The Bennett County Warriors will play for a South Dakota high school state championship in football after scoring a miraculous touchdown involving three laterals to defeat Kimball/White Lake in the Class 9A semifinals on Friday.

Trailing 44-38 with six seconds remaining, Bennett County snapped the ball from their own 33-yard line, quarterback Maddux Risse threw a pass to receiver Ryker Heath. Heath advanced approximately 10 years, then threw a lateral back to Risse (taking a hard hit in the process).

From there, Risse tossed a backward pass near the sideline to receiver Rush O'Neill. O'Neill threw another lateral back to Risse, but the ball hit the turf — and that's where the true trickery occurred.

Risse acted as if the pass was incomplete when the ball bounced to him, standing in place. The Kimball/White Lake defenders then celebrated, believing the game was over. However, the play was still live because O'Neill threw a lateral. As the defense ran toward the sideline, Risse dashed down the field, going 57 yards for the game-tying touchdown as time expired.

O'Neill followed with an extra-point kick for a 45-44 win, sending Bennett County to the state championship game.

The Warriors trailed by 12 points in the second half before tying the score at 38-38 on a 93-yard pass from Risse to O'Neill. And Bennett County got the ball back after stopping Kimball/White Lake on a fourth-down play.

Bennett County will play for the state championship with a 10-1 record after going 3-6 last season, according to USA Today. It's the program's first winning record since 2016. (Kimball/White Lake finished its season 7-4.) The Warriors will face Freeman (9-1) on Nov. 12 at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, playing in their first-ever state title game.