Prep football: Blackjacks face Canby for trip to state

The 9-1 Dawson-Boyd football team is riding a five game winning streak heading into its Section 5A championship game on Friday against a familiar foe in Canby at 5 p.m. Friday at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall.
The two teams met less than a month ago in Canby and the Blackjacks prevailed over the 5-5 Lancers 27-0.
“Even though we had a shutout we had a few missed tackles,” Dawson-Boyd head coach Cory Larson said. “Our execution offensively should have been converted into touchdowns. Our best offensive lineman, Zach Stratmoen was out of the game.”
The Blackjacks are seeking their second state championship in four years. In 2013, Dawson-Boyd lost to Mahnomen 46-13 in the Class A title game at the Metrodome. The Blackjacks own one of the stingiest defenses in the Little Sioux Conference. The varsity defense has not allowed a score in more than 20 quarters.
“In weeks five through eight, we didn’t give up 100 yards passing, total,” Larson said. “We have gotten pressure on the quarterback and it makes teams one-dimensional.”
Dawson- Boyd’s leading tackler, defensive end Dalton Kostad, has 40 tackles to go along with nine sacks. The Blackjacks surrender only 8.4 points per game. In October, the defense has only allowed two touchdowns, both against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.
The Blackjacks are led on offense by junior quarterback Jess Hansen, who has thrown for 1,157 yards and 13 touchdowns with only four interceptions. The Dawson-Boyd running attack is anchored by senior Dalton Palmer, who has 1,529 rushing yards on just 170 attempts and he’s scored 19 touchdowns. He is averaging 152.9 yards per game.
“(Palmer’s) not a very big kid, but he is such a tough-nosed runner,” Larson said. “He is very fast with the football in his hands.”
Through the air, the Blackjacks have a large target in 6-foot-5 wide receiver Michael Lee, who has at least one catch in every game this season. He has accounted for 772 reception yards with 12 touchdowns.
Canby ended the regular season right in the middle of the Little Sioux Conference. The Lancers are looking to pull the upset as they have not been back to the state tournament since the school’s only appearance in 2000.
Quarterback Mathew Sisk leads a balanced offense that produced 138.5 pass yards per game and 116.5 yards per game in the regular season. He threw for 901 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Lancers have a three-headed running attack with Brock Nothem, Justin Merritt and Sisk. All three ran for more than 200 yards during the season. Last week, Nothem ran for 175 yards on only 13 carries and two scores in the Lancers’ 42-6 win over No. 2-seed Wabasso.
Sisk’s top two targets are Billy Deslauriers, who led the team with 400 yards and two touchdowns. However, over half of his yards came in games against Murray County Central (129) and Lac qui Parle Valley (144).
Kristian Leppke, a 6-foot-4, 240-pounder, was second on the team with 20 receptions for 249 yards and six touchdowns.
Canby averaged 19.7 points during the regular season but averaged 41 points per game in two section contests. The Blackjacks could exploit the Lancers’ defense, which allowed 23.9 points per game this season, although they have surrendered just 13.5 per game in their last four games.
Three defensive players for Canby surpassed 50 total tackles, led by senior Josh Gallegos with 57.
Game time temperature is going to be around 30 degrees with a slight west breeze around seven miles per hour. If the Lancers’ defense can maintain its current pace, they might be able to pull off the upset.