Yellow Medicine East head coach Mike Gaffaney said he was a little concerned about the Sting's opening opponent in the Section 5AA playoffs because they had just faced them in the regular season finale less than a week prior to Tuesday's matchup.

But the Sting weren't fazed as they defeated Lac qui Parle Valley 43-7 Tuesday night in Granite Falls to advance to the section semifinals against BOLD.

"The kids were focused," said Gaffaney. "I think it comes down to our seniors. Four have played (varsity) since they were sophomores, so we have a nice nucleus of senior leadership and that did it."

Junior Bobby Lecy opened the scoring for the Sting with a 5-yard run in the first quarter and Derek Dyrdahl extended the lead when he found the end zone on a 29-yard rush to round out the first quarter scoring.

Senior Mason Hegna then found the end zone for the first time to open the second quarter to give the Sting a 21-0 lead.

YME eventually went on to take a commanding 35-0 lead at the half and the Sting never looked back.

The Eagles added a score in the fourth quarter but it came up well short as the Sting added another score of their own to make the final score 43-7.

Dyrdahl finished the night with 123 yards rushing on 11 carries and Tyler Sand followed with 43. Sand also had 10 tackles and one sack, while Justin Tongen had three tackles and a 55-yard interception for a touchdown in the second quarter.

YME will travel to Olivia Saturday at 7 p.m.

"They will line up with two tight ends and they are going to run it at us," Gaffaney said of BOLD. "We're going to have to rely on our defense like we have all year."

LQPV 0 0 0 7-7

YME 14 21 0 8-43

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

YME-Bobby Lecy 5 run (Nick Lecy kick)

YME-Derek Dyrdahl 29 run (Nick Lecy kick)

Second Quarter

YME-Mason Hegna 1 run (Nick Lecy Kick)

YME-Tyler Sand 2 run (Nick Lecy kick)

YME-Justin Tongen 55 interception return (Nick Lecy kick)

Fourth Quarter

YME-Dylan Hoffman 1 run (Levi Specht run)

LQPV-Sam Haas 79 run (kick good)

YME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Derek Dyrdahl 11-123, Tyler Sand 11-43, Bobby Lecy 3-37, Mason Hegna 5-29, Dylan Hoffman 4-15, Ethan Weber 3-17, Levi Specht 3-12.

Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Lecy 1-4-10-0.

Receiving: Dylan Lindstrom 1-10.

Defensive: Sand 10, Lecy 1, Justin Tongen 3, Walter Juarez 2.

INT: Lecy, Tongen, Juarez.