Behind an opportunistic first half, the Spirit Lake Indians secured their first winning season since 1998 with 24-12 win over rival Estherville-Lincoln Central in Class 2A District play Friday night. Spirit Lake took advantage of three drives that started in Midgets territory to score 17 of their 24 first half points. The Indians defense limited ELC to just 15 yards in the opening two quarters, though in the end Spirit Lake outgained the opposition by nearly 200. Mitch Peschon completed ten of 16 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns, while also converting a 24-yard field goal. Alex Dau found the end zone twice, scoring on a twelve-yard reception and a six-yard run. Peschon also connected with Aric Waltz on a 49-yard TD pass. Cody Poock ran for 98 yards on 15 carries. ELC was led by Marcus Christensen’s 200-plus all-purpose yards, which included a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter. The Midgets are now 2-5 on the season and 1-4 in district play, while Spirit Lake improves to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the district. The Indians travel to Unity Christian on Friday.
Okoboji dropped to 0-7 on the season with a 47-13 setback against Sioux Center. Bryson McCabe had a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, to go along with a team-high 24 yards rushing. The Pioneers mustered just 69 yards of total offense, while allowing more than 400 to Sioux Center. Okoboji returns home to play Western Christian next week.
Other 2A scores include Western Christian winning 14-7 over Central Lyon/George-Little Rock and Sheldon shut out Unity Christian 27-0.
For the second consecutive week Harris-Lake Park found themselves up against a top-ranked 8-Man football team, this time falling 57-26 to seventh-ranked Graettinger-Terril. The Knights took control of a close game by scoring 21 points in the final couple minutes of the first half to go up 45-13 at the break. Mychal Sheridan scored twice and accounted for 140 yards of total offense, while Colin Brons threw for three scores for H-LP. G-T was led by Nate Howard, who ran for 124 yards, scored two touchdowns and threw for another. Eric Hatland threw four TDs, with Beau Craig catching three of them for 190 yards on the night. The Knights now stand at 4-1 in district play and 6-1 overall, with the Wolves dropping to 1-4 in the district and 2-5 overall.
Also in 8-Man football, Armstrong-Ringsted stayed perfect with a 61-12 victory against Twin River Valley, and North Sentral Kossuth defeated Ruthven-Ayrshire 55-11.
Emmetsburg has now won 26 straight regular season games and remain undefeated at 7-0 following last night’s 61-19 drubbing of Sibley-Ocheyedan. The Generals now have two losses in district play. Other Class 1A scores include Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn staying on Emmetsburg’s heels with a 55-8 victory over Pocahontas, and West Lyon handed Sioux Central a 42-7 setback.
Elsewhere, last night, Spencer lost for the seventh time, going down 46-0 to Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley, Lemars beat Sergeant Bluff-Luton 31-10, it was MOC-Floyd Valley 27 and Storm Lake 12, and Clay Central-Everly came away with a 49-14 win over Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn.
North of the border, Jackson County Central took down West Central of South Dakota 27-13, Fairmont blanked Blue Earth 26-0, and Martin County West fell 36-28 to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial.
