By Andrew Holtan
The Brookings Beacon
BROOKINGS – The Brookings football team lost a close one in its homecoming game on Friday night as the Bobcats fell to Spearfish 28-21 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
It was a back-and-forth affair, but it was a much better effort for a Bobcat team that had been outscored 103-7 in its past three games.
“It was a night and day difference between last week and this week,” said Brookings head coach Carter Gordon. “We’ve been talking about one word since the summer started. It was conviction and unwavering belief, and I think tonight was a huge step forward into that. I’m always proud of these guys just because of who they are off the field. But I was unbelievably proud of how hard they fought and didn’t quit.”
The Bobcats benefitted from a poor decision from Spearfish’s Thomas Hughes on the Spartans first drive of the game. He dropped back to pass and was pressured and instead of taking the sack he tried to throw the ball away. However, the ball never reached the sideline and Colten Walsh picked it off and set up the Bobcats in Spearfish territory.
Brookings then cashed in on the turnover as Caden Walsh powered his way into the end zone from six yards out to make it 7-0 just under five minutes into the game.
The Spartans responded with a five-play scoring drive. It was capped off by a 19-yard touchdown from Thomas Hughes to Kade Vavruska. That made it 7-7 with 4:52 to go in the opening quarter.
Brookings would then punt and Spearfish took the lead 19 seconds into the second quarter. This time it was Graham Hughes who scored and he ran it in from five yards out to give the Spartans a 14-7 lead.
The Bobcats answered with a scoring drive. This time they scored through the air as Baker Hanson found Hayden Jones for a 29-yard touchdown. There was a bad snap on the extra point and Spearfish led 14-13 with 9:01 left in the first half.
Gordon said he liked the response from his team after they fell behind.
“Sometimes I jokingly say that they’re too young to be afraid. They’re too young to not be cocky, and I think that showed a little bit. You know, they didn’t shy away from it and they weren’t afraid of [being down], and that’s very exciting to see,” Gordon said.
Brookings attempted to take the lead with a 34-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, but Ty Johnson’s kick went wide left and the ‘Cats trailed 14-13 at the break.
The Bobcats got the ball first after halftime and went on a drive that lasted over nine minutes. However, they did not get any points as they failed to convert on a fourth and six and the Spartans took over at their own 12.
Spearfish went three and out and Brookings would then move the ball again deep inside Spartan territory, but this time they found the end zone. It was an 11-yard touchdown run from Hanson and then Caden Walsh ran in the two-point conversion to make 21-14 with 10:45 to go in the game.
The Spartans moved right down the field and scored as Graham Hughes ran into the end zone from 14 yards out. This time it was the Spartans special teams who failed them as they missed the extra point and Brookings still led 21-20 with 9:27 to play.
Brookings would then move the ball to midfield and faced a fourth and four. The Bobcats opted to have Hanson kick it instead of their punter to throw Spearfish off but the kick was blocked by Brock Lewis and the Spartans recovered it at the Bobcat 36 with 5:40 to go.
“We ran that [quarterback kick] against Sioux Falls Christian [last week],” Gordon said. “But that’s one of those calls that I wish I would have changed. … Against Sioux Falls Christian we ran it well, but they just got a little too much pressure up the middle on it and it didn’t work out for us. That’s one that will probably keep me up tonight.”
It didn’t take long for the Spartans to take the lead as Thomas Hughes kept it on a read option and scored from a yard out. He also ran in the two-point conversion and Spearfish led 28-21 with 3:59 left in the game.
Brookings moved the ball near midfield again but was unable to convert a fourth and seven with 1:09 left. Spearfish then ran two run plays and on the second one Thomas Hughes fumbled the snap but Graham Hughes fell on it.
The Spartans then faced a third and eight and the Hughes brothers had trouble with a hand off exchange and the ball hit the turf. Caden Walsh recovered it and the Bobcats had the ball on the Spearfish 41 with no timeouts and 51 seconds left.
Brookings moved the ball down to the Spearfish 23 but faced a fourth and three with 13 seconds left. Hanson rolled out to the left and tried to throw it to Jennings Huntimer in the back of the end zone but it was thrown too far and Spearfish won the game.
Gordon took the blame for the Bobcats not finding the end zone on the final two drives of the game.
“I’ll take the blame for those drives [at the end]. It’s not that we didn’t make the right calls in certain situations tonight, it’s that I made bad calls in bad situations. I told the boys that the weight of the loss isn’t on them; it’s wholeheartedly on me and not making the right calls in those moments,” Gordon said.
Brookings dropped to 0-5 on the season. The Bobcats next three games include matchups against Tea Area, Yankton and Pierre, who are all ranked in the top five of Class AA. Gordon said Friday night was a step in the right direction for Brookings, but the Bobcats still have plenty to work on.
“I think every week is a building week for us. We’re always getting a little bit better, but with the second half of our schedule that we’re walking into, we have to shore up some things for sure. I would not say that we made our way around the bend yet, but we’re definitely trending in the right direction,” Gordon said.
