VOLGA — Five takeaways and a big third quarter from Sioux Valley on Friday night led the Cossacks to a 31-13 victory over Flandreau.

Sioux Valley (6-0) led 14-0 at halftime and then scored 17 points in the first six minutes of the third quarter to put the game away. 

“We knew if we kept on [Flandreau], they’d eventually crack and we saw that in the third quarter,” said Sioux Valley head coach Dan Hughes.

Flandreau (4-2) fumbled the ball on the second play of the game and the Cossacks hopped on it. Sioux Valley would cash in on the turnover as Brock Christopherson ran it into the end zone from one yard out to put the Cossacks up 7-0 five minutes into the game.

That score would remain heading into the second quarter and it looked like the Fliers were going to tie things up but another turnover derailed them. Paul Parsley connected with Kody Kneebone for a 52-yard pass but on the next play Flandreau fumbled the ball again and Sioux Valley recovered it.

The Cossacks made the most of the turnover again as Christopherson found Mitchell Guthmiller wide open for a 66-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 with 9:13 left in the first half. Sioux Valley forced one more turnover before halftime as Brody Haaland intercepted Parsley with three minutes left in the half. However, the Cossacks were unable to turn that into points and took a 14-point lead into halftime.

It didn’t take long for the Cossacks to score again though as Donovan Rose took the opening kickoff of the second half 97 yards to the house to put Sioux Valley up 21-0 12 seconds into the third quarter. 

The Fliers then went three-and-out and on the punt the Flandreau punter dropped the ball and the Cossacks took over inside the Flandreau 20 yard line. Sioux Valley took advantage of the good field position again as Christopherson ran it in from 12 yards out to make it 28-0 three minutes into the third.

Flandreau would turn it over yet again on its next possession as a snap went over Parsley’s head and the Cossacks fell on it. That was the fifth turnover that the Cossacks forced on the night and Hughes said that was part of the game plan.

“We wanted to control the ball, and that means take it away on defense, and we accomplished that. We had five legit turnovers on defense,” Hughes said.

Sioux Valley was forced to kick a field goal this time but Jameson Degen came through, making it from 36 yards out to make it 31-0. With the kick return for a touchdown and the field goal, Hughes was happy with his special teams play on Friday night.

“Our kids really love special teams. The good kids want to play on them and they make some huge plays on special teams. It’s one of the identities of our team and we love it,” Hughes said.

Flandreau got on the board in the fourth quarter as Parsley found Luke Sheppard for a five-yard touchdown. The Fliers would score one more touchdown later in the quarter as Alexavier Poitra ran it into the end zone from two yards out, but the two-point conversion was no good and that made the final 31-13. 

Both of Flandreau’s touchdowns in the fourth quarter came off fumbles from the Cossacks. Hughes said his team learned a lesson about ball security in the fourth.

“Unfortunately in the fourth quarter we got a little careless and gave them the ball back, but we’ll clean that up. We just learned that ball control and ball security are paramount and that taught us a lesson moving forward,” Hughes said.

On the other side, Flandreau head coach Josh Edlund was proud of his team for not giving up. 

“We played a great second half. Statistically we didn’t have the best day offensively but our boys fought till the end. I am proud of them for staying in it,” Edlund said.

Sioux Valley had 191 yards rushing. Rose led the way with 102 yards on 17 carries. Christopherson had 18 carries that went for 87 yards. His lone completion on the night was the 66-yard touchdown.

Parsley was 11-for-24 with 138 yards. Kneebone’s only catch was the 51-yarder. Poitra had two catches for 36 yards and four carries for 22 yards.

The Sioux Valley defense was led by Guthmiller who had eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Christopherson and Wyatt Nelson each had six tackles and a fumble recovery. Preston Top had six tackles. 

Sheppard led the Flier defense with 12 tackles. Kneebone had eight tackles and Ben Ballard had seven tackles. Gauge Ballard and Tyton Peters each had a fumble recovery.

The Cossacks will look to remain unbeaten next Friday as they head to Beresford for a 7 p.m. kickoff.