For the second year in a row, the Spirit Lake
High School football team
has advanced to the Class 2A Finals, as the Indians beat Carroll Kuemper
Catholic, 17-10, in the semi-finals, Saturday afternoon, at the UNIDome.
The Indians got 124 yards of total offense from running back
Cody Poock, 44 of which came on the first score of the game, when Poock took a
direct snap and ran it into the end zone with 4:48 remaining in the first
quarter.
Brett Cochran-Bray gave Spirit Lake
a 10-0 lead when he booted a 27-yard field goal with 3:42 remaining in the
first half.
The Knights cut Spirit
Lake’s lead to seven when
Kolby Hilgenberg kicked a 42-yard field goal with 2:45 to go in the third
quarter. The Indians responded just 50
seconds later, when quarterback Paul Brown connected with Casey Spaeth on a
69-yard touchdown pass that put the Indians up 17-3.
The Knights scored their only touchdown of the game, with
3:18 left in the game, when quarterback Cole Neary ran it in from four yards
out, after Kuemper Catholic took advantage of a special teams turnover deep in Spirit Lake
territory.
With a 17-10 lead, Spirit Lake
was able to prevent the Knights from scoring again, and as a result, will play
Mediapolis, on Friday, in the Class 2A championship.
The Bulldogs beat Beckman, Dyersville, 19-6, in the other
Class 2A semi-final, Saturday night.
Kickoff, for the title game, is shortly after 2 p.m., this
Friday, and KUOO will have full coverage from the UNIDome, with the pre-game
show starting at 1:45.
