The Associated Press

VERMILLION - Tate Bunkers scored three touchdowns and rushed for 101 yards to lead Dell Rapids through its final minefield in a 34-6 win over Winner for the Class 11A state football championship on Friday.

Preston Davis threw two touchdown passes to Bunkers and a third to Taylor Huska. Bunkers also added a score on an 11-yard run for the winning Quarriers.

The Dell Rapids road to its first state football title included playoff victories over No. 1 rated West Central, No. 3 Winner and No. 5 (tied) Harrisburg and Sisseton.

"You just look over your shoulder wondering when it's going to end," said Dell Rapids coach Steven Hansen, whose team was rated fourth in the final rankings.

It is the first football title for Dell Rapids, which was state runner-up two years ago.

"I can't say enough about our kids on defense. They just fly to the ball. They make plays and we tell them you make teams drive the field on you and something good is going to happen to us. That's what we concentrated on all year."

Both teams ended the season with a record of 10-2.

Braden Gardner rushed 23 times for 154 yards and had the lone touchdown for Winner. It is the seventh time that Winner is state runner-up to go along with three state titles.

Dell Rapids scored twice in the final 4:04 of the first half to break a tie.

A 46-yard pass completion to Kyle Tibke set up Bunkers' 11-yard touchdown run three plays later for the Quarriers.

A string of turnovers - a Winner fumble, a Dell Rapids interception, and another Winner fumble in a 90-second span - set up Dell Rapids' final score of the half.

Josh Fiedler recovered a Winner fumble on a hook-and-lateral pass play and returned it 52 yards to the Winner 6. Taylor Huska caught a 9-yard pass from Davis for the Quarriers' score 6 seconds before halftime and a 21-6 lead.

"These kids are opportunistic. They get opportunities like that and they take advantage of it," said Hansen.

The Quarriers added fourth-quarter touchdowns on a Davis-to-Bunkers pass and on Chris Curry's 17-yard run. Davis also hit Bunkers on a 17-yard scoring pass on Dell Rapids' first possession of the game.

Davis completed 4 of 10 passes with two interceptions for 85 yards. Bunkers had two catches for 30 yards and the 46-yarder to Tibke.

Winner quarterback John Farner threw for 79 yards on five completions. Zach Horstmann had three catches for 54 yards.

Class 11B

TRI-VALLEY 41, GROTON AREA 3: The signs were evident in the bleachers, on the field and in the final statistics that showed why Tri-Valley won a second straight Class 11B state football title.

Buoyed by fans in T-shirts proclaiming "Leave No Doubt," the Mustangs defeated Groton Area 41-3 Friday in a rematch of the 2007 championship game, won by Tri-Valley 20-14.

"Coach (Dan) Snethen, our defensive coordinator, said in spring during weight training to leave no doubt," said Tri-Valley coach Brad McDonald. "He said last year we won but several people thought maybe Groton Area was the better team. He said just make sure when the game is over, everybody understands that we're No. 1 in 11B."

Routinely facing 3rd and long, Groton (9-3) couldn't get untracked offensively. The Tigers finished with only five first downs and 89 yards total offense. Tri-Valley countered with 317 yards and 15 first downs.

The winning Mustangs scored four touchdowns in the third period to pull away from a 14-3 halftime lead. They drove 80 yards in three plays to open the second half - then scored three more times on drives that started inside the Groton 25-yard line following an interception, a 5-yard Groton punt and a high snap on another Groton punt attempt.

"We talked at halftime that last year we got outscored in the second half by Groton and this time we just wanted to make sure we outscored them in the second half," said McDonald. "Our kids I think physically wore them down as the game wore on."

Nate Kirby, chosen for the Joe Robbie Most Valuable Player award, scored touchdowns on runs of 2, 60 and 15 yards for Tri-Valley (11-1). He had 115 of Tri-Valley's 270 rushing yards.

Austin King put Tri-Valley on the scoreboard early. He intercepted Gabe Kjellsen's pass on the Tigers' third play of the game and ran 25 yards for a touchdown. King had two of Tri-Valley's three interceptions.

Groton's only first-half scoring came with time expired.

Tri-Valley drew a penalty for a hit out of bounds on the final play of the first half, giving Groton possession again at the Tri-Valley 18, where Gavin Voss hit a 35-yard field goal.

Groton's only other scoring threat of the first half ended at the Tri-Valley 31 when a fourth-down rush came up short of the 2 yards needed.

Groton had a touchdown called back in the fourth period because of illegal motion. On the next play, Tri-Valley's Joel Martens intercepted in the end zone.

Sam Thorson led Groton rushers with 39 yards on 16 carries. Thorson and Kjellsen were 3 of 10 in passing with three interceptions for 15 yards.