COLMAN – When the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks took the field on Thursday night, it was a moment that had been nearly nine months in the making.

The Elks were coming off one of their most successful seasons in program history, going 10-0 before they were upset by Parkston in the South Dakota 9AA Semifinals. With the exception of 2022 Register Player of the Year and quarterback Ryan Krog, the same team was on the field Thursday night and they responded by jumping ahead 42-0 and never looking back in a 56-16 season-opening win over the Colman-Egan Hawks.

“We worked all offseason and we kind of had that bitter taste in our mouth,” Elkton-Lake Benton head coach Ethan Pearson said. “We worked our butts off all offseason and our kids really wanted it tonight.”

The Elks took control from the opening drive of the game, scoring their first touchdown of the season on a 10-yard touchdown run by Blake DeVries and converting the two-point attempt on an option run by Riddick Wesley.

The Hawks responded on the following drive as Jack Mousel hit Jase Mousel for a 40-yard gain that put C-E into the red zone, but the drive stalled as Taiton Boersma’s sack on third down set up a turnover on downs.

That put the ball in Colt Beck’s hands, who was making his first start in place of the departed Krog. When the Hawks took away options downfield on a 3rd & 1 midway through the first quarter, Beck bought some time in the pocket before using his mobility on a 30-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. 

After the Elks blocked a punt to set up another score and Riddick Wesley scored his first touchdown of the season to make it 28-0 at the end of the first quarter, Beck took over, scoring on a 20-yard touchdown run, converting the two-point conversion on a draw and scoring his third touchdown on the night to make it a 42-0 game.

Beck finished the evening 4-of-6 with 65 yards passing but it was his legs that made the difference, running for 64 yards and three touchdowns on five attempts.

“Cole played phenomenal tonight,” Pearson said. “We joked at halftime that for Cole to come out and play this well in his first game, it’s kind of like we didn’t really lose a step.”

The Hawks got on the board later in the second quarter as Johnny Keyes scored on a touchdown run and Jack Mousel completed a pass to Brayden Weise for the two-point conversion to make it 42-8. The Elks had one more score in them to close the first half, however, using a long drive to set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by Joseph Nibbe to go into halftime up 48-8.

Sutton Bunde chipped into the lead for the Hawks with a one-yard touchdown run and Jack Mousel, who completed 6-of-11 passes for 134 yards and added eight carries and 34 yards on the ground. added a two-point conversion to make it 48-16 late in the third quarter. But the Elks showed off their depth late as a 34-yard pass from Nibbe to Riley Nordmeyer set up 6-foot-2, 260-pound lineman Wade Nibbe for a one-yard touchdown plunge to cap the scoring.

“We have 31 kids that are definitely capable of playing on the varsity football field,” Pearson said. “You saw tonight that we rotated a lot of depth throughout the game and it was awesome to see some of the young guys step up. We had freshmen and sophomores making plays out there and that was really exciting.”

Wesley finished with 11 carries for 51 yards while Carson Griffith hauled in four passes for 65 yards to lead the Elks. Joseph Nibbe went 2-for-3 for 53 yards passing while Myles Poindexter had one catch for 19 yards.

Jase Mousel also shined for the Hawks, catching four passes for 120 yards in the loss.

After the game, Pearson said it was his team’s execution that helped secure the convincing victory but he also cautioned there was still work to be done to help build off the season they had one year ago.

“It was fun to get out here and just play our butts off,” Pearson said. “I think our kids came out with a vengeance and I think we woke a lot of people up tonight.”

The Elks (1-0) will go on to travel to Estelline/Hendricks while the Hawks (0-1) will travel to Deubrook next Friday.