WOLSEY — The Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds moved one step closer to the DakotaDome with a 56-28 victory over the Dupree Tigers in Class 9A playoff action Thursday in Wolsey.

Wolsey-Wessington showed themselves to be one of the top teams in the state on the offensive side of the ball in the first half, scoring on all six of their drives, along with completing the six two-point conversions.

The Warbirds got on the board first less than three minutes into the game when Caleb Richmond followed up a long run to get into the red zone by running in a 10-yard touchdown. Caleb then connected with Moshe Richmond for the conversion.

A long drive from Dupree led to a turnover on downs, and the Warbirds quickly flew down the field, with Caleb Richmond connecting with Moshe Richmond for a 33-yard score. Caleb then found Colin Hughes in the end zone for the conversion to make it 16-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Dupree had a long drive of runs from Braydon Terveen-Smith and Tre White Wolf before Roper Eaton shook a Warbird tackler for an 8-yard score. The conversion pass failed.

Roughly a minute later, the Warbirds answered with a 47-yard Caleb Richmond touchdown run. Caleb then found Sawyer Nelson for the two-point conversion.

Eaton then bounced off multiple tacklers around midfield on the ensuing drive before sprinting to the sideline where he galloped 52 yards for the score. Braydon Terveen-Smith ran the ball up the middle for the conversion to make the score 24-14.

The Warbirds answered quickly again, with Caleb Richmond scampering for a 34-yard score and then finding Moshe Richmond for the 2-point conversion pass.

The Warbirds upset the scoring barrage by recovering a fumble. A long pass play from Caleb Richmond to Moshe Richmond. Moshe then got the ball into the end zone on a three-yard run. Caleb Richmond again found Hughes for the 2-point score.

The Tigers then had an extended drive before White Wolf caught a tipped pass from Eaton for a touchdown with just 29 seconds before half. The conversion run failed.

The Warbirds worked with the short clock before half, with Caleb Richmond connecting with Moshe Richmond for a big gain and then scrambling for another 20 yards to set up a final play with two seconds left on the clock. Caleb threw a dart between defenders to connect with Peyton Rainford in the middle of the field for a 23-yard score. Caleb connected with Moshe for the two-point conversion, sending the teams to half with Wolsey-Wessington ahead 48-20.

After a long drive to open the second half that got inside the Warbirds 20, the Tigers fumbled the center exchange and Wolsey-Wessington recovered. On the first play after the fumble recovery, Rainford broke through the line and never was touched again on an 80-yard touchdown run. Hughes took the inside handoff and drug a defender into the end zone for the conversion, making it 56-20 and starting the running clock.

A long drive that ate up much of the rest of the third quarter by Dupree ended with Fletcher Birkeland fumbling the ball away on the Warbirds 20. The Warbirds then stuck on the ground on the ensuing drive, leaning heavily on senior Rainford.

On fourth-and-five on the five-yard line, Moshe Richmond came up short, turning the ball over on downs with just over five minutes left in the game inside the Dupree five-yard line. That was the first drive for Wolsey-Wessington of the game that did not result in a score.

The Tigers connected on their best pass play of the game as Eaton found White Wolf for a 51-yard connection to the 25 of Wolsey-Wessington. Terveen-Smith rumbled down the sideline on the next play for a score. He also ran in the conversion, making the score 56-28 with 2:01 left in the game.

After recovering the onside kick attempt, the Warbirds kneeled on the ball for a 56-28 final.

The Warbirds move to 9-1 behind a big game from quarterback Caleb Richmond, who was 9 of 12 passing for 162 yards and two touchdowns while running nine times for 127 yards and three scores. Caleb also threw for six 2-point conversions.

Rainford led the Warbirds on the ground with 190 yards on 12 carried. He scored on an 80-yard run and also caught a touchdown pass.

Dupree falls to 6-4. Eaton threw for 106 yards on 4 of 6 passing with one score and also ran four times for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Brady Terveen-Smith handled the ball 26 times for 189 yards and a late touchdown.

Wolsey-Wessington will travel to top-seeded Wall on Friday.

Score by quarters
Dupree 0 20 0 8 - 28
Wolsey-Wessington 16 32 8 0 - 56

Scoring summary
1st quarter
9:47 - WW - Caleb Richmond 10-yard TD run. (Caleb Richmond 2-pt pass to Moshe Richmond)

2nd quarter
9:04 - D - Roper Eaton 8-yard TD run. (2-pt pass failed)
8:00 - WW - C.Richmond 47-yard TD run. (C.Richmond 2-pt pass to Sawyer Nelson)
5:53 - D - Eaton 52-yard TD run. (Braydon Terveen-Smith 2-pt run)
5:07 - WW - C.Richmond 34-yard TD run. (C.Richmond 2-pt pass to M.Richmond)
4:01 - WW - M.Richmond 3-yard TD run. (C.Richmond 2-pt pass to Hughes)
0:29 - D - Tre White Wolf 20-yard TD pass from Eaton. (2-pt run failed)
0:00 - WW - Peyton Rainford 23-yard TD pass from C.Richmond. (C.Richmond 2-pt pass to M.Richmond)

3rd quarter
8:40 - WW - Rainford 80-yard TD run. (Hughes 2-pt run)

4th quarter
2:01 - D - Terveen-Smith 25-yard TD run. (Terveen-Smith 2-pt run)