The Sully Buttes Chargers captured their first state football title since 1989, and knocked off the only team to beat them in the regular season, Faulkton Area, with a 34-14 victory Thursday afternoon at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.
The Chargers received the opening kickoff and 97 seconds later a Wesley Wittler 17 yard run made it 8-0 with the two point conversion.
On their first offensive touch, the Trojans used six minutes to score, and make it 8-6 after a missed two point try.
On the very next possession, Wittler hit senior running back Gavin Barber with a 21 yard strike to go up 16-6. After an exchange of possessions, the Chargers had another Wittler to Barber connection, this time for 31 yards to up the score to 22-6 going into halftime.
Faulkton Area started strong in their opening drive of the second half, but a fumble ended the drive at the Sully Buttes 21, and the second play in, it was Wittler to tight end Teghan Westpahl for a 67 yard strike pushing the score to 28-6.
The Trojans drove down to the Charger 21 yard line, but stalled on a solid Sully Buttes defensive effort. Then, Wittler, the Joe Robbie MVP of the game took off on a quarterback draw and 66 yards later the score was up to 34-6. In the fourth quarter the Trojans connected on a 25 yard strike to put the score at 34-14. The teams exchanged possessions to close out the game for the Charger victory.
Sully Buttes finishes at 11-1 on the year, while Faulkton Area ends their year at 9-3. Besides being the Joe Robbie Game MVP, Wittler was also selected as the offensive player of the game, while lineman Bo McGee was named the outstanding lineman of the game.
