STURGIS, S.D. – The Sturgis defense bent a little but didn’t break in the final seconds as the Scoopers held on to beat the Huron Tigers, 21-19 at Woodle Field on Senior Night.
Scooper Nation honored seniors Kaden Phillips, Brodie Eisenbraun, Remington Sankey, Sanden Graham, Wren Jacobs, Kaden Nelson, Talon Elshere, Jarrod Duran, Ben Eberhard and Morgan Patrick prior to the game in front of an appreciative Scooper crowd.
Sturgis sophomore Owen Cass made his first start at quarterback and showed poise beyond his years early with pinpoint passing and runs up the middle. The Scoopers capitalized on a Huron turnover as Cass took a quarterback keeper up the middle for a nine yard touchdown midway through the first quarter. The two point conversion was no good and Sturgis led 6-0.
On the next series, Huron attempted a fake punt on fourth and five, but Scooper defensive end Sanden Graham wasn’t fooled and stopped Tiger punter Derick Siemonsma behind the line of scrimmage. Sturgis took over on downs and a Huron penalty gave the Scoopers the ball in the red zone at the Tiger 20-yard line. Sturgis stayed conservative, running the ball on three consecutive plays but the Huron defense stopped the Scoopers. A 34-yard field goal attempt by Brodie Eisenbraun missed wide right and the score remained Sturgis 6, Huron 0.
The Tiger offense hit their stride early in the second quarter as junior running back Jayden Beck put the finishing touches on a 5-play, 67-yard drive with a 25-yard scamper around the right end for a Huron touchdown. The kick was no good and the game was tied with 10:51 left before halftime.
Cass threw an interception on the next series and Ryan Janes returned the ball to the Sturgis 9-yard line. Two plays later, Beck lined up in a wildcat formation and took a direct snap and hit Siemonsma with a 3-yard touchdown pass. The kick was good and Huron had a 13-6 lead with 8:36 before halftime.
The Scoopers recovered the ensuing kickoff and put together an impressive drive of their own as they marched the ball down the field from their own 28-yard line to the Tiger 25. Cass lobbed a pass to the left front corner of the end zone on the next play and senior tight end Sanden Graham made a highlight reel, one handed catch for a Sturgis score. The extra point was blocked and Huron led 13-12 as the teams headed into the locker room for halftime.
The Scoopers took possession of the ball to start the second half and had no trouble moving the football down the field behind the running of senior fullback Wren Jacobs. Sturgis got the ball into the red zone but couldn’t punch it across the goal line. The Scoopers settled for a field goal as Eisenbraun hit a 30-yarder to give Sturgis a 15-13 lead with 9:19 left in the third quarter.
The Huron defense sacked Cass late in the third quarter, forcing a fumble that Beck picked up and returned to the Scooper 32-yard line. Cass was shaken up after the sack and left the game. Tiger quarterback Cade McNeil found Siemonsma on the left sideline a few plays later and the senior tight end looked like he was headed in for a score. The Scooper defense tackled Siemonsma at the one yard line and the ball popped out and rolled into the end zone. Siemonsma was out of bounds when he recovered his own fumble, resulting in a touchback and Sturgis took over at their own 20.
The turnover allowed the Scoopers to tick more than eight minutes off the clock on their next series behind the hard running of Jacobs. Sturgis moved the ball 80-yards down the field on 14 plays with a mix of runs by quarterback Kaden Phillips, Jacobs and Talon Elshere, culminating with a 10-yard touchdown by Jacobs. The snap was bad on the extra point and Eisenbraun had to attempt to run the ball in for a two-point conversion but he was tackled at the seven. Sturgis led 21-13 with 7:02 left in the game.
The Tigers got some tough yards of their own on the next series behind the running of senior Tyson Lien, moving the ball to midfield before the Scooper defense came up big. Elshere sacked McNeil for a 12 –yard loss, dropping Huron back to their own 33. Two plays later, Graham dropped McNeil for another 12-yard loss, and Huron had to punt from their own 21 yard line.
It looked like the Scoopers had the game under wraps as they took over at midfield, but the Huron defense made some big stops. Sturgis went for the first down on fourth and five but came up short and the Tigers took over at their own 32. This set the stage for an improbable Huron comeback.
The Tigers moved the ball to their own 45-yard line on a mix of runs by McNeil and Lien. McNeil found wide receiver Colby Hott on a crossing route and Hott made a couple of Scooper defenders miss and moved the ball to the Scooper 10-yard line. McNeil’s offensive line gave him plenty of time to find Max Kranzler in the end zone on fourth and eight, cutting the Scooper lead to 21-19 with eight seconds left. McNeil rolled to his left on the two point conversion attempt but his pass fell short and the Scoopers kept their two point lead.
Everyone at Woodle Field knew what was coming next. Tristan Cardona, a 5’10”, 240-pound defensive lineman executed a perfect onside kick for the Tigers, bouncing the ball over the Scooper return team and Huron recovered the football at the Scooper 39-yard line with seven seconds left. The Sturgis defense put pressure on McNeil and his two pass attempts fell incomplete. The Scoopers escaped with a 21-19 win.
The Sturgis offense was much improved with 283 yards of total offense. The Scoopers had 38 carries for 149 yards and were 7 of 14 passing for 134 yards. Wren Jacobs had a great night with 17 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown. Cass had six completions on 13 attempts for 121 yards and a touchdown. Graham caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. The Scoopers had two turnovers and four penalties for 55 yards.
Huron had 226 yards of offense on the night. The Tigers had 27 rushes for 105 yards and 11 completions on 26 attempts for 121 yards. Lien carried the ball 16 times for 93 yards. McNeil was 10 of 25 passing for 118 yards, and Siemonsma caught five balls for 57 yards and a touchdown. Huron had 10 penalties for 85 yards and had two turnovers.
The Scoopers improve to 2-3 on the season and travel to Yankton Friday, Oct. 2 to take on the Bucks. Huron falls to 2-3 and they travel to Pierre Friday.
