BROOKINGS Uncharacteristic mistakes doomed the Huron Tigers on Thursday against the Brookings Bobcats at Dana J Dykhouse Stadium on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings, falling to the Bobcats by a final score of 22-14.
The ball stayed on the ground on both sides of the ball to open the game. Huron began with a 5-yard run by Landon Hulst and a 13-yard run by Anderson Porisch gave the Tigers a quick first down. However, a pair of Porisch runs and then a pass that lost yards led to a Tiger punt.
Brookings then had a long drive that began at their own 17-yard line. Bergan Tetzlaff ran the first five plays, earning two first downs. Brookings was able to fall on a fumble that was fairly controversial for Huron players and coaches.
Brookings then handed off to Gus Armenta three straight times before Tetzlaff ran for three yards and another first down. The Bobcats went backward from there and punted, eating more than seven minutes on the clock without crossing midfield.
Porisch broke through the middle on a keeper on the first play of the ensuing drive, but the ball was punched out of his hands, and Brookings recovered on the Huron 28.
After a holding penalty and a sack took the Bobcats all the way back to the Tiger 42, quarterback Gavin Anderson was able to find Ezra Eidem on the sideline for an 11-yard gain. However, the Tiger defense stiffened from there, forcing a turnover on downs.
That led to the longest drive of the first half, as the Tigers took over with 29 seconds left in the first quarter. Hulst would get a four-yard run ahead of the quarter break and tack on five more yards on the first play of the second quarter. Porisch ran six yards for a first down, but a personal foul sent the Tigers backward 15 yards after the play.
Porisch found Mason Jurgens for nine yards for a first down and then followed that up with a 10-yard run of his own for another first down.
After a false start, Porisch ran for 10 yards, Hulst chipped away for three, and Porisch ate up another 10 yards for a first down to the Brookings 30.
On third and long, Porisch set up the middle screen to Hulst, and the Tigers gained 14 yards down to the 15. Porisch ran twice for seven yards, and on fourth and three, he threw the ball up as he was being rushed, finding Riley Winegar in the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown with 4:22 left in the first half. The point-after kick missed, giving Huron a 6-0 lead after a 17-play, 72-yard drive that ate up 8:07 on the clock.
The lead was short-lived, though, as Anderson shot through the line and outran the Tiger pursuit, going 67 yards for a quick score on the first play of the drive. A two-point run by Tetzlaff made it 8-6 with 4:06 left.
Huron got a big play on the first play of the next drive, as Porisch connected with Winegar for 30 yards to the Brookings 40. Hulst ran for nine yards on two carries. Porisch ran for seven yards for a first down to the Brookings 24.
Unfortunately, a miscommunication on the handoff between Porisch and Hulst led to a fumble, and Brookings recovered.
Brookings went backward and had to punt, but Huron was unable to get down the field for another shot at a score before the half, trailing the Bobcats 8-6 at half.
The second half started with some difficulties holding onto the ball. The Bobcats fumbled the opening kickoff, giving the Tigers the ball at the Brookings 26, but on the first play, Porisch was intercepted to the Brookings 6.
After going backward, Brookings ended up having to punt from their own end zone, giving the Tigers starting position on the Brookings 47.
Hulst ripped off 19 yards in two runs, and then Porisch weaved his way through for a 14-yard gain to the Brookings 14. Four more Tiger runs netted 11 yards and a first down at the Brookings 3. Thats when an errant snap recovered by Porisch moved the Tigers back to the 16. Two incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs.
Brookings took over and simply wound off the clock with short runs and one first down on a Huron penalty before the Bobcats again had to punt.
Porisch went up the hash mark for 16 yards near midfield, and after an incomplete pass, he found Winegar for 9 yards. The Bobcats guessed right on the run blitz and caught Hulst in the backfield for a big loss, and an incomplete pass on the first play of the fourth quarter turned the ball back over on downs.
Again, the big play struck for Brookings as Ben Schulte broke tackles at each level of the Tiger defense on his way to a 51-yard touchdown score with 11:03 remaining in the game. The extra point made it 15-6 Bobcats.
Huron didnt flinch, using a pass interference penalty to get into Brookings territory, then a big 30-yard run by Hulst to get to the Brookings 12.
From there, Jurgens carried the ball in on an end around, and Porisch ran around end on a keeper for the two-point conversion, getting Huron within 15-14 with 9:18 left in the game.
Brookings then leaned on their size advantage in the middle, running a rugby-style offense and methodically gaining yards, with the biggest play a reverse pass that saw Jones Huntimer find Tetzlaff down the field for 16 yards to the Tiger 17.
From there, it took five more runs, but eventually Tetzlaff punched it in from four yards out to make it 22-14, but the Bobcats had eaten up more than seven minutes of game time, leaving the Tigers with a chance to tie, but also with 2:05 to do it.
Huron mixed in sideline runs along with short passes to get to midfield, then got a big pass interference penalty to get to the 36.
Porisch ran three times for a first down at the 25, and on fourth down, he found Ellwein for 17 yards to the Brookings 8, but there was only time for one more play, and the pass to brother Carter Porisch was well-defended in the end zone and fell incomplete.
Brookings moves to 5-4. The Bobcats ran for 223 yards. Tetzlaff was the workhorse, with 17 carries for 50 yards and a score. Anderson ran for 87 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, and Schulte finished with eight carries for 71 yards and a score.
Huron falls to 7-2. Porisch threw for 115 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 16 times for 118 yards. Hulst also gained 75 yards on 14 rushes.
Huron will open the postseason on Thursday at Tiger Stadium as the second seed in Class 11AA, but they will face the same Brookings squad again.
Huron 0 6 0 8 – 14
Brookings 0 8 0 14 – 22
Scoring summary
Second quarter
4:22 – H – Anderson Porisch 8-yard TD pass to Riley Winegar. PAT kick failed.
4:06 – B – Gavin Anderson 67-yard TD run. Bergan Tetzlaff 2-pt run is good.
Fourth quarter
11:03 – B – Ben Schulte 51-yard TD run. PAT kick by Drew Johnson good.
9:18 – H – Mason Jurgens 12-yard TD run. Porisch 2-pt run is good.
2:05 – B – Tetzlaff 4-yard TD run. Johnson PAT kick good.
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