STURGIS, SD – The #3 ranked Watertown Arrows used a bruising running attack to jump out to a 22-10 halftime lead enroute to a 35-24 victory over the Sturgis Scoopers on Senior Night.
The Arrows scored on the third play of the game, as running back Spencer Wientjes took the handoff from quarterback Treyton Himmerich and did the rest, sprinting 64 yards through the Scooper defense to the end zone. The kick was no good and Watertown led 6-0.
The Scoopers used a mix of runs and passes to move the ball downfield on their first series to the Watertown 5-yard line but couldn’t get the ball past the goal line. Elliot Smith got Sturgis on the scoreboard with a 22-yard field goal and the score was Watertown 6, Sturgis 3 with 4:49 left in the first quarter.
Scooper defensive end Jake Krog picked off a Himmerich pass on the next series and the Scoopers had great field position at the Arrow 41-yard line. Sturgis quarterback Carter Williams gave the Scoopers a 10-6 lead with a 9-yard touchdown run with 2:17 left in the first quarter, but Watertown broke off another long score as Marcus Fossum ran 53-yards to paydirt on the Arrows next series to take back the lead. Watertown led 14-10 headed into the second quarter.
Himmerich scored again for the Arrows with just 1:15 gone in the second quarter on a 31-yard run. The two-point conversion was good, and Watertown led 22-10 headed into the halftime intermission.
The Arrows turned the ball over again early in the third quarter, as Scooper nose tackle Aaron Morovits stripped the ball from Wientjes, but Sturgis couldn’t capitalize on the fumble and faced a fourth down play. Sturgis faked the punt and the pass to Jesse Lane was low and the Scoopers turned the ball over on downs. Watertown took over on the Sturgis 47-yard line.
The Arrows moved the ball down field to the Scooper 25 and Himmerich found a wide-open Fossum with a touchdown pass, extending the Watertown lead to 28-10 after the two-point conversion failed midway through the third quarter. The Arrows tacked on another touchdown early in the fourth when Himmerich used the Watertown ‘tush-push’ to run the ball into the end zone from 1-yard out. The kick was good and the Arrows led 35-10 with 10:53 left in the game.
The Scoopers tried to mount a comeback and scored with 7:14 left on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Dalyn Dschaak to cut into the Arrow lead. Williams scored his second rushing touchdown with just under two minutes left, then hit Teigen Wormstadt with the two-point conversion and Watertown led 35-24. The Arrows took over on the Sturgis 49-yard line and the Scoopers couldn’t stop the Watertown rushing attack. Time expired and Watertown got the road victory.
The Arrows finished with 376 yards of offense, 282 on the ground and 94 through the air. Watertown had two turnovers and seven penalties for 55 yards. Fossum had two touchdowns for Watertown, one on the ground and one receiving. The Arrows improved to 6-2 on the season.
Sturgis had 327 yards of total offense. Carter Williams finished with 217 yards passing, completing 21 passes on 35 attempts. The Scoopers had 29 carries for 110 yards and were led by Williams, who had 55 yards rushing and two scores. The Scoopers fell to 2-6 on the season, dropping their fifth straight game.
Sturgis travels to Spearfish to take on the 6-2 Spartans for their final game of the season. The Scoopers are currently in 10th place in power point standings and are out of playoff contention.
