It will be a battle when Faulkton and Avon meet this morning at 10 for the Class 9B football state championship at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.

The Trojans are back in the title game for the first time since 2014 when they lost to Hamlin, 34- 8, in the 9B title game. Faulkton coach Shayne Geditz said it is a great feeling to be back in the state championship game.

“Our kids, they’ve worked hard to get this opportunity,” Geditz said. “They put a lot of time in. It’s a great feeling; a great experience.”

Geditz said the school gains a lot of support whenever one of its teams competes for a championship.

“It’s been good and anytime you get an opportunity to play for a state championship, it’s always exciting for our community and in our school,” Geditz said. “It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, whether it’s sports or music, arts, it doesn’t matter. We have a lot of support around here and so anytime something good is going on, they back us 100 percent.”

Faulkton is 10-1 on the season, with its lone loss coming to Warner, who will be playing in the Class 9A championship game. Since the loss to the Monarchs, the Trojans have won five consecutive games, allowing just six points in those five contests.

Offensively, Faulkton is led by quarterback Layne Cotton, running back Garrett Cramer, and receiver Charlie Deiter.

The Pirates’ two losses came against Freeman-Marion-Freeman Academy and Alcester-Hudson. Since the loss to the Cubs, Avon has won four consecutive games. Despite being about 200 miles apart, Faulkton and Avon have played two common opponents in Hitchcock-Tulare and Faith. The Trojans defeated the Patriots and Longhorns during the regular season, while the Pirates defeated Faith in the opening round of the 9B playoffs and defeated Hitchcock-Tulare in both the regular season and quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

Both teams also have some playoff history against each other, which resulted in high-scoring affairs. In the 2014 9B quarterfinals, Faulkton Area defeated Avon 62-46 en route to the Trojans’ aforementioned runner-up finish. The Pirates returned the favor last season, upending the Trojans 74-48 in the opening round of the 9B playoffs.

Faulkton will be seeking its first-ever state football title. In addition to the 2014 runner-up finish, the Trojans have also finished runner-up in 1981 and 1998, losing to Freeman in the Class 9A title game both times.

Meanwhile, Avon has been familiar with state championship success for slightly more than two decades, although its last appearance came exactly a decade ago. The Pirates claimed their first of five championships in 2002, also adding titles in 2004, 2005, 2008, and their last appearance in 2013. Avon also has runner-up finishes in 2003, 2009, and 2011.

Geditz said this year’s Avon team poses several problems the Trojans will have to account for.

“They’ve got a nice team. They’ve got some good size across the line and they’ve got a running back that runs really hard,” Geditz said. “They fly to the football, they’re physical, so they’ve got a nice season. They’ve got a good squad.”

In order to bring home a state championship, Geditz said it is a simple formula.

“Same thing we’ve been telling our kids all year, don’t worry about the scoreboard, just go out and play the best game that you have all season,” Geditz said. “If we do that, things will take care of itself.”

Geditz said the atmosphere at the DakotaDome is different, but at the end of the day it is still about playing the game of football.

“It’s different, I mean, some of our kids have never been in it before,” Geditz said. “You don’t get a chance to practice or walk around in it or do anything like that, so some of that can be difficult. But hopefully once the ball drops it’s just playing football whether you’re in Faulkton or Avon or Vermillion. It shouldn’t really matter.”