Wall races to perfect season with big Class 9A victory over Howard

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Nov. 14—VERMILLION, S.D. — Just as it had done all season, the Wall football machine churned out yards and points at a prolific pace on Friday.

Scoring on each of its first nine possessions, top-seeded Wall ran away from seventh-seeded Howard, securing the Class 9A state championship in a 60-6 rout at the DakotaDome.

As the Eagles closed out a perfect 12-0 season, Friday's triumph marked the program's fourth football title overall and second in four years, having also won Class 9AA in 2022. During its dominant run to the title, Wall outscored its opponents 656-44 for the season, an average score of 55-4 per game. The Eagles won all 12 games by at least 41 points.

"When you look back at some of the greatest teams, I think we'll be in that conversation," said Wall head coach Lex Heathershaw of his Eagles. "Hats off to our guys and all they've been able to do this year."

In a battle of two teams dedicated to running the football, Wall carved out a decisive advantage in the ground game. Led by Joe Robbie MVP and most outstanding back Jace Mohr, who racked up 211 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries, the Eagles totaled 302 rushing yards on 27 attempts, a clip of 11.2 yards per touch.

Meanwhile, the Eagles' defense completely stymied the Tigers' normally potent attack, limiting Howard (9-3) to minus-1 total rushing yards on 32 attempts. Even with sacks not factored in, that figure was 18 yards on 29 carries.

"They just had too much size and too much speed. To be honest, we haven't had to try and move guys like that this year," said Howard head coach Pat Ruml. "We're used to moving some bigger dudes, but (Wall) was even bigger than that. It was like a (Class) 11B team out there we were playing against."

A 9-yard rushing touchdown by Wall quarterback Tanner Volmer on the second play from scrimmage, following up a 45-yard sprint by Mohr, set the Eagles off and running just 20 seconds into the game. After a Howard 3-and-out, Mohr scored a 23-yard touchdown to put the Eagles up 14-0 less than 3 minutes into the game and having run just three total plays.

Mohr scored again from 48 yards out, and Volmer found Teelan Kjerstad for a 35-yard touchdown pass for a 26-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Howard's only touchdown came on a 1-yard quarterback sneak from Drew Maier in the second quarter, and by halftime it was 47-6.

"They took it out of us, going down 14-nothing right away. It was tough sledding," Ruml said. "Overall, kudos to them. They are really good. We knew that going in, but we thought we could maybe do a few more things to slow them down a bit."

Wall's 60 points tied for the third-most in a Class 9A championship game, with 76 points (accomplished twice) as the record.

Alongside Mohr's big game, Volmer accounted for six total touchdowns, including a 7-for-8 passing day for 176 yards and four passing scores to go with 65 yards on eight carries and two more scores on the ground. Kjerstad caught two touchdown strikes for Volmer, while Dawson Handcock and Younger Amiotte each grabbed one. Brand Hilgenkamp was named the contest's most outstanding lineman.

Wall outgained Howard by 400 total yards, 478 to 78.

Howard's star fullback Kolt Becker, a 1,900-yard rusher on the year, was held to 15 yards on 13 carries. Drew Maier went 9-of-15 passing for 79 yards, with Hoyt Kizer grabbing three catches for 34 yards. Garrett Feldhaus had two grabs for 31 yards, and Becker added 14 yards on four receptions for the Tigers, who ran the gauntlet of knocking off the No. 2 seed Warner and No. 3 seed Alcester-Hudson on their path to the Dome but came up a game shy of the program's sixth state football title.

"A lot of people didn't give us a chance to get back here and thought we over-achieved," Ruml said. "But when we got down to the pressure moments in Warner and Alcester, we had to make some big plays, and we did that. I'm very proud. There are a lot of teams who would like to be here and aren't."

No. 1 Wall 60, No. 7 Howard 6

Scoring summary

First quarter

WALL: Tanner Volmer 9 rush (Emmet Dinger kick), 11:40

WALL: Jace Mohr 23 rush (Dinger kick), 9:13

WALL: Mohr 48 rush (kick failed), 5:45

WALL: Teelan Kjerstad 35 pass from Volmer (kick failed), 2:21

Second quarter

HOW: Drew Maier 1 rush, 8:49 (pass failed)

WALL: Kjerstad 17 pass from Volmer (rush failed), 7:55

WALL: Dawson Handcock 74 pass from Volmer (Volmer rush), 5:10

WALL: Younger Amiotte 27 pass from Volmer (Dinger kick), 1:45

Third quarter

WALL: Volmer 22 rush (Dinger kick), 6:36

Fourth quarter

WALL: Mohr 35 rush (kick failed), 9:31

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos