Cossacks, Elks come up short in week two

Sioux Valley and Elkton-Lake Benton each dropped to 1-1 on Friday night as both teams picked up losses in the second weekend of the season. 

Sioux Valley had a comeback come up short against Clark/Willow Lake as the Cossacks fell to the Cyclones 30-28. ELB had a lead slip away in the fourth quarter and the Elks lost to Centerville 38-28.

Each team will hit the road for the first time this season next. The Cossacks will travel to Clear Lake to take on Deuel this upcoming Friday at 7 p.m. ELB will head to De Smet to face the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. as well.

Clark/Willow Lake 30, Sioux Valley 28

The game experienced a lengthy lightning delay at halftime as the two teams did not resume play until around 10 p.m. The game finished around 11:45.

The Cossacks outscored the Cyclones 20-8 in the final quarter but a missed two-point conversion on their final touchdown proved to be the difference on Friday night.

CWL jumped out to a 16-0 lead. Joey Ries threw a 44-yard touchdown to Cade Gaikowski to get the scoring and Talen Huber ran in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 7:16 to go in the first quarter. Then just two seconds into the second quarter Jakob Stein found the end zone from a yard out. Huber ran in the two-point conversion to make it 16-0.

Sioux Valley cut the lead in half with 7:33 to go in the first half. Kellon Tucker ran into the end zone from nine yards out and then Wyatt Hardt ran in the two-point conversion to make it 16-8. That would be the score at halftime.

CWL would then push the lead back to two scores with 2:28 to go in the third. Ries found Bo Begeman for a 17-yard touchdown and then the Cyclones failed on the two-point conversion so it was 22-8.

Sioux Valley would then score just under a minute and a half into the fourth. Hardt found Tucker for an eight-yard score and then Wyatt Nelson ran in the two-point conversion to make it 22-16 with 10:38 remaining.

The Cyclones responded with a 22-yard pass from Ries to Gaikowski and this time Chris Bevers ran in the two-point conversion to make it 30-16 with 6:53 to play. The Cossacks then marched right down the field and Hardt plunged into the end zone from a yard out. They failed on the two-point conversion so it was 30-22 with 6:13 to go.

Sioux Valley got the ball back and was able to find the end zone again. This time it was a 30-yard pass from Hardt to Johnnie Vermeulen, but the Cossacks failed on the two-point conversion so they trailed by two with 4:29 to play. 

The Cossacks got the ball back again and drove inside the CWL 20 yard line with under two minutes to play. However, a fumble that they recovered and then a false start penalty backed them up. Then a throw from Hardt was picked off by Miles Olson and that sealed the victory for the Cyclones.

Sioux Valley had 300 yards of offense. The Cossacks had 203 yards on the ground and Hardt led the way with 102 yards on 21 carries. Trey Wyman had eight carries for 37 yards and Tucker had seven carries for 36 yards.

Hardt was 7-of-16 for 97 yards through the air. Vermeulen had three catches for 59 yards.

The Cyclones had 256 yards on offense. Ries was 8-of-15 through the air for 133 yards. Gaikowski had two catches for 66 yards. Bevers had three catches for 23 yards. 

Jakob Steen led the way on the ground for CWL. He had 18 carries for 84 yards.

Centerville 38, Elkton-Lake Benton 28

The Elks led 28-24 heading into the fourth quarter but were then outscored 14-0 in the final 12 minutes.

Neither team scored in the first quarter. Centerville scored first as Charlie Eide ran into the end zone from three yards out in the second quarter. He also found Logan Ruter for the two-point conversion to make it 8-0. 

Joseph Nibbe got the Elks on the board with a one-yard touchdown run. ELB failed the two-point conversion but then Caden Crofutt gave the Elks the lead later in the quarter with a five-yard score. They failed on the two-point conversion again so it was 12-8 at halftime. 

Crofutt would extend the lead for ELB in the third with a 38-yard rushing touchdown. This time Kaleb Larson ran in the two-point conversion and the Elks led 20-8.

Centerville would regain the lead with a pair of touchdowns from Eide. The first one came from 50 yards out and then Zach Childress found Luke Peterson for the two-point conversion to make it 20-16. The second touchdown of the third quarter from Eide was a seven-yard score and then he found Peterson for the two-point conversion to make it 24-20.

ELB struck before the quarter was over though as Larson found the end zone from 33 yards out. He also ran in the two-point conversion to give the Elks a four-point lead going into the fourth.

Eide scored again in the fourth but this time it was through the air. He found Clayton Brown for a seven-yard score and the Tornadoes decided to kick the extra point so it was 31-28. Centerville then pulled out some trickeration later in the quarter as Ruter, who is a running back, threw a 72-yard pass to Peterson for a touchdown and that was the dagger for the Elks as the final was 38-28.

ELB had 297 total yards and 285 of them came on the ground. Larson led the way with 120 yards on 14 carries. Crofutt had eight rushes for 87 yards and Nibbe had 65 yards on 12 carries. Nibbe was also 3-of-8 passing with 12 yards.

Centerville had 441 total yards. Eide was 13-of-20 through the air for 186 yards. Ruter’s only pass was the 72-yard touchdown. Childress was 2-for-2 with 20 yards.

Eide led the way on the ground with 154 yards on 22 carries.

The ELB defense was led by David Olson who had nine tackles, a tackle for a loss and an interception. Jaycob Westley had eight tackles and two sacks. Nibbe had eight tackles and an interception.