CASTLEWOOD – Brandon Benike scored on a 9-yard run with 41.5 seconds remaining as the Warriors topped Arlington/ Lake Preston 34-30 in a matchup of Dakota Valley Conference unbeatens Friday night.
Benike’s two-point conversion pass to Kaden Eng provided for the final margin.
Benike finished 26-of-42 for 364 yards with four touchdowns.
He had TD tosses of 8 yards to Caleb DeKam and 35 yards to Eng in the first quarter. He added a pass to DeKam for a two-point conversion to make it 14-0.
The Badgers’ Devon Heuer ran for 199 yards and four TDs while going 6-of-10 for 63 yards through the air.
He scored on a 14-yard run in the first and a 9-yarder in the second – adding the two-pointer – to knot things up at 14-all.
Benike’s TD toss of 38 yards to Dylan Johnson put the Warriors ahead 20-14.
But Heuer got free for scoring scampers of 13 and 9 yards later in the second quarter. He found Riley Pospisil for the two-point conversions both times as the Badgers led 30-20 at halftime.
Benike and DeKam hooked up for an 11-yard touchdown at the 7:12 mark of the third quarter, pulling the hosts within 30-26.
Eng finished with six receptions for 135 yards and a TD. Johnson added nine catches for 104 yards with the one TD. DeKam totaled 10 receptions covering 99 yards with a pair of TDs.
Castlewood (6-0) hits the road to face another unbeaten team – Colman-Egan (6-0) – and Arlington/Lake Preston (5-1) plays host to Estelline on Friday.
• Elkton-Lake Benton 28, De Smet 16
ELKTON – Blaine Hefti went 3-of-4 for 140 yards with three touchdowns as the Elks built a 28-0 lead over the Bulldogs en route to the DVC win.
Devin Sopko opened the scoring with a 2-yard TD run at the 4:20 mark of the first quarter. Hefti ran in the two-point conversion.
Hefti had TD tosses of 19 yards to Bryson Sik and 49 yards to Caleb Goertz in the second quarter. He had a pass to Hunter Nielsen on the two-point conversion following the first score as ELB was up 22-0 at halftime.
Hefti’s shovel pass to Braden Nielsen resulted in a 72-yard touchdown to make it 28-0 with 10:54 remaining in the third quarter.
Goertz rushed for 106 yards on 25 carries. Sopko ran 12 times for 55 yards.
Taryn Krog paced the Elks’ defense with 13 tackles and Sopko added 10.
De Smet’s Gage Gruenhagen found the end zone on a 2-yard run with 5:52 left in the third. Cade Birkel found Trevin Holland for the two-pointer. Birkel then hooked up with Zach Wolkow for a 9-yard score with nine-tenths of a second to go in the third. Gruenhagen’s two-point run provided for the final margin.
Elkton-Lake Benton (3-3) takes on Dell Rapids St. Mary on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Brookings. De Smet (3-4) is host to Deubrook Area.
• Colman-Egan 63, Oldham-Ramona/Rutland 0
RUTLAND – The Hawks moved to 6-0 with the DVC defeat of the Raiders.
Colman-Egan has a big matchup with Castlewood at home next week. ORR (2-5) is open before closing out the season playing host to Dell Rapids St. Mary on Friday, Oct. 13.
• Deubrook Area 28, Dell Rapids St. Mary 0
DELL RAPIDS – The Dolphins (2-4) travel to De Smet and the Cardinals (1-5) face Elkton-Lake Benton on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Brookings next week.
• Sioux Falls Christian 44, Flandreau 0
FLANDREAU – The Chargers (5-1) play host to Tri-Valley and the Fliers (0-6) head to Beresford on Friday.
