VERMILLION – Sully Buttes capped a remarkable run of football in the most meaningful way possible on Thursday afternoon.

Entering the postseason as a fifth seed, the Chargers relished their role of underdogs and ended up winning the Class 9B state championship over Faulkton, avenging their only loss of the season in the process. Sully Buttes came up with one big play after another en route to a 34-14 victory at the DakotaDome.

“Our guys knew that this was our goal. We wanted to get here. This was our final goal,” said Sully Buttes junior Wesley Wittler. “Yeah, we had gotten picked to lose. I know how that feels, and I don’t like it.”

Wittler, who was selected the Joe Robbie MVP winner as well as the Outstanding Back, had his fingerprints all over the win. He passed for 194 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 158 yards and two more scores, and also had seven tackles.

However, it was his heads up play to start the game that proved to be a fire-starter for the Chargers.

After getting stopped on downs on their first possession, the Chargers were in punting formation when Wittler noticed teammate Lucas Arcoren unguarded on the end of the line. Wittler quickly snapped the pass and fired a pass to Arocren that resulted in a 34-yard reception.

“That was dumb luck,” said Sully Buttes coach Tom Moore. “That’s what’s nice having a quarterback as your punter.”

That play set the tone for the entire contest.

“That was a huge play,” Wittler said. “That got the momentum going for us.”

Wittler scored on the very next play and the Chargers never trailed the rest of the way.

While Faulkton did answer back on its first possession, the Trojans were never able to match the intensity displayed in the trenches by the Chargers.

“They played so well up front. Tip the hats right there,” said Faulkton coach Shayne Geditz. “They came out and played up front like a bunch of men and did a nice job.”

That was a stark contrast from the first meeting between the two teams when the Trojans won the battle on the line.

“The first time we played, their guys were in my face all the time,” Wittler said. “They’re really good up front. Creds to them, but our guys, they realized what it was like losing to them the first time, and they weren’t going to let that happen.”

The Chargers came out with a game plan, some moxie, and were determined to control the trenches in the rematch.

“We were prepared to play,” said Sully Buttes senior Bo McGee who was selected the Outstanding Lineman of the game.

When asked how the Chargers were able to do it, McGee said “Attitude for sure. Attitude and spirit.”

Moore knew the task at hand and he and his staff developed a plan to help neutralize Faulkton’s strength on the line.

“They run similar stuff to us, so that kind of helped us know what angles we had. They’ve got some dudes in some spots, so we knew that we’d have to have angles where we could go straight ahead on them,” Moore said. “Even defensively, whenever I went straight ahead, that’s when they had some big runs, so I had to constantly move people, get into gaps, just make adjustments.”

Whatever the formula or strategy, it helped to pave the way to the Chargers’ first state championship since 1989.

“We didn’t win the line of scrimmage today,” said Faulkton senior Gian DiMaria. “That’s a big part of the game. I think it’s one of the most important parts, and we just didn’t come out and win the line of scrimmage.”

After Faulkton had closed the gap to 8-6 in the opening quarter, the Chargers scored 24 unanswered points to pull away. Wittler fired a swing pass that Gavin Barber caught and raced 26 yards down the sideline for a score in the second quarter, before the two hooked up for a 31-yard TD pass in the third quarter. Wittler then tossed a short pass that Teaghan Westphal turned into a 68-yard scoring play, before Wittler broke free for a 66-yard TD run.

Sully Buttes was able to get its playmakers in space to help negate Faulkton’s strength up front.

“They did a nice job,” Geditz said. “They moved us around and they got guys moving, and they used that to their advantage.”

That was part of the game plan and it worked out well for the Chargers.

“When you spread people out in 9-man in an 11-man football field, it’s hard to cover stuff,” Moore said.

DiMaria passed for one touchdown (to Korbin Stark) and ran for another, as well as recording eight tackles to lead the Trojans. He took over the quarterback duties this season following the graduation of standout Layne Cotton last season.

“I knew I could throw the ball,” DiMaria said. “I was talking to coach and I was like, hey, I’ll jump in and try it out.”

DiMaria was one of numerous players who stepped up and did their part this season to help Faulkton get back to the state championship game.

“I’m so proud of these kids,” Geditz said. “I don’t think a lot of people gave us a shot after last year, but you know what, they battled, they worked hard, and they came back. It’s not fun to lose, but it’s still a lot to be proud of.”

In the end, nothing could prevent Sully Buttes from climbing to the top of the 9B football summit, including a journey that saw the Chargers win a road playoff game and be an underdog on more than one occasion.

“We used to that to fuel us, basically,” McGee said. “Nobody looked at us and thought we were a team, and we showed them.”

Wittler, who is also a standout basketball player for the Chargers, was asked how to top this state championship accomplishment.

“I don’t think you can,” Wittler said. “This will be one of the highest moments of my high school career, unless we can go to the state championship in basketball, which I think we can. We’ve got a really good team.”

Sully Buttes (11-1) 16 6 12 0 – 34

Faulkton (9-3) 6 0 0 8 – 14

First Quarter

SB – Wesley Wittler 17 run (Wittler run), 10:27.

F – Gian DiMaria 1 run, 4:26.

SB – Gavin Barber 26 pass from Wittler (Barber pass from Wittler), 1:29.

Second Quarter

SB – Barber 31 pass from Wittler, 3:47.

Third Quarter

SB – Teghan Westphal 68 pass from Wittler, 7:49.

SB – Wittler 66 run, 1:21.

Fourth Quarter

F – Korbin Stark 25 pass from DiMaria (Charlie Deiter pass from DiMaria), 10:19.

OFFENSE: Sully Buttes, rushing 27-197 (Wittler 18-158, Barber 8-42), passing 13-17-1 for 194 (Wittler 13-17-1 for 194), receiving (Barber 7-73, Westphal 1-68, Lucas Arcoren 3-45, Atticus Miles 2-8), first downs 15; Faulkton, rushing (Landon Coyle 19-79, Tristen Baloun 8-49), passing 1-11-1 for 169 (DiMaria 1-11-1 for 169), receiving (Charlie Deiter 7-113, Stark 1-25, Drake Mueller 2-19, Baloun 1-12), first downs 17.

DEFENSE: Sully Buttes, Taydon LaRosh 7 tackles and 1 sack, Wittler 7 tackles, Miles 6 tackles, Barber 6 tackles; Faulkton, DiMaria 8 tackles, Trey Machtemes 7 tackles, Coyle 5 tackles, Lincoln Dikoff 5 tackles.