MADISON – Parker Rykhus scored a pair of touchdowns and the Bobcats rallied from an early 9-0 deficit to beat Class 11A power Madison 22-9 on Friday night at Trojan Field.
Brookings improved to 4-0 with the victory.
The Bulldogs, who were celebrating Homecoming, came out fast.
Trey Smith capped a 14-play, 73-yard drive with an 8-yard TD run 4:59 into the game.
Smith added a 26-yard field goal at the 6:26 mark of the second to make it 9-0.
Brookings recovered a fumble in Madison territory late in the half to set up Rykhus’ first score – a 3-yard run with 1:28 showing on the clock. Payton Theodosopoulos’ PAT kick cut the deficit to 9-7.
The Bobcat defense settled in in the second half and the offense continued to grind.
Rykhus had a 27-yard catch from Tanner Shepardson on third-and-6 to move the ball to the 3-yard-line.
Carter Eidem, who ran for 92 yards on 15 attempts, found paydirt on the next play. Preston Helmbolt ran in the two-point conversion, giving Brookings a 15-9 lead with 11:30 remaining in the game.
Madison went three-and-out and a short punt set the guests up at the Bulldog 33. Rykhus had a key 7-yard run on fourth-and-1 to move the ball to the 17. Helmbolt’s catch set the ‘Cats up with first-and-goal at the 1.
Rykhus finished it off after that and Theodosopoulos’ PAT kick provided for the final margin with 6:08 to play.
Rykhus ran 10 times for 42 yards with the two scores and added five catches covering 45 yards.
Shepardson was 11-of-19 for 110 yards with a pair of interceptions through the air while running for 33 yards.
Gus Miller paced the defense with 11 tackles, including three for loss (one sack).
Wes Koenig made nine stops, Caden McKeown eight, Cole Mahlum seven and Brady Ammann and Helmbolt six apiece.
Rhett Zelinsky and Theo Burns both recovered fumbles.
Madison held a 278-274 edge in total offense. Brookings outgained the home team 164-53 on the ground.
The Bulldogs’ Tyler Tappe finished 25-of-31 for 225 yards, doing a majority of his damage in the opening half. Smith ran 16 times for 45 yards.
Madison (2-2) dropped back-to-back games for the first time since 2012, when it fell 27-21 to Harrisburg in its opener and 35-7 to West Central in Week 2.
The Bulldogs head to Tea Area next week.
Brookings plays host to Douglas for Homecoming on Friday at 7 p.m.
BROOKINGS 22, MADISON 9
Brookings (4-0) 0 7 0 15 – 22
Madison (2-2) 6 3 0 0 – 9
First Quarter
M – Trey Smith 8 run (kick failed), 7:01
Second Quarter
M – Smith 26 FG, 6:26
B – Parker Rykhus 3 run (Payton Theodosopoulos kick), 1:28
Fourth Quarter
B – Carter Eidem 3 run (Preston Helmbolt run), 11:30
B – Rykhus 1 run (Theodosopoulos kick), 6:08
B M
First Downs 13 13
Plays-Yards 57-274 49-278
Rushes-Yards 38-164 28-53
C-A-Int.-Yards 11-19-2-110 25-31-0-225
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-2
Penalties-Yards 6-39 4-20
Punts-Avg. 5-36 4-37
Punt Returns-Yards-TD 1-3-0 0-0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards-TD 2-53-0 3-15-0
INT Returns-Yards-TD 0-0-0 2-0-0
Fumble Returns-Yards-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0
Possession Time 26:22 21:38
Sacks By-Yards 1-2 2-6
Field Goals 0-for-0 1-for-1
RUSHING: B – Carter Eidem 15-92, Parker Rykhus 10-42, Tanner Shepardson 9-33, Preston Helmbolt 1-0, TEAM 2-0, Matt Girard 1-(-3). M – Trey Smith 16-45, Tyler Tappe 10-6, Chris Reece 1-1, Mason Avery 1-1.
PASSING: B – Tanner Shepardson 11-19-2-10. M – Tyler Tappe 25-31-0-225.
RECEIVING: B – Parker Rykhus 5-45, Preston Helmbolt 3-45, Carter Eidem 3-20. M – Jacob Unterbrunner 6-70, Mason Avery 6-34, Carter Bergheum 5-64, Mickale Dohrer 5-34, Trey Smith 3-23.
DEFENSE: B – Gus Miller 11 tackles, sack; Wes Koenig 9 tackles; Caden McKeown 8 tackles; Cole Mahlum 7 tackles; Brady Ammann 6 tackles; Preston Helmbolt 6 tackles; Rhett Zelinsky FR; Theo Burns FR. M – Zach Whitlock 11 tackles, sack; Carter Bergheim 7 tackles; Cody Brown 7 tackles; Brock Minnaert INT; Blaine Tucek INT.
