Cossacks race into semifinals with another shutout

Sioux Valley beats Aberdeen Roncalli 46-0

Posted

VOLGA – Tyler Schwartz and Daymein Lucas ran for three touchdowns apiece and the Sioux Valley defense limited Aberdeen Roncalli to 35 total yards of offense as the top-seeded Cossacks (10-0) manhandled the Cavaliers 46-0 in the quarterfinals of the Class 11B Football Playoffs on a miserably windy and cold Thursday night.

“It was a great game,” said Cossack coach Dan Hughes. “The kids played well, they played together. I’m very proud of them. They beat a great team tonight by a lot.”

Sioux Valley moved into the semifinals for the second time in three years, and will play host to Bridgewater-Emery/ Ethan on Friday, Nov. 3.

Schwartz picked up 153 yards on 18 rushes and Lucas 126 on 24 attempts.

“It was great,” added Hughes. “They came out in a totally different defense that they hadn’t shown before, so once we got adjusted – those guys communicated with me what was going on and we talked through a few things and then we were off to the races.”

Playing downwind in the opening quarter, the Cossacks overcame an early turnover on downs and a fumble to find the scoreboard first.

Brayden Havrevold recovered a fumble with 1:32 remaining and Schwartz followed with runs of 47 and 16 yards to move the ball to the Roncalli 5-yard-line. Lucas strolled into the end zone from a yard out on third down and added the two-point conversion run to make it 8-0 with 50.6 seconds to go in the period.

Roncalli used a solid kick return to get the ball near midfield but then went three-and-out. However, a long punt early in the second pushed the Cossacks back to their own 11.

The Cavaliers stopped the Cossacks on fourth-and-6, taking over at the Sioux Valley 31-yard line; but the Sioux Valley defense came through and a bad snap on fourth down gave the home team the ball at the 50.

Lucas picked up 16 yards on a fourth-down run during the short drive, which ended on Schwartz’s 12-yard power run up the middle on third-and-8.

Lucas tacked on the two-pointer to push the margin to 16-0 with 3:48 left in the half.

Sioux Valley, which kicked off after deferring to open the game, elected to kick off downwind again in the second half.

“We knew they wanted to throw a little bit, so we figured if we would take the wind to start both halves they would come out to a slow start, you know, get behind the 8 ball right away,” Hughes noted. “So I think it was enough to affect their passing game.”

The strategy worked perfectly.

The Cossacks got a quick defensive stop and took advantage of another short field as Lucas ran right for a 13-yard TD to make it 22-0 at the 8:44 mark of the third.

Brennan Stoltenberg intercepted a tipped pass soon thereafter. Schwartz had an 11-yard scoring scamper and Dalton Hanson added the two-point conversion to push the margin to 30-0 with 4:13 showing on the clock.

Connor Logan busted through the Roncalli offensive line for a sack and also recovered a fumble on the play to set the Cossacks up at the Cavalier 19 late in the third.

Schwartz’s third score – a 20-yard burst off left tackle – and his ensuing two-point run set Sioux Valley up with a 38-0 cushion – and a running clock – with 1:49 to play in the third.

Jaxton Schiller picked off a pass early in the fourth, giving the Cossacks the ball at the Cavalier 28.

Lucas found paydirt from a yard out and Schwartz ran in the two-pointer to provide for the final margin with 7:32 remaining.

Lucas moved into first place on Sioux Valley’s career scoring list with 262 points. He’s run for 27 touchdowns this season.

The Cossacks racked up 359 yards on 53 rushes – a 6.8 average.

“You figure in November in South Dakota we’re going to run into a little bit of weather, so this is kind of what we’re built for and the kids executed and it went really well,” said Hughes.

Sioux Valley did not attempt a pass.

Jake Schneider paced the defense with 10 tackles, Logan added eight and Andrew Mullaney six.

“Our defense flew around,” added Hughes. “They came out and showed some new stuff that we had never seen before and our defense adjusted. They did a great job; coach (Jordan) Fast did an outstanding job having them prepared.”

Roncalli’s Gabe Torbert ran for 30 yards and Jaden Karst contributed 28. Brady Morgan was 4-of-14 for 33 yards with two INTs.

The Cavaliers finished with 2 rushing yards.

Mike Featherhuff had 11 tackles and Connor Hansen 10.

Aberdeen Roncalli, the No. 8 seed, concluded the season with a 5-5 record.

Sioux Valley has not allowed a point in the postseason, following up a 51-0 first-round win over Elk Point-Jefferson in a game that ended late in the third quarter.

Looking ahead

The Cossacks and Seahawks have been involved in some tight games over the past three years.

BEE scored a TD and added the PAT kick with 2:20 to go en route to a 7-6 road victory in both teams’ regular-season finale in 2015 and then won 17-14 at home in the regular-season meeting in 2016.

The Seahawks eliminated the Cossacks in the quarterfinals a year ago, scoring with 52 seconds left for a 6-2 triumph in Bridgewater.

Sioux Valley built a 21-0 lead after 12:55 this year en route to a 27-15 defeat of BEE on Oct. 13 in Bridgewater. Lucas led a balanced rushing attack with 92 yards and three touchdowns. Hanson ran for 90 yards and Logan 57.

“They’re one of the premier programs in South Dakota,” said Hughes. “It was a battle last time we played them and we expect another battle (in the semifinals). We’re looking forward to it.”

BEE traveled to Winner and knocked off the two-time defending champions 18-8 in the quarters.

Notes

Lucas has rushed for nearly 1,800 yards this season. … Sioux Valley is in the postseason for the fourth consecutive season, posting a 5-3 record during that stretch. The Cossacks reached the semifinals in 2015, falling 36-20 to Tri-Valley at home.