Sports

Sioux clinch playoff with 48-20 win

By Bottineau Courant Staff

10/15/2013

Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn won for the second straight week on the gridiron with a 48-20 road win over Drake-Anamoose last Friday night.

The Sioux benefited from a quick start, as they scored three times in the opening quarter to break out to a 20-6 lead after one quarter.
The scores came in many different ways, but all involved do-it-all senior Hunter Braaten.

Braaten tossed a 21-yard pass to Reese Schell to open the scoring for the Sioux. He also hit Ethan Miller on the two-point conversion.
Braaten then returned a Raiders punt 45 yards for a score to put the Sioux up 14-0.

The Sioux senior completed a first quarter trifecta when he broke a run for a 51-yard touchdown.

Sophomore Chase Conway would add to the Sioux lead in the second quarter with a five-yard touchdown scamper.

Garrett Uhlich scored a pair of touchdowns for the Raiders, one in the first quarter in the air (a pass from Tristin Martin) and the other on a five-yard run right before half.

WNG led 26-12 at the break, but the scoring barrage wouldn’t end there for the Sioux.

They again got a quick start as they scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter.

Conway broke away from the Raiders defense to score on a 69-yard rush. Hawkin Smette added a conversion run to make it 34-12 Sioux.

Braaten again got in the mix as he took the ball in from 10 yards out. He also ran in the conversion put the Sioux up 42-12.

WNG would find the end zone one more time as Conway scored for the third time in the contest on a 45-yard touchdown run.

Darin McClintock would add a 19-yard rushing score and a two-point conversion for the Raiders, but it was too little, too late as the Sioux collected their sixth win of the season.

In total the Sioux rushed for 296 yards. Conway finished with 155 yards on eight carries with the three touchdowns. Braaten added 138 yards on the ground on 14 attempts.

Conway caught three balls for 60 yards, while Braaten went 7-for-12 for 101 yards and no interceptions.

Braaten also anchored the Sioux defense as he had 15 total tackles, including two for losses, recovered a fumble and deflected a pass.
Other defensive standouts included senior Ethan Miller (sack, nine total tackles) and Mike Lemay (sack, forced fumble, two tackles for a loss).

The Sioux close out the regular season at 3 p.m. this Saturday with a senior day game as they host Parshall.

The win this week clinched the Sioux a playoff spot, but their seed will be determined on next week’s results. They could get as high as a two-seed, or they could be the third or fourth seed out of Region 3.

The first round of the nine-man playoffs will be on Oct. 26.