Any notion from Kimball/White Lake players, coaches and fans that they were going to come to Freeman and give the Class 9AA No. 1-ranked team a run for its money were laid to rest in the first 12 minutes of Thursday night’s quarterfinal game.

That’s because Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy put up 22 points in the first quarter while holding the No. 9 seed WildKats to less than 10 yards from scrimmage en route to a 52-0 win in another game that ended by the mercy rule.

In their last four games the Phoenix have scored 223 points while giving up just two touchdowns.

“We’re very dialed in — everybody knows their assignment,” said senior quarterback Riley Tschetter. “We’re just a really physical team.”

Thursday’s victory moves FMFA to the semifinal round where they will host defending 9AA state champion and this year’s No. 4 seed Hamlin Friday night, Nov. 7, with a trip to the DakotaDome on the line.

The Phoenix go into the game 10-0 while the Chargers are 9-1 after defeating No. 5 Hill City 52-14 in Thursday’s quarterfinal round. Hamlin’s only loss of the season came against No. 2 Elkton-Lake Benton — a team that FMFA defeated 42-28.

This is second year in a row the Phoenix have advanced to the semifinals; they lost to Parkston 28-22 a year ago.

On the other side of this year’s bracket, No. 2 Elkton-Lake Benton (9-1) defeated No. 10 Hanson (5-5) 44-15 while No. 3 Parkston (9-1) downed No. 6 Bon Homme (7-3) 36-7.

Elkton-Lake Benton and Parkston will face off in the other Class 9AA semifinal game next Friday night.

Phoenix dominate WildKats

Look no further than total yards from scrimmage to see just how dominant FMFA was in its win over Kimball-White Lake; the Phoenix put up 432 total yards to the WildKats’ 134. 

Tschetter led the offense with 15-for-21 completions for 287 yards passing that included four touchdowns — two to Tate Sorensen and one to both David Walter and Karter Weber. 

Luke Peters and Weber both ran for a touchdown, and Oliver Waltner caught a touchdown pass from Tayden Kerrigan in the fourth quarter to end the game.

Peters led the defense with six solo tackles and another assist, while Riley Tschetter had four solo tackles. Kerrigan had three solo tackles and an assist while Alaric Knittel, Trey Maske, Axle Schultz and Easton Tschetter each had three solo tackles. Maske and Waltner both had a quarterback sack. 

“We knew we were the better team,” Riley Tschetter said. “We just had to go out and execute and do our job — and not overlook them. We came out, had a fast start and then finished them off.”