, five assisted tackles and an interception. Salmen had four solo tackles, two assisted tackles and an interception.

Hitchcock-Tulare, which is now 5-4, will travel to face top-seeded Avon, which is 7-2, in a 7 p.m. Semi-final game on Thursday.

Lemmon-McIntosh 12    6  6  0 — 24
Hitchcock-Tulare      8  20   0  16 — 44

Scoring summary

2nd quarter
LM — Blair Ham 25 run (run failed)
HT — Erik Salmen 3 run (Blaze Binger run)
HT — Erik Salmen 11 run (run failed)
HT — Patrick Maynard 10 pass from Erik Salmen (run failed)

3rd quarter
LM — Sawyer Thompson 31 pass (run failed)

4th quarter
HT — Erik Salmen 5 run (Maynard from Erik Salmen)
HT — Erik Salmen 5 run (Salmen run)

Rapid City Christian 36, W/WS/SC 7
WESSINGTON SPRINGS — After handing Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central its lone loss of the regular season a week earlier, Rapid City Christian inked a second win over the Blackhawks in the opening round of the Class 11B playoffs on Thursday.

The Comets scored the first 36 points of the game en route to a 36-7 victory in the latest matchup between the two teams.

Simon Kieffer opening the scoring with a 14-yard pass to Lars Kieffer in the first quarter.

Rapid City Christian then scored three times in the second quarter. The first touchdown came on a 4-yard run by Braylon Marshall, Benson Kieffer then converted on a 41-yard field goal and Simon Kieffer reached the end zone on a 25-yard run to make it 22-0 at the half.

The Comets stretched their lead in the third quarter with touchdown runs of two and 32-yards by Wes Schlabach.

The lone score for Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central came in the fourth quarter on a 9-yard pass from Holden Havlik to Ryder Michalek. Brett Miller added the extra-point kick.

Havlik was 18 of 40 passing for 231 yards for the Blackhawks, who ended the season at 7-2. Michalek had seven catches for 78 yards, while Brock Krueger had five catches for 81 yards and Blake Larson had two catches for 59 yards.

Havlik led W/WS/SC in rushing with 10 carries for 53 yards.

Tyson Eddy tallied eight tackles for the Blackhawks, while Larson had seven tackles and a fumble recovery.

Rapid City Christian, which improved to 7-2, will travel to face second-seeded Deuel (9-0) in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

2nd quarter
RCC — Marshall 4 run (B. Kieffer kick)
RCC — B. Kieffer 41 field goal
RCC — S. Kieffer 25 run (run failed)

3rd quarter
RCC — Schlabach 2 run (B. Kieffer kick)
RCC — Schlabach 32 int. return (B. Kieffer kick)

4th quarter
WWSSC — Michalek 9 pass from Havlik (Miller kick)

Chester Area 28, Wolsey-Wessington 26
WOLSEY —After trailing by 13 at the half, No. 11-seeded Chester rallied to edge eighth-seeded Wolsey-Wessington 28-26 in the opening round of the Class 9A playoffs on Thursday.

The Flyers, who improved 5-4, finished with 102 yards rushing and 162 yards passing.

Gabriel Case finished had 21 carries for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Warbirds. Moshe Richmond added 104 yards on 17 carries and had a touchdown, while Caleb Richmond carried the ball seven times for 40 yards and a touchdown.

Caleb Richmond completed 1 of 5 passes for six yards. Payton Rainford had the lone reception.

Colin Hughes had 10 solo tackles and 12 assisted tackles to lead Wolsey-Wessington defensively. Moshe Richmond had seven solo tackles and six assisted tackles, while Rainford  had a solo tackle and seven assisted tackles and Cooper Hochhalter had a solo tackle and six assisted tackles.

Chester advances to face third-seeded Philip (9-0) in eh quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Warbirds end the season at 4-5.

Chester Area             0  7  14  7 — 28
Wolsey-Wessington 7  13  0  6 — 26