The state semifinals were a wasteland of upsets for top seeded teams in the area.
Huskies thwarted by Warriors
Shelby-Rising City’s quest for its first state title appearance was halted by Crofton in the D-1 semifinals Friday 28-8.
The top-seeded Huskies faced a rare deficit in the opening quarter after giving up a 60-yard touchdown run to Crofton’s Tyson Jackson midway through the opening quarter.
It was explosive plays that dinged Shelby-Rising City all night. Crofton took back the lead after the Huskies knotted the game at 8-8 on a Logan LIndsley three-yard run with a 69-yard run by Preston Foxhoven with six minutes, 18 seconds left in the first half.
Momentum fully shifted to the Warriors before the intermission as Foxhoven hauled in an interception, which the visitors parlayed into six more points before halftime to hold a 22-8 lead.
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Crofton landed the knockout blow in the third quarter on a 58-yard touchdown run by Jackson.
Crofton’s four scoring plays accounted for 220 of their 335 yards of offense.
Shelby-Rising City was held to 217 yards of offense. Jett Vrbka accounted for 113 yards on the ground.
Eli Fjell led the Huskies defense with 15 tackles while Vrbka also hit double-figures with 11 stops.
Shelby-Rising City finishes the year with an 11-1, logging double-digit wins for the first time in over a decade and continuing a four-year stretch of winning seasons.
Howells-Dodge’s Dane Meyer makes a tackle in the first half of the Jaguars 30-8 win over Lawrence-Nelson in the quarterfinals of the D-2 state football playoffs Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, in Howells.
Jaguars knocked off
St. Mary’s Gage Hedstrom ran himself into the record books and through the Howells-Dodge defense to a tune of 448 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns to end the Jaguars perfect season in a 52-28 Cardinals win in the D-2 state semifinals.
The top-seeded Jaguars kept pace with the fourth-seeded Cardinals in the opening half, trailing 30-20 at halftime with a pair of scores by Oliver Belina and another by Hunter Luther.
Hedstrom connected with top target Ben Barlow for a touchdown in the third quarter and another midway through to fourth quarter to open up an insurmountable 24-point lead.
Howells-Dodge was held to 280 yards of offense. Luther accounted for 105 yards rushing on 25 carriers in his final appearance in the green and black.
Dane Meyer threw for 98 yards, the bulk coming off a 50-yard touchdown to Andre Martin for the Jaguars only second half points.
Hedstrom’s seven total touchdowns broke the eight-man career touchdown record, previously held by Neligh-Oakdale’s Aiden Kuester.
Howells-Dodge finishes the year with an 11-1 record, it’s best mark since its 2022 state title game appearance.
