When the teams left the Anchorage Football Stadium turf late Saturday night, South took with it a victory that makes it the home team in a first-round playoff game a few weeks from now.
Dimond departed knowing it played hard to literally the final second, but with no hopes for a postseason berth.
Anchored by the menacing defense of junior linebacker Dalton Sauder and a timely interception from junior defensive back Aaron Esplin, South scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns en route to a playoff-clinching 24-19 win.
The Wolverines bounced back from a bruising loss last weekend to Service to improve to 5-2 overall and 5-1 in the Cook Inlet Conference.
The victory locked the Wolverines into the league's second of four playoff spots, meaning they will welcome a Railbelt Conference team to Anchorage in the opening round of games Oct. 7-8.
"It was a game of pride," said Sauder. "We know (Dimond) so well and it was good to come out here and get our momentum back."
Sauder spent a great deal of evening pestering Dimond's towering quarterback Ryden Hines (6-foot-8), seemingly blitzing the Lynx signal-caller every down and chasing him all over the field. Sauder hit Hines repeatedly, recorded a sack and pressured Hines into throwing the pick to Esplin with 4 minutes, 19 seconds remaining and South leading by 12 points (24-12). Esplin made a splendid recovery in the end zone after first bobbling the ball before returning the interception 26 yards.
"My coaches wanted me to put some pressure on the quarterback and get some interceptions," Sauder said. "That's what we did. The DBs picked up the pace and played a great game.
"I blitz, but I read as well. If the ball is not going my way, I read off of it. We had a great week of practice -- it was a blast out there."
South scored three touchdowns on a night when the teams combined for 24 penalties and 235 penalty yards, numbers that don't exactly scream fast-paced football.
William Krolick hauled in Zach Lujan's 25-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Tommy Hopp (8 yards) and Gabe Steele (1 yard) scored on fourth-quarter runs.
South ran for 181 yards on 43 carries. Fullback Michael Wilson paced the Wolverines with 43 yards on nine carries.
Lujan proved an efficient quarterback, completing 11 of 14 passes for 142 yards.
The junior also stood at midfield after the game for a joint radio interview with Hines, his cousin. The two smiled so much when talking about the game and one another it was difficult to discern which player came up on the losing end.
"It was the last time I'll play football against him," said Hines, a Dimond senior. "But I still get to look forward to basketball."
Hines withstood numerous hits to throw for 171 yards and the touchdown. He also ran for a team-high 47 yards and scored a touchdown with one second remaining.
"I wasn't going to quit on teammates no matter the final score," he said.
Dimond 0 12 0 7 -- 19
South 3 7 0 14 -- 24
First Quarter
South -- Toomey 21 FG, 4:36.
Second Quarter
South -- Krolick 25 pass from Lujan (Toomey kick), 11:43.
Dimond -- Tufaga 39 pass from Hines (Corral kick), 10:26.
Dimond -- Corral 32 FG, 2:11.
Dimond -- Safety, ball fumbled out of end zone, 1:25.
Fourth Quarter
South -- Hopp 8 run (Toomey kick), 10:32.
South -- Steele 1 run (Toomey kick), 6:06.
Dimond -- Hines 1 run (Corral kick), 0:01.
Dimond South
First downs 14 14
Rushes-yards 38-92 43-181
Passing yards 171 142
Return yards 82 93
Passes 13-24-1 11-14-1
Punts 7-32.0 3-31.6
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 13-115 11-120
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Dimond: Hines 12-47, Stephens 14-43, Griffth 1-3, Tufaga 4-2, Chong 1-2, Pili 6-(-2). South: Wilson 9-43, Steele 8-39, Hopp 11-38, Erickson 8-25, Williams 2-27, Silsbee 2-22, Toomey 1-(-1), Lujan 2-(-12).
PASSING -- Dimond: Hines 13-24-1--171, Smith 0-0-0-0. South: Lujan 11-14-1--142.
RECEIVING -- Dimond: Tufaga 3-56, Stephens 5-60, Duclos 1-30, Pili 1-11, Smith 1-9, Lutton 1-4, Griffith 1-1. South: Page 2-49, Krolick 3048, Hopp 1-17, Wilson 1-10, Alston 1-6, Williams 1-5, Erickson 1-4, Steele 1-3.
By MATT NEVALA
Daily News correspondent