Bennett County's Triple-Lateral Miracle Beats Kimball/White Lake 45-44 for First State Title Game Berth
MARTIN, South Dakota — Bennett County High School's football team pulled off an unbelievable comeback on the night of November 6, beating Kimball/White Lake 45-44 in the Class 9A state semifinals to reach the state championship game for the first time in school history. With 6 seconds left, Kimball/White Lake had just scored to go ahead by 6, leaving Bennett County one desperate lateral play. The Warriors lateraled twice to keep the ball alive, and Rush O'Neill tossed it back to Maddox Risse; the ball bounced loose and opposing players, thinking it an incomplete pass, began celebrating — but a lateral is a live ball, a fumble under the rules. Risse scooped it up and raced into the end zone for the touchdown, and the extra point after time expired sealed the win. The final is set for 1 p.m. on November 12 at the DakotaDome in Vermillion against 9-1 Freeman. It completes a total one-season turnaround: Bennett County is 10-1 after going 3-6 last year — its first winning season since 2016, in a stretch that included a 20-52 overall record and a winless 2022.
Source: USA Today
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：橄榄球场夜景（资料图）。Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 3.0。 / Photo: A football stadium at night (file photo). Via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
