The Blackhawks 2014 season ended hard with a 30-8 loss at the hands of a larger and more experienced Gregory team on the biggest stage in South Dakota high school football.
Last Friday night, the Jerauld/Sanborn team brought their own superior size and experience to the table, and replaced the sour taste left from last year with that of sweet redemption, handing out a 30-15 loss to the defending 9AA Champs.
Running back Landon Ochsner led the way once again for Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central with four touchdowns, bringing his total TDs after five games to 15. Ochsner ran for a total of 195 yards in the win and now has 628 total rushing yards with three games left in the regular season.
After a scoreless first half, Gregory struck first with a 71-yard punt return by Triv Vosika. The Blackhawks answered with three of Ochsner’s touchdowns before the Gorillas could again find the goal line.
In the fourth quarter, Jayd VanDerWerff scored on a one-yard run for Gregory to get the Gorillas to 15 points. Finding themselves up by just seven in the fourth, the Hawks were careful to put the game out of reach with a final TD and successful two-point conversion.
Tucker Kingsbury completed 5-of-12 through the air for 77 yards. He also racked up 35 rushing yards. Kingsbury, playing with a broken hand since the second week, is inching up to the 500-yard mark in season passing at 454.
The Blackhawks added up 348 yards on offense to Gregory’s 251.
WWSSC will travel to White Lake to take on Kimball/White Lake this Friday night. The Hawks remain in first place in Class 9AA in the SD Sportswriters Polls and are 5-0.
Second place in the Sportswriters Polls is Wolsey/Wessington, the Blackhawks’ Oct. 16 opponent in Woonsocket.
The SD Broadcasters Association Polls have WWSSC in second behind the W/W.