The Howard Tigers (11-0) and the Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds (11-0) are scheduled to clash on Thursday in the class 9A football championship game at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion. Both teams come into this game with zero losses on the season.
Gordon Hooks is the Head Coach for the Warbirds and he said this is a great moment for his team. Hooks said this year’s team has an intensity he hasn’t seen before.
“We’re just excited, the whole process of it,” said Hooks. “We talk about soaking it all in, we want our kids to enjoy the whole experience, but when game time comes, we focus in on the task at hand.”
Tigers Head Coach Pat Ruml is also excited for this Thursday’s game. He said he’s anxious to see how these two teams will react when the go against each other.
“We know this game’s going to be tough, they were very good last year,” said Ruml. “It doesn’t take much to be aggressive in a state title game. We need to get off to a great start, don’t let the moment get too big.”
Both of these teams have put up large amounts of offensive yards this season. Wolsey-Wessington has 6,046 total yards on the season, which is one-yard behind the all-time record of 6,047 yards, set by Freeman in 1996. Howard has also put up large quantities of yards in their games this year as their season total is at 5,414 yards, good enough for third all-time.
This game kicks off at 10:30 am CT with pre-game starting 30 minutes before. The game can be viewed on SDPB TV or online at sdpb.org/football.
Which of these two teams will finally taste defeat? Are the Warbirds going to be named state champs or do the Tigers have a different plan in mind. Follow @SDPBSports on twitter for up to date coverage of the game. Join the conversation on social media using the hashtags #SDFootball14 and #HWDvWLW
