BROOKINGS – The Bobcats picked up their second win of the season in convincing fashion as they thrashed Spearfish, 51-0, in a nonconference matchup on Friday night at Dykhouse Stadium.
It took the ‘Cats less than a minute to get on the scoreboard, as Parker Beers capped off Brookings’ first drive with a 28-yard dash to the end zone with 11:16 on the clock. Justin Devine’s first of six successful first-half PAT kicks made it 7-0.
After forcing the Spartans into a three-and-out, the Bobcats coughed up the ball on a fumble near midfield – which would end up being their only turnover of the night.
But it didn’t matter as the Bobcat defense never let Spearfish get its offense on track – stuffing a fourth-and-three play to get the ball back.
From there, Brookings marched downfield and added another TD – this time, Jacob Schoon sauntered in from 11 yards out with 5:05 to play in the first.
Devine tacked on three more points with a 23-yard field goal at the 3:11 mark as the Bobcats led 17-0 at the first-quarter break.
Beers added an 11-yard scoring run with 9:28 to play in the second quarter to push the lead to 24 points.
Schoon hooked up with Cole Mahlum from four yards out as the lead ballooned to 31 points.
The last play of the first half pretty much summed up the Spartans’ night.
Walker Resmen fielded a punt on his own 45-yard line and took it to the house, with several detours on the way as he weaved his way through the Spearfish players for a TD as time expired.
Devine’s kick made it 38-0 heading into the locker room.
With very little to lose, the Spartans came up empty on their next drive and left Brookings with a short field, which the ‘Cats capitalized on when Beers ran it in from nine yards out.
The PAT kick failed as the Bobcats held a 44-0 edge with 10:50 left in the third.
In the fourth, Jackson Krogman’s 11-yard scoring run with 2:46 remaining, followed by Parker Rhykus’ PAT kick for the 51-0 margin, closed out the scoring.
“They’re a young team – they’ve been struggling and we knew they’d been struggling,” BHS head coach Lee Schmidt said of the Spartans. “I like the idea that we came out and didn’t let down, knowing that they weren’t necessarily a good football team; not a very veteran team, but we put points on the board early – a good thing for us – that feeling of getting out of the gates.
“Next week is a rival game – Watertown’s Homecoming – and they’ve played well. They’re obviously a pretty good football team to beat Mitchell the way they did in that second half, so we have to improve in a lot of areas; we have to execute better; we have to get better – that’s the bottom line.”
The win pushes Brookings’ record to 2-1 on the season, with an important Eastern South Dakota Conference looming at Watertown next week.
Register photo: Walker Resmen dodges past Issac Peterson (71), Dawson Craig (32) and Max Sailor (34) on his way through the Spearfish defense for a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown as time expired in the first half of the Bobcats’ 51-0 nonconference win over the Spartans on Friday night at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
