Thanks to Terry Anderson and KBHB News
STURGIS– The Sturgis Scoopers christened the new synthetic turf at Woodle Field on Friday night with a big win over the Rapid City Central Cobblers, 32-7. It was the first football game played on the new turf that was installed over the summer months. Temperatures again were unseasonably hot, hanging around in the mid-90s at kickoff. Sturgis won the coin toss and deferred possession to the second half. The Cobblers were forced to punt on their first possession, giving Sturgis solid field position at the Rapid City Central 41-yard line. A few plays later, Scooper quarterback Austin Flohr found Jack Jolley on a bubble screen and Jolley did the rest, sprinting 35 yards downfield for the first Scooper score with 7:20 left in the first. The kick was no good, and Sturgis led 6–0. Sturgis forced another Central punt, which only traveled two yards, putting Sturgis on the Cobbler 22-yard line. Four plays later, Flohr called his own number and ran the ball into the end zone from four yards out to give Sturgis a 13–0 lead headed into the second quarter. Scooper linebacker Zhoel Irion intercepted a pass from Rapid City Central quarterback Devin Soderlin less than a minute into the second quarter, giving Sturgis solid field position at their own 34-yard line. The Scooper offense drove the ball down to the goal line, but Sturgis turned the ball over on downs, giving the ball back to the Cobblers at their own 2-yard line. Neither team could find the end zone during the second quarter, and the halftime score was Sturgis 13, Rapid City Central 0. The Scoopers came out firing in the second half, scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run on their first possession by Tate Johnson. The kick was good, and Sturgis led 20–0 just three minutes into the second half. Following a Rapid City Central fumble, Flohr found Scooper tight end Gage West sprinting down the middle of the field, delivering a perfect strike for a 77-yard touchdown pass. The kick failed, and Sturgis extended their lead to 26–0 headed into the fourth quarter. “Our offensive line did a great job protecting and gave Austin enough time and Coach Anderson said ‘ we’re going to take a shot here’,” said West. “Austin made a great read and threw a great ball and put it right in my hands.” Sturgis scored again on the first play of the fourth quarter as Flohr found Johnson on the left side of the field, lofting a ball over the defender for a 29-yard touchdown pass. The extra point kick was blocked and the Scoopers led 32–0 with 11:52 left. The Cobblers finally got on the scoreboard with 2:51 left as Kole Kroger punched the ball into the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown run. The kick was good and the final score was Sturgis 32, Central 7. Sturgis (1-1) finished with 386 yards of total offense. The Scoopers ran the ball 32 times for 162 yards, and completed 10-of-14 passes for 224 yards. Irion led the Scoopers on the ground with 12 carries for 58 yards, and West caught three balls for 93 yards and one score. Sturgis finished with one turnover, and 11 penalties for 120 yards. Flohr had a great night passing, going 9-for-13 for 216 yards and three touchdowns. “It feels amazing,” Flohr said. “It was one of those games I had circled on my schedule, just playing in the last two years Stevens. That’s obviously a big rivalry, and dropping two games to them, I wasn’t about to lose a third.” Rapid City Central (0-2) finished with 167 total yards, 111 on the ground and 56 yards through the air. Scooper head coach Chris Koletzky was happy with the result and the effort of his team. “We knew this game was going to be a physical game all four quarters,” said Koletzky. “We told our team at halftime that we knew we would have to answer their best counter punch in the second half, and we did that.” The Sturgis Scoopers host the Yankton Bucks next Friday night at Woodle Field. Koletzky knows that his defense better be ready. “They’ll run a lot of plays on offense, we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go. We go from Pierre with a D-1 tight end to a Yankton team with a double wing power offense, but it’s just football. Our big message tonight was to our reserves that they need to be ready and to keep developing so they can give us depth from here on out.”
