In a matchup of unbeaten teams in Class 2A, the Spirit Lake Indians could not keep pace with the fourth-ranked Western Christian Wolfpack in a 20-6 setback at Hafer Field in the district opener. The game was scoreless through most of the first half until Western Christian’s Ben VantHul burst 64-yards for the game’s first score with 1:15 to play before the half. One play later, he fell on top of a Spirit Lake fumble, setting up another touchdown on the final play to make it 14-0 Wolfpack at the break. Spirit Lake responded in the third, taking advantage of tremendous field position to score on a one-yard plunge by quarterback Mitch Peschon. VantHul put the game away in the fourth with a 32-yard sprint to the endzone. He finished with 172 yards rushing and two scores, part of a Wolfpack rushing attack that outgained the Indians by better than 100 yards. Luke Kabele tallied 90 yards on the ground, however, the Spirit Lake passing game was limited to just 28 yards. The loss is the Indians first overall, dropping them to 2-1. They travel to Sheldon next week.
Down in Milford the Okoboji Pioneers also saw a scoreless game get away from them in the second quarter. Numerous big plays by Central Lyon/George-Little Rock shifted a 0-0 game to 35-0 at the half, and the Lions held on for a 48-0 victory. The Pioneers were held to less than 50 yards of total offense, while surrendering 455 in the other direction. Clay Williams was Okoboji’s top rusher with 36 yards and Tanner Taylor completed five passes for 16 yards. Central Lyon/George-Little Rock’s Ryan McCarty registered 201 yards on nine carries. The Pioneers are now 0-3 on the season and 0-1 in district play with a trip to Unity Christian coming next Friday.
Emmetsburg wasted no time flexing their muscled in a 69-6 home victory over Sioux Central. The EHawks amassed 551 yards of total offense, with all but 14 of it coming on the ground. Senior Jake Stubbs ran for three touchdowns, while Cory Schultes and Brady Berkland both notch a pair of scores, as well. Third-ranked Emmetsburg heads to Pocahontas for their second district game.
Homecoming at Sibley-Ocheyedan was disrupted by the rival Hawks of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, who continued their perfect start behind a 33-21 victory. The Generals made it interesting, pulling within two scores after trailing 33-8 at halftime. Josh Treybal paced the Hawks with 203 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Finch also scored twice on 154 yards rushing. In the passing game, Cade Harvey completed nine passes for 137 yards, five of which were hauled in by Cody Leng for 110 yards and a touchdown. HMS is now 3-0 and hosts Alta-Aurelia in Week 4. S-O falls to 2-1 with a matchup against Sioux Central up next.
Harris-Lake Park hosted West Bend-Mallard last night but came out on the short end with a 52-14 loss. The Wolves are now 1-2 with a home game against Corwith CWL next week. We’ll have that game live on Q102.
Other scores from northwest Iowa:
Armstrong-Ringsted 43, Corwith CWL 8
Boone 35, Algona 0
Clay Central-Everly 20, Northwood-Kensett 8
Graettinger-Terril 49, North Sentral Kossuth 6
Ruthven-Ayrshire 38, Bode Twin River Valley 14
Sheldon 28, Estherville Lincoln Central 19
Le Mars 23, Storm Lake 21
North of the border:
Jackson County Central 51, Worthington 21
Marshall 28, Fairmont 14
Martin County West 34, Minnesota Valley Lutheran 0
