ALGONA — It’s pretty safe to say Marty Wadle and the Bishop Garrigan coaching staff has figured out what eight-player football is all about.

The defending state champion Golden Bears earned their second straight trip to the UNI-Dome, and their 23rd consecutive win overall, with a dominating 51-36 victory over Edgewood-Colesburg here Thursday night at Conway Field.

Bishop Garrigan (11-0 overall) will join Lenox, Remsen St. Mary’s and Gladbrook-Reinbeck on Wednesday from Cedar Falls.

“It’s a tremendous feeling, especially for the seniors, to be headed back to the semifinals,” Wadle said. “It’s never been done (qualifying two years in a row) at the school, so that is very exciting.”

Trayton Cink, Ethan Marso and Tate Foertsch accounted for all seven touchdowns, with all seven coming on the ground. Cink and Marso each ran in three while Foertsch had one late in the fourth.

Cink ran 21 times for 200 yards, Foertsch had 11 carries for 101 and Marso ran 20 times for 94. Garrigan ran for 399 yards as a team while holding the Vikings to just 156.

“Our defense had an incredible plan coming in and executed,” Wadle said. “All the credit goes to the kids for coming out and executing. The coaches put them in the right spots and they made the plays.”

After Edgewood-Colesburg, who earned a 6-0 victory over Garrigan back in 2018, got on the board in the first, Bishop Garrigan scored 16 unanswered on short TD runs by Marso and Cink. Following a Pryce Rochford touchdown pass, Cink gave the Golden Bears a 24-14 lead just before the half.

Cink came out and scored on the opening drive of the third quarter, taking it 55 yards. Marso made it 36-14 with his second score of the night later in the quarter.

Marso finished off another long drive with a TD before Foertsch went in and completed the conversion to make it 51-30.

“We saw things that we could take advantage of,” Wadle said. “We felt like we could have some success running the ball, and Trayton, Tate and Ethan all did a tremendous job. But the offensive line, including the tight ends, were the difference. Those kids were outstanding blocking up front.”

Rochford, the state leader with 45 rushing touchdowns and 58 combined scores on the year directing the highest scoring team, was harassed all night by the BGHS defense. He did lead the Vikings to 22 points in the fourth, but each time, the Golden Bears answered.

“When you can hold a kid who came in with over 2,500 yards rushing to 111, you’ve done something pretty special,” Wadle said. “Again, just a testament to what our coaches have done this past week and all year.”

Andrew Lichter led the way on defense with 15 tackles, Marso had 10 and Drew Muller had nine.

Bishop Garrigan will take on 2022 champion Remsen St. Mary’s at 10 a.m. while Gladbrook-Reinbeck faces Lenox at 1 p.m. Last season, the Golden Bears topped the Hawks in the quarterfinals.

The first two years of eight-player saw Bishop Garrigan go 6-11 overall. They won the final game of the 2022 season and have gone 24-1 since with the lone loss coming to St. Edmond last year in the opener.