VERMILLION – Whenever faced with a challenge Friday morning, Howard had the response.

Each time Wolsey-Wessington scored, the unbeaten Tigers matched it on the way to winning the Class 9A State Football Championship with a 38-30 victory at the DakotaDome.

“This is how a state championship should be. It had a lot of flows to it, up and down and whatever,” said Howard coach Pat Ruml. “Championship teams respond to that and we did. I think it just came from the leadership of our seniors, going let’s go and they did that.”

They had to do that, because the Warbirds kept the pressure on.

Wolsey-Wessington battled back from an 18-6 deficit, but could not sustain momentum, because the Tigers scored nearly every time they needed to in order to maintain a lead.

“That was very frustrating, because it feels like we get the momentum and then they just come down and they ended up scoring,” said Wolsey-Wessington senior Keaton Zomer. “I felt like everybody did their job pretty well, but the mess-ups that we did have were the ones that cost us the game.”

A team known for its rushing offense, Howard ended up doing major damage through the air during the game. The Tigers completed all five of their pass attempts, all but one going to Luke Koepsell, who finished with 100 yards receiving on his way to winning Joe Robbie MVP and Outstanding Lineman awards.

Howard also rushed for 275 yards as four different players had at least 32 yards on the ground led by Tate Miller with 105.

“The main thing was, not trying to stop all of those guys, but if we do our own job, we would have been successful,” said Wolsey-Wessington’s Moshe Richmond. “What they’re good at, is the few times we didn’t do our job, they capitalized on it.”

Koepsell was involved in two of those noticeable times. He caught a pass on fake punt to extend a Howard drive resulting in a 42-yard touchdown at the end of the first half. Another occurred late in the third quarter when Koepsell recovered an onside kick to give the Tigers a short field. He capped that drive with a 42-yard touchdown reception to give Howard a 30-14 lead.

“They’re the type of team that you’ve got to play very efficient,” said Wolsey-Wessington coach Hayden Hooks, “and if you make too many mistakes it will come back to bite you in the butt.”

The Warbirds never quit, though, utilizing their playmakers to provide big plays. Caleb Richmond set a new 9A state title game record with a 92-yard touchdown run in the contest. The senior rushed for 115 yards and threw for 211 yards and another TD.

“It went to play. Ran Moshe across the field. Two or three of them went with him,” Caleb Richmond said. “I just headed straight up. Linemen gave me good enough blocks to where I could just get through a crease and go.”

When he wasn’t sprinting up the field, he was spotting his brother, Moshe for a variety of completions. Obviously, the duo share a special connection.

“We grew up everyday just throwing the ball in the backyard,” Moshe said. “I mean for this moment right now. We’ve grown a lot together.”

Even when plays didn’t go as scripted in the past, the Richmonds somehow made it work.

“Like how, if we call one play, I can run a completely different route and he knows what I’m running,” Moshe said. “We’re on the same page the whole time.”

Ruml knew the explosiveness that the Warbirds possessed heading into the game.

“We knew that going in how good they were,” Ruml said. “We weren’t going to give them anything too deep, our big thing was let them catch it in front.”

Throw in being stopped at the Howard 3-yard line in the opening half, and the Warbirds simply could not overcome it against the team that was rated number one all season.

“Just one too many mistakes,” Caleb Richmond said. “Erase one of those and it’s a way different game.”

Instead, it proved to be another state championship for Howard, which won the State B basketball championship last winter, and also has standout baseball and wrestling squads.

“Just an athletic group, but again all these sports feed off each other. When you get those, you’re in big moments and then a moment like this is never too big for you,” Ruml said. “So wrestling, baseball, basketball on down the line, if you can do that, the moment is never too big, and I felt good about how we were going to play today.”

The contest ended a stellar season for the Warbirds, who finished the year at 10-2, including a pair of narrow wins that fueled their run to the title game.

“When we played Kimball-White Lake we only won by two, and then we play Wall and won by two again,” Zomer said. “I think it was all the close games that we had that did (lead) our way to the Dome for sure.”

And there was no denying the mental toughness or grit that the Warbirds exhibited in their biggest game of the season.

“Shout out to a hard-working team. We’re undersized almost everywhere, besides obviously me,” said Moshe Richmond who led the Warbirds with 17 tackles. “Smallest linemen in the state, smallest corners in the state, and we play the hardest, and I feel like we showed that today.”

While disappointed in the final outcome, Hooks reflected back on the season and was proud of the way the team’s eight seniors helped to guide the team all the way to the championship contest.

“Just really proud of our senior class,” Hooks said, “and how they led everybody and brought everybody together, and turned this into a very special season.”

And while the Warbirds came up just short in their quest for a state title, the game will provided many memories for years to come.

“It was a fun game to play in,” Zomer, said, “that’s for sure.”

Wolsey-Wessington (10-2) 6 0 8 16 – 30

Howard (12-0) 6 12 6 14 – 38

First Quarter

W – Peyton Rainford 2 pass from Caleb Richmond, 7:07.

H – Tate Miller 43 run, 5:59.

Second Quarter

H – Luke Koepsell 17 pass from Carson Hinker, 6:09.

H – Lucas Feldhaus 2 pass from Hinker, :0.14

Third Quarter

WW – C. Richmond 92 run (Colin Hughes pass from C. Richmond), 5:56.

H – Miller 2 run, 3:11.

Fourth Quarter

H – Koepsell 42 pass from Hinker, 11:03.

WW – Moshe Richmond 15 pass from C. Richmond (Hughes pass from C. Richmond), 9:12.

H – Feldhaus 32 pass from Hinker (Koepsell pass from Hinker), 4:52.

WW – Rainford 1 run (M. Richmond pass from C. Richmond), 1:54.

OFFENSE: Wolsey-Wessington, rushing (C. Richmond 14-115, Rainford 6-23), passing 19-27-1 for 211 (C. Richmond 19-27-1 for 211) receiving (M. Richmond 12-141, Ashton Hill 1-30, Rainford 1-21, Hughes 4-12), first downs 13; Howard, rushing (Miller 15-105, Kolt Becker 14-51, Hinker 7-37, Weston Remmers 11-32), passing 6-6-0 for 112 (Hinker 6-6-0 for 112), receiving (Koepsell 4-100, Becker 1-10, Feldhaus 1-2), first downs 19.

DEFENSE: Wolsey-Wessington, M. Richmond17 tackles, Rainford 12 tackles, Hill 8 tackles, Hughes 8 tackles; Howard, Calvin Halverson 8 tackles, Koepsell 7 tackles, Feldhaus 4 tackles, Miller 4 tackles.