FAULKTON – They were physical, they were motivated, and on Friday night the Faulkton Trojans were unstoppable.

Faulkton scored on all six of its possessions on the way to a 40-22 win over Dell Rapids St. Mary during the Class 9B semifinal football playoffs. The Trojans will now get a chance to play for a championship they were unable to obtain last season.

“We just know we want it more,” said Faulkton senior Charlie Deiter. “We know what it felt like to go to the dome last year and it did not come out how we wanted. We were coming in hot tonight.”

The Trojans set the tone for the evening when Carter Hall returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. The score was never tied again.

The Trojans dominated the line of scrimmage the entire night, which led to a huge game for Tristen Baloun who rushed for five touchdowns.

“We have to give credit to our line,” Baloun said. “They really just showed up and it lets us running backs run through there, obviously.”

And when Baloun ran through, tacklers had their hands full trying to bring him down. The punishing senior leveled anyone who happened to be in his way.

“You just got to put the shoulder down and keep running, I guess,” Baloun said of his running style.

The Cardinals kept pace for a while in the opening half thanks to their passing game, but the visitors were never able to establish a consistent ground attack and were kept off the scoreboard in the second half as Faulkton pulled away.

“Our offensive and defensive line just does a great job,” said Faulkton coach Shayne Geditz. “They played phenomenal tonight.”

The Trojans won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

“They’re a very physical football team,” said DRSM coach Ross Flemmer, “no doubt about it.”

Faulkton had prepared for the Cardinals’ double wing offense and were up to the challenge in stopping it.

“We knew they were going to come out and try to pound it on us,” Deiter said. “We know that we’re too hard-nosed to let them do that on us.”

Instead, it was Baloun who was doing the pounding on the ground.

When asked if he had to tackle his teammate in practice, Deiter responded, “No, I’m glad I don’t. I wouldn’t want to be across from him.”

Baloun consistently found holes to run through and made the most of his opportunities.

“We knew the whole night the line was going to set the tone,” Baloun said, “we just had to go from there.”

It was the linemen consisting of Drake Mueller, Trey Machtemes, Cade Leonhard, Lincoln Dikoff and Deiter who were responsible for the impact up front.

“The guys up front deserve all the credit and our backs ran hard,” Geditz said. “Everybody did a great job tonight, but when your guys up front do the job, that makes life easier.”

And as a result, it made life a lot more difficult for the Cardinals.

“They handled us up front,” Flemmer said. “We couldn’t get a lot going.”

Baloun finished with 134 yards rushing to go along with eight tackles, including a pair of sacks, one coming on the final play of the game.

The Trojans, 9-2 on the season, are now heading back to the DakotaDome in Vermillion after losing some talented players to graduation last year.

“I don’t think a lot of people gave us a lot of chance this year,” Geditz said. “We lost a lot of people and we lost a lot of great ones that are walking around here tonight, but gosh dang it, our kids worked and put their time in the weight room and got it done. Now we need to go finish.”

Faulkton will face a familiar foe in the championship game at 11 a.m. Thursday when it squares off against Sully Buttes, a team the Trojans defeated earlier this season.

“It means nothing. It’s behind us now,” Baloun said of that contest. “They’ve gotten better, hopefully we’ve gotten better, and we just have to show up.”

The Trojans will walk into that game with a chip on their shoulders after falling in a close contest a year ago.

“We got one more game,” Deiter said. “We know what it takes and we’re going to come out swinging.”

Dell Rapids St. Mary (9-2) 8 14 0 0 – 22

Faulkton (9-2) 16 16 8 8 – 48

F – Carter Hall 80 kickoff return (Tristen Baloun run).

F – Baloun 15 run (Baloun run).

DRSM – Lincoln LeBrun 48 pass from Jaxon Baumberger (Maverick LeBrun pass from Hanson).

F – Baloun 15 run (Charlie Deiter pass from Gian DiMaria).

DRSM – Trimmier Hanson 7 run.

DRSM – Hanson 30 run (L. LeBrun pass from Hanson).

F – Baloun 4 run (Baloun run).

F – Baloun 1 run (Baloun run).

F – Baloun 1 run (Deiter pass from DiMaria).

OFFENSE: Dell Rapids St. Mary, rushing 30-112 (Hanson 11-56, L. LeBrun12-43), passing 8-18-2 for 149 (Baumberger 8-15-0 for 149), receiving (L. LeBrun 3-75, Jake Kopsas 1-12), first downs 11; Faulkton, rushing 40-231 (Baloun 18-134, Landon Coyle 18-80, DeMaria 4-17), passing 5-6-0 for 53 (DiMaria 5-6-0 for 53), receiving (Deiter 5-53), first downs 20.

DEFENSE: Faulkton, Baloun 8 tackles and 2 sacks, Kamryn Rhodes 5 tackles, DiMaria 4 tackles, Deiter 4 tackles, Lincoln Dikoff 4 tackles and 1 sack, Hall 4 tackles.