GREGORY – The top-seeded Gorillas proved to be too much for Elkton-Lake Benton as Gregory rolled to a 60-22 first-round win in the Class 9AA playoffs on Thursday night.
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GREGORY – The top-seeded Gorillas proved to be too much for Elkton-Lake Benton as Gregory rolled to a 60-22 first-round win in the Class 9AA playoffs on Thursday night.
The home team got on the scoreboard less than 90 seconds into the game on Andy McCance’s 5-yard run, but the Elks came right back to take the lead when Blaine Hefti hooked up with Grant DeRuyter from 16 yards out to tie the game.
Hefti hit Brayden Nielsen on the two-point conversion to make it 8-6 with 7:03 to play in the first quarter.
Gregory scored twice – just 26 seconds apart – to take control as the Gorillas built a 34-8 halftime lead.
Jayd VanDerWerff hauled in an 11-yard scoring strike from McCance and Caleb Stukel ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-8 with 4:40 left in the first.
On ELB’s ensuing possession, Stukel returned an interception 54 yards to paydirt for a 20-6 margin with 4:14 on the clock.
The Gorillas tacked on two TDs in the second quarter – the first on Jeremiah Beck’s 3-yard plunge and the second on a 61-yard scramble by McCance – and then, McCance connected with Blake Boes on the PAT on the second score for the 26-point halftime lead.
Stukel added to the lead with a 61-yard jaunt less than 3 minutes into the second half and then McCance connected with VanDerWerff from 34 yards out to push the Gorillas’ lead to 46-8 with 8:09 left in the third.
Hefti hit Devin Sopko with a 37-yard scoring pass to pull the Elks within 46-14, but Gregory answered on another Beck TD – this time for 28 yards – to make it 54-14 through three quarters.
McCance’s 10-yard scamper early in the fourth closed out the Gorillas’ scoring but the Elks weren’t done as Hefti scored on a 1-yard run and then added the extra-point run for the final margin, 60-22.
Hefti finished 15-of-32 for 201 yards with two TDs and three interceptions with Sopko pulled down six receptions for 100 yards.
Caleb Goertz led the Elk defense with 12 tackles as ELB finished its season with a 4-5 mark.
Gregory improves to 9-0 and plays host to Wolsey-Wessington in Thursday’s second round.
