STURGIS, SD – The Sturgis Scoopers jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 38-6 win on Friday night during Military Appreciation Night at Woodle Field.
The South Dakota Army National Guard provided camouflage uniforms to the Sturgis players, giving the team a different look as they marched on to the gridiron. The game started with military precision and an ambush as the Scoopers pulled a surprise out of the playbook on the first kickoff of the game, perfectly executing an onside kick and recovering the ball at the Mitchell 45-yard line.
“That’s just something we saw on film,” explained Scooper head coach Chris Koletzky. “It’s just one of those deals we practiced all week and the boys bought into it and I knew we had a really good shot of getting it. They lined up the way we saw, and it was there, and they executed it great.”
The Scoopers took over and drove the ball to the Mitchell 13-yard line but the Kernel defense held, forcing Sturgis kicker Sully Jost to boot a 31-yard field goal. Sturgis led 3-0 with 9:47 left in the first quarter.
Mitchell had the football on their own 36-yard line in decent field position for their first series but was plagued by penalties and was forced to punt, giving the ball back to Sturgis at their 46. Scooper quarterback Aiden Hedderman ran the offense to perfection, moving the ball in chunks down the field and ending in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jost, who found space in the left corner of the end zone. The kick was good and Sturgis led 10-0 headed into the second quarter.
The Scooper defense came up big on the first play of the second quarter, as linebacker Dalyn Dschaak read the eyes of Kernel quarterback Lukas Chenoweth, picking off his pass and taking it to the house for a pick six with just ten seconds gone in the quarter, giving Sturgis a 17-0 lead.
The Kernels went four-and-out on their next series and was forced to punt. Mitchell punter Tyson Sabers was pressured and had to sidestep a Scooper defender, then muffed the punt, giving Sturgis stellar field position at the Kernel 20-yard line. Three plays later, Jost took the handoff and bullied his way through the Mitchell defense, scoring a touchdown from 13-yards out, giving Sturgis a 24-0 halftime lead.
“I was really proud of the week of practice that we had, it was really something,” said Kolezky. “I’m saying that because of our workout that we did on Monday. We went and ran some hills and the boys really just pushed each other, carried each other. They really came out and executed in the first half.”
Sturgis started with good field position in their first series of the second half and the coaches decided to work on the passing game, but the Mitchell defense was ready and picked off a Hedderman pass with just two minutes gone in the third quarter, taking over on their own 22-yard line. The Kernel offense ground out a 78-yard touchdown drive that took more than five minutes off the clock. Chenoweth ran in a score from six yards out to put Mitchell on the scoreboard. The two-point conversion failed and Sturgis led 24-6 going into the fourth quarter.
The Scoopers went back to the ground and pound running game in the fourth, scoring on a five-yard plunge by Jost and a seven-yard run up the middle by reserve quarterback Carter Williams, putting the game out of reach and making the final score Sturgis 38, Mitchell 6.
The Scoopers rolled up 297 yards of total offense in the game. Sturgis ran the ball 30 times for 235 yards and were led by Hedderman, who had 99 yards rushing. Jost added 65 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Hedderman was 12 of 18 passing for 62 yards, with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jost. The Scoopers had one turnover and nine penalties for 60 yards. Scooper running back and return specialist Jost was responsible for 26 of the 38 Scooper points.
“He’s amazing and it doesn’t surprise me,” gushed Koletzky. “We saw it this summer and we knew he was going to be something special. He really gives us that aspect of a ‘big play’ ability, and he has a great ability to read his blocks and he’s a great teammate. He’s one of the reasons that we went to picking an underclassman as a captain. He got it for his game one performance, and he might get it again, we will see. He’s just a great talent and a great kid.”
Mitchell finished with 248 yards of offense, 105 yards rushing on 34 carries and 143 yards passing. Kernel running back Hudson Borgan had five carries for 59 yards late in the fourth quarter. Mitchell had seven penalties for 65 yards and one interception.
Sturgis improves to 2-0 on the season with the victory and Mitchell falls to 0-2. The Scoopers travel east next weekend and will take on Aberdeen Central on Saturday, with the kickoff scheduled for 4pm Mountain Time.
