TEA, S.D. – The top seeded Tea Area Titans continued their steamrolling of Class 11AA football with a 57-10 drubbing of Sturgis in a first round playoff matchup on Thursday night.
The Titans finished the regular season undefeated with a 9-0 record, averaging 45 points per game.
The Scoopers opening kickoff sailed into the end zone, giving the Titans their first possession on their own 20. Tea Area put together a business-like, 8 play, 80 yard touchdown drive on their first series with a mix of short passes and runs, culminating in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Cael Lundin to Jaxon Weber with 8:32 left in the first. Chase Van Tol’s kick was good and Tea Area led 7-0.
Tea Area’s subsequent kickoff sailed into the gusty winds and got away from the Scooper return team, allowing the Titans to recover the kickoff at the Sturgis 24 yard line. Five plays later, Lundin found Klayton Sattler with an 8 yard touchdown strike to add to the Tea Area lead early in the first quarter. Van Tol’s kick split the uprights and the Titans led 14-0 with just 5:25 elapsed in the game.
Tea Area added another 8 yard touchdown run from Weber with 3:42 left in the first to extend their lead to 21-0.
The Scoopers got on the board late in the first quarter as Owen Cass threw a rocket to senior wide receiver Hunter Harrison, who caught the ball at midfield and used his speed to outrun the Titan secondary for a 68 yard Sturgis touchdown. Dom Smith’s kick was good and Sturgis cut the Titan lead to 21-7.
Sturgis seemed to have momentum headed into the second quarter as the Scooper defense stopped Tea Area on a fourth-and-three play at the beginning of the stanza. Sturgis took over with good field position at their own 43 yard line. Three plays later, Cass ran an option play to his left and was off-target with his pitch to running back Konner Berndt and the ball rolled across the turf into the arms of Titan linebacker Isaac Johnson. Tea Area took over at the Scooper 47 and marched down the field in six plays before running back Nathan Babb ran the ball into the end zone from 8 yards out to give the Titans a 28-7 lead.
Sturgis fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Titan defender Jeff Worth returned the ball to the Tea Area 42 yard line. The Titans scored three plays later on a one-yard run by Weber and Tea Area led 42-7. The Scoopers were forced to punt on their next possession and Tea Area kept up the pressure, punching in one more score with :26 seconds left as Weber strolled into the end zone from 30 yards out to give the Titans a 49-7 lead at halftime. Tea Area scored on seven of eight possessions in the first half.
Scooper kicker Dom Smith converted a 21 yard field goal in the fourth quarter to make the score Tea Area 49, Sturgis 10. The Titans scored once more in the fourth on a 15-yard touchdown run by Keegan DeYoung. Tea Area reserve quarterback Maddix Slykhuis converted the two-point try and the Titans closed out the game with their reserves, defeating Sturgis 57-10.
The Titans had 466 yards of total offense, led by senior running back Jaxon Weber who ran for 100 yards and three scores and caught a 19-yard touchdown pass. Quarterback Cael Lundin was 10 of 14 passing for 123 yards and two scores. Tea Area had two turnovers, both fumbles and had six penalties for 34 yards.
Sturgis finished the night with 188 yards of offense, but had four turnovers: three fumbles and an interception. Cass was 10 of 19 passing for 173 yards and one touchdown. Harrison caught three balls for 109 yards and a score. The Scoopers end their season with three wins and seven losses.
Tea Area improves to 10-0 and will host the Yankton Bucks in a semifinal playoff game next Friday.
