Sports

Sioux send Bulldogs to the pound

By Tyler Ohmann

10/30/2012

A strong defensive effort in the second half helped lead the Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn Sioux to a 20-14 victory in the quarterfinals of the Class A football playoffs at Sioux field last Saturday afternoon.

“It was indescribable, it was awesome,” said senior defensive end Karlie Hancock. “We played as a team. We hit as a team. We won as a team.”

After a quick score on a 25-yard Hunter Braaten touchdown run on the first drive of the game, the Sioux fell behind.

Hard-running Andrew Martinson put Milnor-North Sargent in the lead after a touchdown in each of the first two quarters.

However, it was senior Logan Hermes who anchored the Sioux defense, who buckled down from that point on.

Hermes finished with 17 solo tackles and seven assists, two sacks, a pass deflection and a forced fumble.

Braaten rushed in his second and third touchdowns of the game in the third quarter and the Sioux took a 20-14 lead and never looked back in the game.
However, it was the defense that Nesvold said was the key for the Sioux.

“The second half, they didn’t score, that’s the key,” Nesvold said.

This was the second straight playoff comeback victory for the Sioux, who came back from 28 points down last weekend against Linton-HMB and earned a 42-36 comeback win.

The Sioux have gotten used to coming from behind this season.

“If you’ve been following us, you know we’re a second half team,” Nesvold said. “We make a few adjustments and they come out and now they know what to expect and it’s usually a different story.”
“The coaching staff worked their butt off,” Nesvold added.

Braaten again was key in the comeback on both offense and defense. The Sioux junior led the team with 121 yards rushing on 21 carries.

“When we spread them out, he (Braaten) is quick enough to find some seams, and they don’t have an answer for him,” Nesvold said. “You got six guys, seven guys in the box and I’ll take our offensive line with him running behind it, because he’ll set up the blocks.”

However, Braaten was strong on the defensive end as well with 15 tackles, five assists and a team-best three tackles for a loss. The quarterback also completed 8-of-21 passes for 109 yards in the game as well, including a fourth-down completion to freshman Chase Conway in the third quarter to set up the game-winning score.

“We got up to game speed and offensively we hit them and they weren’t quite ready for it,” Nesvold said. “They settled in and they started stopping some of our plays.”

“On defense we weren’t quite up to game speed right away, which happens when in practice you got 22 kids,” Nesvold added.

The win advanced the Sioux on to the semifinals of Class A and gave them a chance for redemption into region rivals Langdon next week.

The Cardinals narrowly defeated the Sioux on a last-minute score in Langdon on Oct. 5.

WNG will look for that revenge at 1:30 p.m. next Saturday in Langdon.

“We’re going there and we’re going to hit harder,” Hancock said. “If we play as a team we’re going to win.”

Nesvold knows that the team will be ready come next Saturday.

“They know what to expect, so it will be a shootout,” Nesvold said. “Hopefully it will be a good one, the kids are ready to rock and roll.”

Also leaders for the Sioux statstically in the game were senior Tyler Simpson (33 yards rushing), Conway (four catches for 53 yards) and Hawkin Smette (four tackes, 14 assists and two tackles for a loss).

Notes:

•  After the three touchdowns on Saturday Braaten now has 16 rushing touchdowns on the season, and is 47 yards shy of 1,000 yards on the ground. He is a strong 77-for-152 for 1,107 yards 11 touchdowns and four interceptions passing on the seaoson. Braaten is also the team-leader in tackles (122), tackles for a loss (12), interceptions (five).

•  The senior Hermes now has 60 tackles, three forced fumbles and a team-best 3.5 sacks on the season.
•  Senior Kodie Hancock has nearly 1,000 total yards this season with 629 yards on the ground and 361 yards through the air, a total of 990. He also has 10 total touchdowns (six rush, four receiving).