The final score of the Division II state semifinal game between the host Vian Wolverines and the visiting Dibble Demons on Friday night at St. John Stadium might not exactly show that the game was close for a while.

After falling behind 7-0 in the opening quarter, the first time the Wolverines have been behind at any point of a game since the Week 2 road loss to Kiefer, the Wolverines ended up scoring the final 42 points of the game to win going away 42-7 over the Demons.

The Wolverines (111), winners of 10 straight games since the Kiefer loss, will get their rematch with the Davis Wolves, who beat them 28-18 in last season’s Class 2A, Division II state championship game at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Chad Richison Stadium in Edmond last December, in the state semifinals on Dec. 5 at a time and a place to be determined by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Association.

“They turned it on,” Vian coach Gary Willis said about his team’s response after falling behind early. “Dibble is a good team. They came out ready to play, too. We had a couple of costly penalties on that first (scoring) drive (for Dibble). We settled in, and the defense really played great.”

Trailing 7-0 with 7:15 left in the first quarter, the Wolverines went 80 yards, with the final 55 of those yards coming on a touchdown pass from Cash Trammel to Masyn Wright with 4:01 remaining in the period. Trammel’s extra point knotted the game at 7-all after the first quarter.

The Wolverines took the lead for good when Trammel connected with Ledger Folsom on a 64-yard TD pass. Trammel’s PAT put Vian ahead 14-7 with 4:16 left before halftime.

It was on the ensuing possession by the Demons (9-3) that the biggest play of the game took place.

After forcing the Demons to punt, Tucker Skipper, the quarterback and punter, caught a high snap, but he decided to try to hit his outside man to try to convert a fourth down. However, at the last second, Folsom got over there to knock down the pass to stop Dibble on fourth down and give the ball to Vian at the Dibble 23-yard line with 2:41 remaining in the first half.

The Wolverines cashed in the takeaway as Amos Wright caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Trammel with 1:13 left before halftime. Trammel’s extra point put Vian ahead 21-7 at halftime.

“It was huge,” Willis said about Folsom’s batted- down pass on fourth down, setting up the lastminute TD before halftime. “That was the play (of the game) right there.”

The Wolverines had another crack at a third TD of the second period, only to see Dibble’s Jett Norman pick off a Trammel pass at the Dibble 45-yard line with 10 seconds remaining before halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Vian defense got on the scoring as Adolf Stahl intercepted Skipper’s pass and returned it 31 yards for the pick-6. Trammel’s PAT upped the Vian advantage to 28-7 with 6:36 left to play in the game.

Stahl made his presence felt once more on Dibble’s ensuing possession as he once more picked off Skipper’s pass and returned it six yards to the Vian 31-yard line with 5:50 remaining to play.

The Wolverines actually scored two touchdowns on the ensuing drive. Masyn Wright scored on what would have been a 73-yard TD run, only to have it negated by an illegal block in the back penalty.

However, the Wolverines still turned the drive into a touchdown as Masyn Wright took it to the house from 30yards out. Trammel’s extra point made it 35-7 with 2:52 left to play.

The Wolverines put their second stringers in to finish the game, and they, too, helped the Wolverines dent the scoreboard one last time.

With 1:14 remaining in the game, Skipper’s pass was deflected by Riley Simon into the hands of teammate Carter Masden, who returned the pick-6 42 yards for the score. Trammel hit the PAT.

“I can’t say enough about the defense,” Willis said. “The defense coaches did a good job getting the players ready. It started there (with the defensive unit) and the players came through.”

The Demons took the opening possession.

Thanks to two chop block penalties called on the Wolverines, the Demons went 57 yards as Norman scored on a 13-yard TD run. Miguel Partita-Morales kicked the extra point to put Dibble ahead 7-0 with 7:15 left in the first quarter. It marked the first time since the Wolverines fell behind in the fourth quarter in the 3029 loss to Kiefer on Sept. 12.