GRAINFIELD - Victoria had two 100-yard rushers and overcame three turnovers Friday night to beat Wheatland-Grinnell 44-26 in the Sectional round of the 8-Man Division II playoffs.
With the win, Victoria (11-0) advances to the state semifinals for the 10th time in school history. They await the winner of Saturday's game between St. Francis and Caldwell.
Jayvon Pruitt rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Grant Schoenrock added 145 and three scores as Victoria rushed for 390 of their 427 yards of total offense.
Jayvon Pruitt's 17-yard touchdown run capped a nine-play, 55-yard scoring drive and gave the Knights an 8-0 lead after the first quarter.
A bad snap and two penalties kept Victoria off the board on their first possessIon and a fumble at their own 22 gave Wheatland-Grinnell their first scoring threat but Victoria got a fourth down stop late in the first quarter.
After a fumble at the Thunderhawk 24 ended a potential scoring drive with just under nine minutes to play in the second, Victoria would score on their next two possessions for a 24-6 halftime lead.
Schoenrock capped a 65-yard, five-play drive with a 16 yard touchedown run. He then hit Carson Werth on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:25 before halftime.
Wheatland-Grinnell's only score of the first half came on a 48 yard run on third down with 4:26 to play in ther quarter to make the score 16-6.
Wheatland-Grinnell scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the third quarter to close the gap to 30-20. Trey Vincent threw touchdown passes of 25 and 42 yards to Ryan Heier. They were sandwiched around a nine-yard Pruitt's nine-yard touchdown run for the Knights.
Following a 35-yard kickoff return by Drayden Karlin, Victoria built the lead back to two possessions with a 10-play scoring drive capped by a Schoenrock 3-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter to make the score 36-20.
The Thunderhawks appeared to seize the momentum on the next possession with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Vincent to Johnny Phillips but the play was called back after an offensive pass interference penalty.
Isaac Mendez recovered a fumble and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown to pull Wheatland-Grinnell within 36-26 with 4:51 to play but Victoria answered with a quick four-play, 50-yard scoring drive when ended with a 20-yard touchdown run from Schoenrock with 3:57 to play.
Schoenrock intercepted a pass on the Thunderhawks next possesson and Victoria ran out the clock.