VOLGA In a battle of two of the top three teams in Class 11B, it was No. 2 Sioux Valley who came out on top on Friday night as the Cossacks outlasted No. 3 Elk Point-Jefferson 17-14.
After scoring a combined three points in the first half, the two teams traded blows in the second half and it was the Cossacks (8-0) who threw the last haymaker as they outscored the Huskies (6-2) 14-7 in the fourth quarter.
Sioux Valley head coach Dan Hughes said it was just a matter of time before his offense got going.
The [offensive] line showed up to this game big time. [Defensive coordinator Jordan] Fast came up with a great plan for the defense. Coach [Jeremy] Bachman had an awesome plan with our offense and we knew that it was a matter of time before we ripped off some big runs, Hughes said.
The two teams each had just two possessions in the first half and the Cossacks were able to get points on their second possession. Each of the first three possessions of the half ended on fourth downs inside the opponents 20 yard line. Sioux Valley then worked its way inside the EPJ 20 as time was running down in the first half. After two false start penalties pushed the Cossacks back, Sioux Valley had just one second left to get the snap off for a field goal. Broden Teske got the snap off and Jameson Degen hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired to make it 3-0 at halftime.
That was huge,” Hughes said. Its just a testament to our special teams and how organized the kids are and how intelligent Broden Teske is being the center and snapping it on the whistle. Broden Teske is an unsung hero of our team this year and Im extremely proud of him.
The Cossacks got the ball out of halftime, but fumbled on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Two plays later Keaton Gale connected with Aiden Hammitt and the Huskies went up 7-3 just under a minute into the second half.
Sioux Valley worked its way into EPJ territory once again, but was stopped on fourth down for a third time and the Huskies took over. They would make it into Sioux Valley territory but faced a fourth and five heading into the fourth. EPJ opted to punt on that play and downed the ball on the Sioux Valley two yard line.
After Brock Christopher picked up four yards on the Cossacks first play on the drive, Donovan Rose finally broke one as he went 94 yards down the left sideline and gave the Cossacks a 10-7 lead with 10:58 left in the game.
The Huskies then drove the ball down the field and answered. They faced a third and two from the Cossack three yard line and Gunner Ewing drove his way into the end zone to give EPJ a 14-10 lead with 5:30 to play.
The Cossacks didnt flinch, though. Sioux Valley made its way near midfield and Rose came through again. This time he ran to the left side of the field but cut it back into the open field and ended up scoring from 54 yards out to put the Cossacks in front 17-14 with 2:43 left in the game.
Donovan Rose is the best running back in the state, Hughes said. I dont even want to compare him to the second best. He showed up to this game big time. That was a great run by him. It was great blocking on the perimeter and then Donovan took it the rest of the way. But hes the best player in South Dakota and he showed up for a big game like tonight.
Sioux Valley then needed to lean on its defense. After the first play for the Huskies went for a loss of one, a false start penalty pushed them back to second and 16. Three failed pass plays later the Cossacks took over and ran out the clock to seal the victory.
The strength of Elk Point is running up the middle, so we knew we had them where we wanted them in the last three minutes where they were forced to throw, Hughes said.
The Cossacks finished with 376 total yards and all of them came on the ground. Rose had 262 yards on 15 carries. Christopherson had 107 yards on 23 carries and Jakob Guthmiller had one carry that went for eight yards.
The Huskies had 200 yards on the ground. Beau Schmitz led the way with 77 yards on 17 carries. Gale had 52 yards on the ground and Luke Schmitz had 40 yards.
Gale was 5-of-8 for 66 yards. Hammits lone catch was the touchdown and Ashton Fairbanks had one catch for 20 yards.
The Cossack defense was led by Christopherson, who had 17 tackles. Andrew Gunderson had 11 tackles and Guthmiller and Rose each had 10 tackles.
Sioux Valley had four fumbles on the night, but were able to recover three of them.
Its been a tough couple weeks for the Volga and Arlington communities as Raegen and Aubree Nelson were in a car accident on Sept. 27. Reagan passed away on Oct. 1 and Aubree is still in the hospital. Raegan went to Sioux Valley and Aubree goes to school in Arlington.
Hughes said it was good for his team to face adversity on Friday night but its nothing compared to what the Nelson family has gone through.
It was good for us to face adversity. Were going to be thinking of the Nelson family this weekend. Theyre going through way more adversity than we are. The least we can do is play a football game, Hughes said.
Sioux Valley will be the No. 1 seed in the Class 11B Playoffs, which begin on Thursday. The Cossacks will host No. 16 seeded Deuel in the first round.
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