Sioux Valley, ELB pick up season-opening victories

Sioux Valley and Elkton-Lake Benton began the new football season on Friday night with victories.

The Cossacks beat Aberdeen Roncalli 30-6 and the Elks shutout Canistota 28-0 in their opening game. Sioux Valley will host Clark/Willow Lake this upcoming Friday at 7 p.m. Elkton-Lake Benton will host Centerville at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Sioux Valley 30, Aberdeen Roncalli 6

The Cossacks, who are ranked fifth in Class 11B, scored a touchdown in each quarter on their way to a dominating win to start the season.

Wyatt Hardt scored just under three minutes into the game as he dashed to the end zone from 25 yards out. He also ran in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0. Logan Mohn then found the end zone with 8:19 to go in the second quarter and his run was from 27 yards out. Wyatt Nelson ran in the two-point conversion to make it 16-0 and that would be the score at halftime.

Hardt would score another rushing touchdown just over three minutes into the second half. This time it was a six-yard run and he ran in the two-point conversion to make it 24-0. 

Roncalli got on the board with 4:18 to go in the third quarter as Austin Fisher scored on a four-yard run. The two-point conversion failed and it was 24-6 going into the fourth.

The Cossacks final touchdown came with 6:13 to go in the game. Wyman scored again and this time it was from 20 yards out. The two-point conversion failed, making the final 30-6.

Sioux Valley had 516 total yards of offense and 444 of those yards came on the ground. Hardt led the way with 210 yards on 17 carries. Mohn had 115 yards on 10 carries and Wyman had four rushes for 81 yards.

Hardt was 6-of-11 for 72 yards through the air. Ashton Warne had two catches for 21 yards and Barrett Cotton had a 30-yard reception.

Roncalli had 214 yards of total offense. Fisher led the Cavaliers with 58 yards on eight carries. He was also 5-of-14 passing for 63 yards. Will Haskell had a 41-yard reception.

The Sioux Valley defense was led by Nelson who had six tackles and two fumble recoveries. Brendin Moe had a team-high eight tackles and Mohn and Hardt each had seven tackles.

Elkton-Lake Benton 28, Canistota 0

The Elks, who are ranked fourth in Class 9AA, led 21-0 at halftime and then coasted in the second half to the victory.

ELB quarterback Joseph Nibbe ran in a 13-yard touchdown in the first quarter and Alec Aguilar knocked through the extra point to make it 7-0. Nibee found the end zone on the ground again in the second quarter and this time it was from nine yards out. The extra point was blocked so it was 13-0.

Nibbe would then connect with Francisco Campos later in the second quarter for a 30-yard touchdown. The Elks converted the two-point conversion to make it 21-0 at halftime.

ELB’s final score of the night came in the fourth quarter. Brock Johnson made his way to the end zone from 37 yards out and Aguilar made the PAT to make the final 28-0.

The Elks had 297 total yards and 269 of them came on the ground. Nibbe had 116 yards on 11 carries. Brock Johnson had 69 yards on seven carries and Kaleb Larson had 51 yards on eight carries.

Nibbe was 2-for-2 through the air. He completed the 30-yard touchdown pass to Campos and the other completion went for -2 yards.

The ELB defense held Canistota to 134 yards. David Olson led the Elks with 10 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Nibbe had nine tackles and one tackle for a loss. Aaron DeBoer had seven tackles and half of a sack. Jaycob Westley had six tackles and one tackle for a loss.