Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central came up a bit short in White Lake at their first football game of the season Friday night.
The final score left the Blackhawks down, 14-24, versus the Kimball/White Lake WiLdKats.
KWL struck first with a 25-yard sideline run from Corbin Heath. The two-point conversion put the WiLdKats up, 8-0.
The Hawks were quick to respond however, with a Landon Ochsner kickoff return for 47 yards and a Tucker Kingsbury run down to the three-yard line. Austin Messmer punched it in from the three for the score.
After a successful conversion, the score remained tied up at eight until late in the third, when KWL’s Heath took another one to the bank from 30 yards out. Another WiLdKat TD early in the fourth, a six-yard quarterback keeper by Riley Talbott, put the Hawks down by 16.
The Blackhawks regrouped and put together a nine-play, 72-yard drive, capped off with another score from Messmer. The seemingly successful two-point conversion was ruled short and the game remained a two-score contest for the Hawks at 14-24 and just over six minutes to play.
WWSSC couldn’t recover an ensuing onside kick, sealing the loss for the Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks totaled 215 yards on offense. Kingsbury added up 84 yards on 11 carries and Messmer racked up 93 on 14. Joe Davis completed 4-of-8 passes for 13 yards, while his counterpart, Kingsbury went 1-for-3 for just one yard.
Defensively, Messmer led with 15 tackles, followed by Jacob Fouberg with 10.
KWL totaled 251 yards on offense, all on the ground. Heath led with 132 yards on 13 attempts. Turner Blasius added 52 yards, Eathen Gaulke had 43 and Talbott ran for 24. Blasius led defensively with 17 tackles, while Gaulke and Talbott each grabbed an interception.
The Blackhawks will host Mt. Vernon/Plankinton this Friday night in Wessington Springs. It will also be Parents’ Night.