VOLGA – Sioux Valley improved to 2-0 on the football field on Friday night as the Cossacks dominated the Baltic Bulldogs 44-13.

The No. 3 ranked Cossacks scored on their first five drives of the game. Sioux Valley got the ball first and it didn’t take long for the Cossacks to find the end zone. Donovan Rose took a hand off, broke a few tackles and dashed down the sideline for a 50-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 just over two minutes into the game.

Sioux Valley then forced a three-and-out and worked its way into the red zone. Then quarterback Brock Christopherson ran it in from seven yards out and an extra point made it 14-0 with 6:24 to play in the first quarter.

The Cossacks then forced the first of three turnovers on the night as Brody Haaland came up with an interception near midfield. Sioux Valley made it to the 10 yard line a few plays later and Wyatt Hardt ran in a touchdown to make it 21-0 with just under a minute and a half to play in the first frame.

Sioux Valley forced another punt on Baltic’s next possession and then Rose found the end zone again. This time he ran it in from 15 yards out and then Braden Danzeisen bobbled the snap on the extra point but was able to grab the ball and run it in for the two-point conversion, making it 29-0 with just under eight minutes to play in the first half.

Matthew Field forced the next turnover as he went up and fought off a receiver for an interception. A few plays later Hardt found the end zone for a second time and the Cossacks led 36-0 with 5:53 left in the half.

“It was a pretty good [start],” said Sioux Valley head coach Dan Hughes. “We came out focused, which was something that the players deliberately chose to do. Really proud of the [second-string guys]. The second offense went in in the second or third series and scored in like three plays. The [starters] scored in three or four plays to start the game too. Everybody was playing at a high level tonight.” 

Baltic finally got past midfield on its next drive and the Bulldogs eventually found the end zone. On third and goal from the five Gavin Skotvold connected with Ben Erickson for a touchdown and that cut the lead to 36-7 with just over three minutes left in the half.

However, Sioux Valley wasn’t done scoring as Hardt scored his third touchdown of the game a minute and 40 seconds later. This time he took a quarterback keeper 43 yards to the house and the Cossacks took a 44-7 lead into halftime.

Sioux Valley used a long drive in the third quarter to get down inside the Baltic five yard line but was unable to punch it into the end zone. At the beginning of the fourth quarter Baltic fumbled on the first play after the goal line stand but back-to-back bad snaps forced the Cossacks out of field goal range and gave the Bulldogs the ball back. Aaron Nordbye then ran it in from 11 yards out and the two-point conversion no good, making the final 44-13.

The Cossacks did most of their damage on the ground during the game as they had 309 rushing yards. Hardt led the way with 123 yards on nine carries. Rose had 112 yards on four carries and Christopherson had four carries for 37 yards.

Hughes was pleased with the way his offensive line played, even when the backups came into the game.

“Both offensive lines were outstanding. The one’s played really well, but when we had our backups in against their starters, we didn’t miss a beat. Hats off to the two’s for preparing as hard as anybody,” Hughes said.

Christopherson was 3-of-4 for 24 yards through the air. Mitchell Guthmiller had two catches for 18 yards and Broden Teske had a nine-yard catch.

Sioux Valley’s younger players played the whole of the second half. Hughes said after the game that it was important to get those players into the game, especially because a lot of teams don’t get that opportunity throughout the season.

“That’s important to us. These kids chose to come out for football and it’s very important to us that they get to play. We wanted to get everybody in and wanted to get everybody in in the first half, which we actually accomplished. Then the two’s and three’s took it the rest of the second half,” Hughes said.

Defensively the Cossacks were led by Vermeulen who had eight tackles. Teske had seven tackles. Clark Mullaney recovered the fumble.

The Cossacks will hit the road next as they’ll travel to Clark/Willow Lake next week. That game will begin at 7 p.m. Sioux Valley outscored its first two opponents 79-13 and Hughes said if his team stays locked in, they can play with any team in the state.

“When they’re focused, they’re as good as anybody,” Hughes said.