The Minneota football team walked off its home field on an emotional high following its 33-26 victory over then-undefeated Dawson-Boyd on Oct. 9 - a win that put the Vikings in the driver's seat to claim the Little Sioux Conference title. But in the back of their minds, the Vikings knew that wasn't going to be the last they would see of the Blackjacks.

Friday, Dawson-Boyd (8-2) will have another shot at Minneota (10-0) in the Section 5A finals, and this time a trip to the state tournament is on the line.

"After the game, we said that barring something that we weren't expecting, we definitely felt that we'd be seeing them again," Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said.

In the teams' first meeting, the Vikings had a 33-14 lead with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter before Dawson-Boyd came back to cut final margin to eight points.

The game pitted the two best teams in the conference against each other, but Dawson-Boyd head coach Cory Larson said neither team played a perfect game.

"Both teams left some points on the field, whether it be because of turnovers on downs or turnovers," he said. "Defensively we needed to be a little more physical up front and do a better job of tackling as a team."

Both coaches said their teams will have to play a better game to come out with a win in the rematch. With the way each team has been playing since their first meeting, the Vikings and the Blackjacks seem to be in top form.

The win over Dawson-Boyd was Minneota's slimmest margin of victory this season. The Vikings, who are ranked No. 2 in the state, have defeated their opponents by an average of 45.9 points per game and their defense has given up only 8.3 points per game in 10 contests.

Running back Brandon Anderson leads the charge for the Vikings' offense. He has 1,246 yards this year, including racking up 239 yards in Minneota's 54-8 win over Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Saturday.

Although Anderson has a substantial amount of yards, the Minneota offense is far from one-dimensional. Quarterback Sam Derynck has thrown for 1,341 yards on the year with 19 touchdowns. His main target is one of the top receivers in the area. Tony Noyes has caught 74 balls this year for more than 600 yards.

"Brandon has really come along since last year," Johnston said. "I think he reaps the benefits of having a lot of successful people around him. With the balance of our offense, you can't key on anyone."

The Blackjacks' offense is also multifaceted. Running back Matt Anderson has rushed for 1,299 yards and quarterback Ryan Swenson's 196 yards passing in Dawson-Boyd's win over MACCRAY Saturday put him over 1,000 yards for the year.

His players have put up impressive numbers, but Larson said stats and scores during the season mean nothing coming into this game.

"I think our guys have played with a high level of energy and intensity to finish the season," he said. "They know they'll need to bring that onto the field again or Minneota can run right over you."

Minneota and Dawson-Boyd are geared up for a chance to play in the state tournament, but each team has some recent history to overcome.

Last year, the Vikings were overtaken by eventual state champion Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the final seconds of the fourth quarter in the section finals. Johnston said that loss has fueled his Minneota team for the past year.

"That's probably been our biggest motivator," he said. "All of our guys who came back this year know what it's like to walk off that field knowing that they were so close. They don't want to walk off the field feeling that same way this time."

Dawson-Boyd was also upended by KMS two seasons ago in the section finals. A win for the Blackjacks in that game would have marked the school's first state tournament appearance.

Coming into the 2009 season, the Blackjacks knew they had a special team and set their sights on making history.

"One of our goals to start the season was to get to state," Larson said. "We've talked about being the first team to make it to the state tournament and what it would feel like and now we've given ourselves the opportunity to do it."

The Blackjacks took care of KMS in the first round of the playoffs, defeating the Fighting Saints 49-0. With the defending champions out of the picture, a new team will emerge as Section 5A champion and write itself into its school's history book, while the loser will have to wait yet another year for its shot at redemption.