Sports

Sioux shutout Braves in regular season finale

By Tyler Ohmann

10/22/2013

Senior day went well for the seniors from Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn (WNG), and it went well for a few underclassmen as well.
Really though, it went well for anyone in Sioux apparel as they clocked the visiting Parshall Braves 54-0 in the final regular season game for both teams.

“It was exactly what we needed,” said senior Hawkin Smette following the game. “We knew we could do it, we just needed to do what we needed to do.”

For the Sioux, who had already clinched a playoff spot, the win solidified them as the third seed out of Region 3.

Though the Sioux have only four seniors, three of them came up big offensively in the first half last Saturday afternoon.

The first quarter belonged to senior Hunter Braaten, who found the end zone three times on rushing plays. Sophomore Chase Conway ran in a pair of two-point conversions and caught one from Braaten to put the Sioux up 24-0 after the opening frame.

Braaten finished with eight carries for 105 yards and those three touchdowns. He passed 15 times, completing 10 for 80 yards.
WNG and their strong senior class did not stop there. Smette rambled in from nine yards out early in the second, while Ethan Miller scooped up a Braves fumble and returned it 33 yards for a score.

Miller also caught a two-point conversion pass from Braaten following a 41-yard Conway score shortly before half.
All these scores gave the Sioux another 22 points in the second quarter and a 46-0 halftime lead.

As much as the first half belonged to the seniors (and Conway), the second half saw several underclassmen step up for the Sioux.
The lone WNG second-half touchdown came from freshman Dawson Dunham, who powered in from two yards out. He also ran in the conversion to make it the final score of 54-0 in favor of the Sioux.

“We wanted to stay sharp, and I thought we did that,” said Sioux head coach Tom Nesvold. “There are always some things you can do, give them some different looks, some of the different things that we do, and look at some different things on film.”

“We’ll try and look at it, and see how we’re going to attack it,” Nesvold added.

Conway finished with 130 yards on nine carries. He also led the Sioux in receiving with four catches for 19 yards.

Defensively the Sioux were led by sophomore Dustin Weeks, who had eight total tackles, including three for a loss. He also forced a fumble, deflected a pass and had a pair of sacks. In total WNG had eight tackles for a loss, and forced three turnovers. One was an interception by eighth grader Trent Marquart. The other were fumbles recovered by Miller and CJ Benjamin.  

The win finished the Sioux’s regular season with a record of 7-2, including the last three games in a row.

As the third seed out of Region 3, the Sioux will play at the second seed out of Region 4. They will play at a time to be determined next Saturday in Elgin, N.D., home of their opponent Grant County-Flasher (GCF).

“We have to keep working hard in practice, and we know we can do it,” Smette said about the opening round of the playoffs. “There is not a single team out there I believe that can completely annihilate us. We have a chance with everyone out there, we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Nesvold is keeping the chatter about the first round light with the kids.

“I tell the kids, especially when we’re on the road that two teams go in and one of them has got to win it, so it might as well be us,” Nesvold said with a chuckle.

He does have a lot of faith in his team moving forward, and he thinks that the past three games they’ve shown a lot.

“We travel and we handle that well I think,” Nesvold said. “Hopefully we’re starting to peak now, and we’re getting the timing down the way it looks, we’re getting some blocking down.”

“We are getting some injuries, and are a little thin on the offensive line,” Nesvold said. “They did a great job today, and they are picking it up.”

Sophomore Chas Tofteland is one of those injured offensive lineman. A starter, Tofteland, has been out the past couple of weeks, and they will find out early this week if he will be available for the game on Saturday and beyond if the Sioux were to win.

GCF lost their last regular season game to undefeated and fourth-ranked in the state Shiloh Christian 42-16. GCF finished the season 7-1 overall.

That makes the third-seeded Sioux the underdogs, a role they played well as they upset several teams on their way to a Class A runner-up finish. It’s also a role that Smette and the Sioux are not only comfortable with, but embrace.

“Most of the time we are called the underdogs, and I like it that way,” Smette said. “Then people don’t expect it, and they get to eat their words sometimes.”