Flying High: Arrows edge Huskies 15-14 in rematch of section title tilt




 

 

At home, a neutral site and now on the road, Pipestone Area seems to have dialed in Jackson County Central’s number.
And the Arrows (2-0) connected on two crucial calls against the Huskies (0-2) Friday night to emerge with a hard-fought 15-14 South Central (White) District comeback road victory.
“We knew it was going to be this way; we said win or lose, we were going to learn a lot about our football team,” Pipestone Area head coach Clay Anderson said. “We should have a great film session because we did a lot wrong, and they made us do a lot wrong. It was two good teams battling it out. Jackson is going to win a lot of football games this year, we all know that. We never got down, battled back, and I’m proud of the guys.”
The final statistics were no surprise to anyone, as Pipestone Area netted 326 yards of offense to JCC’s 251 a fairly even contest on paper.
It came down to two well-disguised, fourth-quarter plays by the Arrow offense that helped lift PAS past JCC in the battle that echoed well outside the perimeter of Swearingen Field in Jackson.
Trailing 14-7 entering the fourth quarter, the Arrows gathered a head of steam behind a resurgent offensive line and fed running backs Austin Moeller (106 yards, 2 TD) and McKinley Bush (100 yards) in marching toward the JCC goal line.
The PAS offensive line, which had stalled for much of the second and third quarters suddenly began opening up sizable gaps through which both ball carriers could stretch their legs.
Moeller’s 27-yard gain from the JCC 32-yard line put the Arrows in scoring position, and the senior back punched the football across the goal line on the ensuing play to cap the 45-yard drive and pull the visitors within a point at 14-13.
“I’m really pleased with the fourth quarter; our offensive line found another gear,” Anderson said. “They were stopped for three quarters, we didn’t get a lot, and all of a sudden we were able to grind one down on them. It shows a lot of heart to do that down the stretch.”
The gutsy Arrows lined up to attempt a 2-point conversion, and PAS senior quarterback Brayden Baartman (53 rushing yards, 3-of-10 for 72 yards, 2 INT) pitched the ball to Bush veering right.
It appeared as though the junior would be stopped short of the target, but Bush pulled the ball back behind his ear and fired a pass to the corner of the end zone.
An unmarked Trevor Schumann (one reception for 36 yards) calmly rose to snare the pass, and the Arrows had a 15-14 lead with 9:27 remaining in the contest.
“We run it a million times in practice,” Schumann said. “McKinley threw a great ball, and no one was around to challenge me for the ball.”
The Pipestone Area defense bent without breaking on the ensuing drive, and the Huskies turned the football over on downs at the Arrow 27-yard line with 5:21 left to play.
The Arrows simply had to wind down the clock to secure the victory.
Easier said than done, however, as Baartman was stripped of the football on a broken play at the PAS 30 giving JCC a short field and plenty of time to work with.
The PAS defense was quick to return the favor, though, stripping senior tight end Matt Ringkob of the pigskin on the Huskies first play following the turnover. PAS senior lineman Blake Wolters pounced on the loose ball, and the Arrows had another chance to run out the clock.
The Arrows did just that, gaining a first down and advancing the ball to the 39-yard line before the Huskies could halt their advance three-and-a-half yards shy of a second stick-moving play.
The Arrows ran the clock down further and called for a timeout before sending the punt team out with 1:48 remaining in the game.
With everyone in the stadium, save the visiting players and coaches, expecting PAS junior Caleb Tinklenberg to punt the ball back to the Huskies, the Arrows snapped the ball directly to Moeller in the backfield. The senior banged forward a yard more than what was required to pick up the first down, helping the Arrows seal another comeback victory over the Huskies.
“We used our non-helmet time to work on special teams, so we have a lot of things in that we probably wouldn’t have in until Week 5,” Anderson said. “In that case, it really helped us. We probably practice that fake about three times a week. I just said, they probably won’t be expecting it, why not do it?’ It was a great call. We needed a first down, three-and-a-half yards, and Moeller got it offensive line got it.”
Moeller, too, was quick to point out the efforts of his teammates, across the lines and elsewhere, in helping the Arrows stymie the Huskies once again.
“We prepared so hard for this game, and we knew we were going to win this one from the beginning,” he said. “Like I said, it was total team effort, players, coaches and fans a total team effort from everyone.”
That team effort included three takeaways on the night, the first coming on JCC’s opening offensive series.
After moving
 

 

the football well via the hard-rushing advances of running backs Keegan Moore and Ryker Vander Woude, the Huskies fed the former again at the Arrow 26-yard line.
The Arrow defense put a hard hit on Moore, who coughed up the football at the line of scrimmage. An alert Cole Maly corralled the loose ball to bring the PAS offense on the field for its initial series.
The combatants traded possession once more before the Arrows marched into scoring position with a well-blended attack of pass and run.
A key play in their late first-quarter advance was the completion of a tipped pass intended for senior receiver Justin Rops.
As Rops rose for the ball, he and JCC defensive back Jacob Christopher clashed putting the ball up for grabs.
Arrow wide receiver Trevor Schumann was the Johnny-on-the-spot, the senior pulled the football to his chest in picking up a first down at the JCC 33-yard line on the 36-yard completion.
“I was running my post, running that direction, and it fell right there for me,” Schumann said.
The Arrows worked the ball down to the Huskies’ 15 before Baartman tried his luck across the middle of the end zone.
Unfortunately for the Arrows, JCC quarterback/defensive back Easton Bahr was able to step in front of the pass intercepting the football for a touchback with 1:01 left in the first quarter.
Spearheaded by the tackling Wolters (11 tackles), Logan Steenstra (nine), Moeller, Rops and Maly (seven each), the Pipestone Area defense managed to limit Moore and the Huskies to three plays before regaining possession to open the second quarter.
Baartman fielded the ensuing JCC punt at the PAS 40 and promptly scrambled down the left sideline to score.
The points were taken off the scoreboard, however, as the Arrows were flagged for a hold on the return.
No matter, the Arrows regrouped and quickly moved back into scoring position through a 33-yard Moeller carry.
Following an offside penalty that put the football 2 yards away from the goal line, Moeller banged forward for the first points of the ball game. Tinklenberg knocked a successful PAT through the uprights, and the Arrows had drawn first blood at 7-0.
The Huskies appeared well on their way to knotting the score late in the second quarter, advancing the football 75 yards to the Arrow 5-yard line.
Again, the PAS defense stood tall as Daniel Larson recovered yet another JCC fumble to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard and carry the visitors into the locker room with a 7-0 lead.
The Arrows looked as though they’d pad their lead with a lengthy third-quarter march out of the break. Baartman, Moeller, Bush and Tinklenberg (22-yard reception) each had a hand in moving the football 43 yards downfield to the JCC 20.
Looking to pull the Arrows closer with another pass, Baartman was picked off by Christopher at the line of scrimmage. The speedy defensive back picked up a couple of blocks and raced down the left sideline to paydirt pulling the Huskies to within a point (7-6) with 9:04 remaining in the third quarter.
It wasn’t long before the reenergized Huskies could locate the end zone once more, as Moore and company presented a punishing ground attack that moved the football 52 yards in 10 plays.
Bahr scampered the remaining 10 yards to the end zone, stretching the football to the pylon in the right corner to lift the Huskies to a 12-7 lead.
Moore banged forward once again on the 2-point attempt, and the Arrows found themselves behind 14-7 with 3:59 left in the third quarter.
The Arrows appeared to need a couple of series to regroup before finding that other gear’ several players and coaches spoke of in mounting their comeback.
In the end, the Arrows rose to the occasion on both sides of the football to find a way to leave the Huskies wanting.
“We just went all out tonight,” Maly said. “We had to find that other gear in the fourth quarter, and we all stepped up.”
“It was a dogfight,” added senior lineman Brad Hillard (five tackles). “We knew it was going to be like that coming in, and we wanted to get black hats to the football gang tackle and wrap up. We had to play hard football, that was the goal, and it was a great team effort came from the heart.”
While Pipestone Area met and rose to the challenge of its first big test of the season, Anderson knows his Arrows aren’t yet perfect.
“We have a long ways to go defensively,” he said. “We’re not where we want to be, and we know it’s going to take some time. Overall, though, I’m very pleased with where we’re at right now.”
Although the Huskies were a big challenge, Anderson also knows any team in the district can knock the upbeat Arrows back to earth on any given Friday night. And the Windom Eagles will be the next team looking to derail the Arrows.
“We’re going to find out about the leadership of our 14 seniors,” Anderson said. “The fact is, Windom is capable, and if we come out and lay an egg they’re going to beat us. I’ve seen it all, so we have to come
 

 

to play every day, and we’ll see what our maturity level is next week.”

PAS 0 7 0 8 15
JCC 0 0 14 0 14

Edgerton/Ellsworth 40, GHEC/Truman 0
Despite having to contend with an injury to their starting quarterback, the Edgerton/Ellsworth Flying Dutchmen didn’t skip a beat in blanking the Jaguars Friday night in Granada, improving to 2-0 in the process.
Totaling 258 yards on the ground and adding 176 yards via a pinpoint air attack, the Dutchmen put the contest out of reach early through a trio of first-quarter TDs.
E/E senior Trevor Van Dyke turned in a monster game on the offensive side of the football, scoring five-of-six Dutchmen touchdowns.
Van Dyke scored the opening points on a two-yard plunge and followed with a 56-yard TD reception from sophomore quarterback Landon Buckridge (9-of-18, 176 yards, 3 TD). Buckridge then located senior Tate Post from 15 yards out to wrap up the first quarter scoring.
Van Dyke added touchdown runs of five and two yards before catching another TD pass (25 yards) from Buckridge in the third quarter to complete the scoring.
Defensively, the Dutchmen stymied the Jaguar attack at every turn limiting GHEC/Truman to 31 rushing yards and 21 passing yards.
An offensive juggernaut, Van Dyke also spearheaded the Dutchmen defensive charge with 14 tackles. Junior Jake Huisken had seven tackles on the night to go along with three sacks and an interception.
The Dutchmen will square off against the Nicollet Raiders (0-2) Thursday night in Edgerton.

E/E 18 8 14 0 40
GHEC/Truman 0 0 0 0 0

Lac qui Parle Valley 31, R-T-R 0
The Knights simply have to keep plugging away in searching for their first victory in 23 contests.
Despite keeping a positive attitude within the ranks, the Knights (0-2) were victimized by the hosting Eagles Friday night in Madison suffering their second consecutive shutout loss of the season.
“Lac qui Parle (Valley) is a team we’d hoped we could contend with, but we’re just struggling to move the football right now that’s our biggest thing,” R-T-R co-coach Josh Fredrickson said. “We can’t seem to get anything going. Defensively, we’ve been OK been able to make some stops but the defense is just on the field so much that it eventually wears us down.”
As Fredrickson indicated, the Knights are struggling to sustain drives and have little to show in the way of offensive numbers in either of their contests.
Against the Eagles, quarterback Tate Thooft was 6-of-16 passing for 51 yards (1 INT), while Ryan Fischer (16 carries) and Levi Hurst (seven carries) could only muster 63 and 19 rushing yards, respectively.
Fischer also had two receptions for 33 yards, and Cooper Hansen and Carter Hansen each hauled in two passes.
All told, the Knights had net gains of 104 yards passing and 51 yards on the ground.
“We’re going to have to figure out ways to move the football and put some points on the board,” Fredrickson said. “It doesn’t get any easier for us this week with T-M-B (Tracy-Milroy-Balaton), probably one of our tougher games this season (Thursday in Tyler), but we have to try to stay positive and see what we can do there.”
Defensively, the Knights aren’t without a tough-nosed group prepared to get helmets to the football.
Senior defenders Hunter Schouviller and Mason Johnson led R-T-R with eight tackles apiece against the Eagles, while sophomore Jonah Johnson added seven tackles. Freshman Chris Muecke had an interception for the Knights Friday night.
The Knights will hope to get an improved effort from the offensive against the Panthers on Thursday and continue to remain positive in the face of adversity.
“That’s an area we thought we would be able to build from this season, with a lot of experience returning up front,” Fredrickson said. “They have some work to do, and I believe they can do it. It starts there, offensively, so we’ll keep at it, try to stay positive and have a short memory when things don’t go our way focus on the little things and the next play.”

R-T-R 0 0 0 0 0
LQPV 18 0 13 7 31