The South Dakota high school football playoffs are into the semifinal round, and three West River 11-man squads - St. Thomas More, Todd County and Winner - will play for a berth in a championship game at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.

The St. Thomas More Cavaliers (9-1 overall) will host Dakota Valley (7-3) in one Class 11A semifinal at O'Harra Stadium at 3 p.m. This marks the eighth time in the past nine years the Cavaliers have been in the semifinals of either Class 11B or Class 11A. They will be looking for their fifth berth in a state title game in the past six seasons against a Dakota Valley team that knocked off

No. 2-ranked Harrisburg 20-0 on Tuesday night.

"They'll be coming in here confident, and they should be," St. Thomas More head coach Wayne Sullivan said. "They've been improving all season and have gotten a couple of guys back towards the end of the year that have really helped them. They're playing really well."

The Panthers and Cavaliers are both smaller teams that rely on speed and quickness more than brawn. Dakota Valley, which is located in North Sioux City, lost its three games to Canton (14-7), No. 1-ranked Class 11B Tri-Valley (28-7) and Dell Rapids (40-14) this year.

"From what I've seen on the tapes of them they aren't really big, they've got some big guys but not the 260-pounders that some other East River teams have, but they fly to the ball defensively," Sullivan said of the Panthers, which don't have a player listed over 200 pounds on the roster.

The Cavaliers will have to deal with a spread offense led by Dakota Valley quarterback Matt Lupkes, a 5-foot-9-inch, 170-pounder that Sullivan obviously thinks highly of.

"You remember Eric Barker?" Sullivan said of the More standout that played quarterback, running back and defensive back before going on to become an all-conference cornerback at Chadron State. "(Lupkes) is basically just like Barker. They like to put him in the shotgun, spread you out and let him do his thing."

On the other side of the Class 11A bracket, Todd County (8-2) will take on Milbank (7-3) in Milbank. The Falcons knocked off Chamberlain and Pine Ridge to make it to the semifinals, while Milbank beat Dell Rapids and Sisseton. Canku One Star leads Todd County from his quarterback position.

The Class 11B bracket is as loaded as it can possibly be as the four remaining teams - Winner, Tri-Valley, Wagner and Aberdeen Roncalli - have a combined record of 40-0. Winner will host Wagner and Roncalli will travel to Colton to play the No. 1 team in the South Dakota Sportswriters Association poll to see which undefeated teams will square off in the Dome.

The Class 11AA bracket will see Sioux Falls O'Gorman (10-1) travel to top seed Aberdeen Central (11-0) for a rematch of the two teams' season-opener, which Aberdeen won 24-16. On the other side of the bracket, the No. 1 team in the South Dakota Sportswriters Association poll, Sioux Falls Washington (11-0), will take on Brandon Valley (10-1). That game will be the first meeting of the season between the Lynx and Warriors.

The South Dakota high school football championships will be in Vermillion from Nov. 12-14.