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The Arlington Cardinals and Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan Seahawks both came into the Dakota

Dome in Vermillion with not a lot in common on Thursday afternoon.

They did not play each other during the season, and did not share any common opponents.

What these teams did share was a 10-1 record entering this title game, and a proud

nine-man football tradition. The Seahawks had won five of the last 12 class 9AA

championships, while Arlington had two class 9AA championshps to their credit. So it was

two great football teams that took the field for the 2013 class 9AA championship.

Arlington took the ball first ran five plays before Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan's JD Shape

intercepted an Andrew King pass. Seven plays later, Wade Miller plunged in from a yard

out for the game's opening score. Jordan Grosdidier added the two-point conversion, and

the Seahawks led 8-0 with 6:47 in the first quarter. BEE continued their ground

offensive after the next Arlington drive stalled. This time it was eight running plays

and Miller capped the drive with a 6 yard touchdown run, his second of the afternoon.

Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan led after the first quarter 14-0.

Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan stretched their advantage after stopping the Cardinals on

fourth-and-goal. The Seahawks drove 99 yards in 11 plays before Blake Bartscher hit an

open JD Shape in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion gave

Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan a 22-0 lead with 1:39 left in the first half. Arlington had

another nice drive going including a spectacular one-handed catch by Luke Weber, but

(INSERT NAME) fumbled with less than a minute to go, and Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan took a

22-0 lead into halftime.

The Seahawks took the second half kickoff and used 7 plays driving the ball to the

Arlington 10-yard line before being stopped there on fourth down with just over 8

minutes to go in the third quarter. Arlington again drove the ball to the goal line, and

faced fourth and goal at the BEE 5-yard line, and King's pass was again intercepted by

Miller in the end zone for Arlington's fourth turnover of the game, and the third

quarter ended with no further scoring. Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan held a 22-0 lead with 12

minutes to play in the class 9AA season.

On the ensuing drive after the interception, Miller scored his third touchdown run of

the game, this time a 3-yard run, which coupled with the two-point conversion gave

Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan a 30-0 lead with 8:52 to play.

Arlington was finally able to score with 6:35 left in the game after an 8-play 75-yard

drive when King ran the ball for a 3-yard touchdown run. The conversion attempt failed,

however, and Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan led 30-6.

The Seahawks proceeded to grind 4:47 off the clock before Bartscher made the

championship-sealing score from a yard out to take a 36-6 lead with 1:47 to play. But

that was beside the point -- A moment of celebration was had when Jace Connor, who was

the BEE quarterback during their 2011 state championship, entered the game during this

drive. Connor had suffered a bad construction accident over the summer and was unable to

play during the season. This was a nice way for Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan to cap their

sixth class 9AA championship and their third in the last four years with a 36-6 win.

Miller won the Joe Robbie Most Outstanding Player award with 107 rushing yards, 3

rushing touchdowns, and 2 interceptions during the game.

SCORE BY QUARTERS                       1     2     3     4-FINAL
BRIDGEWATER-EMERY/ETHAN 14     8     0    14-36
ARLINGTON                                          0     0     0     6- 6

GAME STATS
RUSHING: BEE: Grosdidier 20-122-0TD; Miller 24-107-3; Bartscher 8-55-1; Riggs 1-1-0.

ARLINGTON: King 17-82-1TD; Weber 12-51-0; Lemme 4-34-0TD; Parker 3-4-0TD.

PASSING: BEE: Bartscher 3-3-64-1TD-0INT. ARLINGTON: King 8-16-120-0TD-3INT.

RECEIVING: BEE: Miller 1-54-0TD; Shape 1-13-1TD; Grosdidier 1-(-3)-0. ARLINGTON: Weber

5-86-0TD; Lemme 2-25-0; Kangas 1-9-0.