VERMILLION, S.D. — The Sully Buttes Chargers staged an amazing fourth quarter rally to send the State 9B Championship game to overtime, but Colome’s defense held the Chargers out of the end zone from there to preserve a classic 48-42 win in a battle of unbeaten teams. The Cowboys broken a 20-20 halftime tie with 14 unanswered points in the third quarter before the Chargers came up with some late-game heroics. Trailing 42-28 early in the fourth quarter, Nick Wittler threw a 40-yard scoring pass to Cameron Ogle to make it a 6-point game with over 10 minutes remaining. But the defenses held their ground for most of the fourth quarter until the Chargers made some history in the final minute of regulation. Facing a third and fourteen from their own 4-yard line, Grant Johnson broke away from the defense and Wittler hit him in stride for a 96-yard touchdown to tie the game – the longest pass play in 9-man championship game history. Colome stuffed the Chargers on the 2-point conversion, however, with 43 second left in regulation. Sully Buttes still had a final chance after they recovered the ensuing kickoff, which Colome failed to contain, but a final pass play with six seconds left fell incomplete to force the overtime. Chase Dufek ran for a 10-yard score to put Colome in front on the first play of overtime, forcing the Chargers to try to match, but Jaikob Week intercepted a fourth down pass in the end zone to seal the title for Colome. Jackson Kinzer threw for 155 yards and ran for 130 with three total scores, while Nick Wittler threw for a 9B Championship record 359 yards and five touchdowns and added another on the ground for Sully Buttes. The Chargers finish the season 11-1, while Colome ends with a perfect 12-0 record and their second 9B championship in the last three years.
(Written by Brian Oakland)
