Sports

Playing with fire: Sioux sunk in Dakota Bowl

By Tyler Ohmann

11/13/2012

It was a record setting day in more ways than one for the Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn Sioux football team last Friday at the Class A Dakota Bowl.

First it was the the first time in the team’s history they were playing in the Dakota Bowl. Second, the game lasted longer than three hours, which set a record for the longest Dakota Bowl ever. Third, the Sioux allowed 286 yards to Hazen back Briar Bornemann, which was also a Dakota Bowl record.

However, all that translated to a 55-28 loss for the Sioux, and ended their season with a runner-up finish.

“All I know is from the second half we fought, and we have fought every day from the Langdon game, and it proves it here,” said senior Calder Solloway. “We didn’t get things the way we wanted to, but nobody picked us over 20 points, and we just showed them.”

“I always thought we could do it, I believe in my team, but we just couldn’t pull it out in the end,” Solloway added.

The Sioux fell behind early, which as been a theme for them, having had to come from behind in all three playoff games.

“Too many times,” Nesvold said about falling behind in the first half. “If you keep playing with fire, you’re going to get burned.”

The Sioux did as Hazen scored 29 straight points out of the gate. All the scoring came from the strong ground game led by Bornemann and quarterback Stetons Carr.

Leading to the second Carr touchdown run was a rash of penalties from the Sioux, including two unsportsmanlike penalties on senior lineman Devin Korynta in one play. He was ejected from the game.

“We let some emotions get the best of us in the first half, and then we forgot what some of our responsibilities are supposed to be,” Nesvold said. “That got us out of our game right away.”

“We had to fight, and try to regroup, we needed to finish one and get a stop and then hey we’d be within six and it’s a ball game,” Nesvold said.

The Sioux did fight.

After falling behind by 29 the Sioux, led by quarterback Hunter Braaten, drove down the field and answered back, bringing the momentum with them.

The junior Braaten ran in the Sioux’s first score from 13 yards out and then found an open Ethan Miller for the two-point conversion.

On the Bison’s ensuing possession the Sioux’s Logan Hermes forced a fumble, which Karlie Hancock recovered to give the Sioux a strong opportunity to score before halftime.

However, the Sioux were unable to punch it in before half and it remained a 29-8 Hazen lead heading into the break.

Halftime seems to be the Sioux’s saving grace, and it looked like it might be on this day as well.

“I knew I had to come out and play at the level that those guys did, and try and do my best,” said freshman Chase Conway on being on a big stage and in the situation the Sioux were in.

The Sioux jumped right out of the gates on their first drive of the second half as senior tailback Kodie Hancock scampered 32 yards for a Sioux score to bring them within two scores. The key block that broke Hancock on the play was set by Conway. A Solloway conversion run and the Sioux were down 29-16.

However, the Sioux defense was unable to stop Bornemann and the Bison offense.

“He was a strong running back, he ran low, kept his shoulder pads low and he was tough to take down, you had to wrap up,” Conway said of the Hazen back.

However, Carr scored the next touchdown for the Bison and gave them another three-score lead.
Braaten charged back with another strong drive, capped by a 10-yard run by the junior quarterback.

Just like that the Sioux were back to within two scores.

However, Bornemann took over slicing past the Sioux defense for more yards and scoring a six-yard touchdown.

Carr added another score to put the Bison up 48-22 to start the final quarter.

Bornemann then busted past the Sioux defense one more time for a 34-yard score to give him a total of 286 yards and four touchdowns on the day.

“He can juke. He’s amazing at juking and he is difficult to catch,” Solloway said. “Good luck to anybody who could have done it.”

However, perhaps the play of the game came on the next score, and it wasn’t made by a Bison.
Sioux senior Tyler Simpson bobbled a simple catch on an out route, and then proceeded to trap it against his thigh with one hand and grab it up with another to make the catch. Not only that, Simpson then decided to take it 62 yards for a touchdown to get the Sioux’s fourth touchdown of the game.

Conway was sad to see the seniors, who worked hard, fall on the day.

“It’s tough, those seniors, they worked hard,” Conway said. “It’s tough to see them go out like this. Making it this far and not being able to finish, we had a heck of a season, but it’s tough.”

Nesvold chalked up the inability for another spectacular Sioux comeback on the tiredness factor.

“We just got gassed,” Nesvold said. “By the time we got done running down the seams on the pass, and those same guys have to go out and play defense, it’s hard.”

“I had to start cutting the routes shorter at the end, because we just had nothing left in the tank,” Nesvold added.

Of course losing Korynta didn’t help either.

“All of a sudden we lose our first-team all-state defensive lineman, and had people playing out of position,” Nesvold said. “We had a few seniors out there, but all of a sudden it’s freshman coming in, and this is a pretty big stage for freshman, but they handled it pretty well.”

The Sioux were out gained by the Bison 669 to 349, including 492 to 139 on the ground.
Braaten led the Sioux, going 20-for-35 for 210 yards a touchdown and one interception.

On the other side Carr was 8-for-10 for 177 yards and a score.

Braaten was also the Sioux’s leading rusher with 86 yards on 15 carries and two scores.

Nesvold was impressed with the effort and heart the kids showed, not only on the day, but throughout the season as well.

“They gave their all, I’m proud of the kids,” Nesvold said. “I can’t ask anymore out of any one of them. I have to smile when I talk about it, because you see the effort they put out, and that they don’t quit.”

“I don’t think you can name one team across this state that gets down like that and doesn’t quit,” Nesvold added. “That’s a credit to their heart, their desire. That’s what I really, really love.”

Conway thought right along the same lines.

“It’s great, you wouldn’t ask for anything else, my team is great,” Conway said. “Everybody worked hard, kept their head in it and it was good.”

Simpson led the receiving end for the Sioux, catching three balls for 86 yards, including the 62-yard score. He also led the Sioux defensively with nine tackles.

Despite a record-breaking loss the Sioux were at least glad to come away with a piece of history.

“It’s history. We made history, and no one can take that away from us,”  Solloway said.

Nesvold hopes the next time the Sioux make history it includes more of the good kind.

“We set history in a few different ways, maybe giving up the most points, I don’t know,” Nesvold said. “Someday records are meant to be broken, and next time maybe we’ll be on the better end of it."