Cramer, Wood power Warner; Hitchcock-Tulare, Herreid-Selby also advance to title games

WARNER -- Sometimes, there's not much deception involved with the Warner football team's offense.

In fact, the Monarchs can be pretty overt.

They have a formation in which they line two fullbacks up in front of running back Hunter Cramer, then hand him the ball and let him pile up yardage.

"We kind of show them where we're going, but they still have to stop us," said head coach Kerwin Hoellein after his squad's 63-20 Class 9A high school football semifinal victory over Harding County-Bison Friday night.

Most plays, in that formation or any other, the Ranchers couldn't stop Cramer and the Monarchs.

And so the No. 1 and top-seeded Monarchs advanced to the championship game against Gregory at 7 p.m. Thursday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion. The Gorillas are 10-1 and the third seed and pounded No. 2 Lyman 41-6 Friday night.

Here are three takeaways from the Warner win over Harding County-Bison.

Warner responded after Harding County-Bison scores

The Ranchers received the opening kickoff and marched right down the field thanks to a big run that set them up inside the Warner five. They took the lead when quarterback Kelby Hett found tight end Gage Gilbert in the end zone from three yards out. The two-point conversion made it 8-0.

But it was far too early to panic. In the quarterfinals against Canistota, the Monarchs found themselves down 31-17 at halftime against a team with plenty of playoff success in recent years. They made sure that didn't happen again.

After a false start left the Monarchs with fourth and goal from the six on their first drive of the game, it was Cramer who took the snap. He was pressured and scrambled, then found Zach Wood for a six-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.

The Monarchs defense then forced a three-and-out before Cramer rushed in from a yard out to make it 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Warner received the second-half kickoff, but fumbled. Harding County-Bison recovered and took advantage. Sophomore running back Rylee Veal scored from five yards out, set up by another big play. That cut the deficit to 29-14 about halfway through the third quarter. But Warner again bounced back. On the ensuing kickoff, Cramer faked a reverse and ran 82 yards to the end zone to squash any momentum for the Ranchers.

The kick return was an especially big play for that reason, Hoellein said.

Harding County had no answer for Cramer, but others shines, too

Warner has the the flexibility to use Cramer in may ways on offense. He's a phenomenal running back, can line up as quarterback and sneaks out to the flats to catch passes.

"That's a luxury we have with a kid like that," Hoellein said.

Unfortunately for the opposition, he can also return kicks, which he proved Friday, and play defense.

Cramer rushed 19 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns. And he was two of three passing for 75 yards and a score. He accounted for 302 all-purpose yards, including a 43-yard scoring run on the first play after a Rancher punt in the second quarter. That made it 22-8. After the kickoff, Cramer intercepted a pass to set up a seven-yard scamper by Charlie Delany.

Zach Wood also had a productive night with two receiving touchdowns and another on the ground.

On the first-quarter reception, he said he was supposed to be a blocker on the play, but Cramer saw he was open and passed the ball. Wood also found the end zone on a 39-yard catch from quarterback Brodey Sauerwein and an 18-yard rush. He credited his blockers for his success on the run.

"They do all the dirty work, I just run the ball," said Wood.

Payton Volk was another contributor. His third-quarter interception set up an 18-yard Cramer run that put Warner up 43-14 with about six and a half minutes left in the third quarter.

For the Ranchers, Rylee Veal was the workhorse. He finished with 258 rushing yards and two touchdowns. His second made it 48-20 Monarchs, but they again responded after recovering an onside kick attempt. That's when Sauerwein saw Wood wide near the left sideline.

"He's got a big heart, and he makes a lot of plays for us," Hoellein said of Wood, who at 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds is more David than Goliath.

Warner wants more

Hoellein said he offered to give the team the day off of practice Saturday, but the players refused. They want to be ready for Gregory.

Wood said the Monarchs would celebrate after the game, then get back to work Saturday to prepare for the championship.

Warner has made deep playoff runs in recent years, including to the title game in 2020, but seeks the gold trophy this fall.

Hollein said he has some film of Gregory, but is superstitious enough that he wasn't willing to watch it before the semifinal victory. But he knows the Gorillas have a good running back.

With the win, Warner is now 11-0. Harding County-Bison finished the season at 8-3.

Hitchcock-Tulare to meet Herreid-Selby Area in 9B championship game

The Class 9B favorites both won Friday night to set up a championship game between two local teams. No. 1 Herreid-Selby Area (11-0) and No. 2 Hitchcock-Tulare (11-0) meet at 11 a.m. Thursday in the DakotaDome.

Binger's five touchdowns lead Patriots past De Smet

Carter Binger ran for three touchdowns and passed for two others to lead the second-seeded Patriots to a semifinal win over sixth-seeded De Smet (7-4) in Tulare.

Binger scored on runs of 14, 79 and five yards and teamed with Cole Schroeder (40 yards) and Landon Puffer (30 yards) on scoring passes. Binger ran for about 115 yards and added more than 200 yards passing.

Riley Fliehe had a 55-yard scoring run and Erik Salman added a one-yard plunge for the Patriots.

Begeman scores five touchdowns to lead Herreid-Selby Area past Irene-Wakonda

Herreid-Selby Area racked up 32 points in the first quarter to eliminate upset-minded Irene-Wakonda in the 9B semifinals in Herreid.

It was Brenden Begeman who got things going with a 65-yard touchdown run just 17 seconds into the game.

Trevor Gill returned a fumble five yards to make it 16-0 with 6:15 left in the first. Less than a minute later, Tray Hettick scored from 34 yards out. Begeman added another touchdown run of nine yards before the first quarter ended.

On the night, he rushed 28 times for 322 yards and five touchdowns. Hettick recorded two touchdowns on the ground and completed seven of nine passes for 109 yards. Gill caught four passes for 72 yards. He and Begeman both had eight tackles.

No. 12 seed Irene-Wakonda won two road playoff games to raise some eyebrows and advance to the semifinals, but couldn't keep up with Herreid-Selby Area. The Eagles finish the season at 5-6.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Warner upended Harding County-Bison to advance to the 9A title game