HURON – The Huron Tigers were able to ring the homecoming bell with a resounding 32-14 victory over the Douglas Patriots Friday at Tiger Stadium.

The opening play of the game likely had many in the Huron homecoming crowd fearful for the night as CJ Gainey returned the opening kick to the Huron 34, then had the ball popped out, with the Patriots recovering on the Tiger 42.

Douglas was able to gain a first down on a pass from Aiden Russell to Tyler Dumdei, but the Tiger defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs on the Huron 30.

Mason Davis found Gavin Moeding for eight yards to open the drive. He then turned to hand off to Quinston Luellman. Sixty-two yards later, Luellman was in the end zone, giving the Tigers a quick lead. Nick Kleinsasser struggled kicking against the wind, missing the point-after, giving Huron a 6-0 lead.

Another pass from Russell to Dumdei for a first down was the high point of the second Douglas drive, finishing with a punt that Luellman returned out to the Huron 42.

Cashton Caudell ran for 18 yards and then a horsecollar tackle penalty added another 15 yards, putting the ball on the Douglas 38.

Davis found Moeding on the bubble screen on the next play, and Moeding wound his way through the Douglas defense for a 38-yard touchdown. Ronald Pineda kicked the extra point for the Tigers to make it 13-0.

On a botched option pitch, Gainey recovered the Patriot fumble at the Douglas 30 to get the ball back for the Tigers.
Davis found Reilyn Zavesky for seven yards, then Davis called his own number for a 21-yard run to give the Tigers first and goal on the 2-yard-line.

Holden Hegg was handed the ball three times, and on the third, he pushed his way into the end zone. Kleinsasser missed the extra point, giving Huron a 19-0 lead.

Huron’s Conner Johnsen makes the stop against Douglas running back Anthony Moser during their game Friday at Tiger Stadium.

After Douglas recovered its own fumble on a sack, Gainey intercepted the ball on the next play, giving Huron the ball right back at the end of the first quarter.

Caudell took a short Davis pass and broke through multiple Patriot arm tackles to gain 35 yards. He then gained another five yards on a run. Davis followed with a designed run for 10 yards.

Caudell took the handoff and went 14 yards down to the Douglas 1, but he fumbled the ball and the Patriots recovered.

Douglas was able to get a 12-yard run from Anthony Moser to get out from the goal line, but the drive stalled from there, forcing a punt that the Tigers downed right at midfield.

Davis run for seven yards and then found Zavesky for 10 yards to get a first down. After a Caudell run, Davis found Tyson Ruth for 18 yards and a first down.

Caudell then had a pair of runs gain 14 yards and put the Tigers with a first and goal. However, a fumble on the snap led to Douglas recovering the ball on the four-yard line.

Douglas was unable to get anything going offensively and punted to give the Tigers the ball on the Douglas 48.

The Tigers offense stalled on a pair of incomplete passes and a Luellman 5-yard run. Davis was sacked on fourth down to turn the ball over on downs.

Moser opened the drive with an 11-yard run, and the Patriots drew a pass interference call to get to the Huron 35.

On fourth down, Elliott DeVries hit Russell as he threw, and the ball hung up in the air. Bubba Peterson grabbed the ball and ran 72 yards down the sideline for a Tigers score with less than a minute remaining. Pineda added the extra point for a 26-0 Tiger lead.

Douglas followed three Moser runs for 25 yards and Russell completed his first pass since early in the first quarter, finding Tucker Paris for 26 yards, down to the Huron 9. The Patriots were unable to connect in the end zone, and the clock ran out for halftime.

Douglas leaned hard on Moser out of half, as he carried four of the first six Patriot plays, gaining a pair of first downs. However, the Tigers stacked him up and forced a punt.

The Tigers connected on a long pass from Davis to Peterson for 41 yards with a penalty tacked onto the end of the play. After a couple of incomplete passes and a loss on a run, the Tigers attempted a field goal and missed.

Moser took the ball and ran for 13 yards, but the Patriots went backward from there, leading to a punt.

Luellman took the handoff and ran 49 yards for a touchdown, but it was called back on a holding play. Luellman came up limp on the play as well. The Tigers couldn’t get any progress on the play and punted for the first time in the game.

The Patriots were able to gain a first down, but then couldn’t get the ground game going as rain began to fall, making the field slick. Douglas punted with seconds left in the third quarter.

Davis took the ball on the final play of the quarter and ran around end for 51 yards. He took another run for six yards to open the fourth quarter then connected with Peterson for eight yards and a first down.

The drive stalled there, and Huron attempted a 29-yard field goal with Kleinsasser. Tucker Paris of Douglas came through and blocked the kick then returned the kick 80 yards for a touchdown as Huron didn’t respond after the kick was blocked. Russell found Dumdei in the end zone for the 2-point conversion, making the score 26-8.

Luellman took the first play and gained 32 yards. He was taken down by his face mask on the next play, getting another first down, and then he picked up eight yards, but he slipped awkwardly on the wet field trying to stretch for the pylon.

Caudell came in to finish the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. The point-after kick was blocked, giving Huron a 32-8 lead.

Huron’s Reilyn Zavesky looks to get past Keyon Motley after making a catch during their game Friday at Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers got an interception from Colt McNeil, but then immediately turned the ball over via fumble at their own 23.

On the second play of the drive, Moser made a cut and streaked toward the corner of the end zone with a 21-yard touchdown scamper. The 2-point run failed, making the score 32-14 in favor of Huron.

The Patriots recovered the onside kick, but could not make any progress, punting to the Tigers. Davis connected with Moeding and Ruth on quick slants to bring the ball out near midfield, but then an errant snap on the wet field sent Davis scrambling to cover, losing 11 yards. Caudell gained back a significant amount of the yards, but the Tigers played it safe and punted, getting a touchback.

The Patriots came out throwing, completing two quick passes to gain 11 yards and a first down. However, their next pass would be intercepted by Ruth, who returned the ball to the Douglas 22.

Davis kneeled on the ball twice to secure the Tiger victory.

Huron coach Dru Strand was proud of the team’s effort, especially with multiple injuries taking out key players before and during the game.

“Our offense was clicking well in the first half,” Strand noted. “They were able to do their jobs successfully on each play.”

The Tigers move to 2-4 behind an offensive attack that tallied 461 yards despite Douglas having the ball for almost twice as much time in the game.

Luellman led a Tiger rushing attack that totaled 274 yards on the ground with 12 carries for 108 yards. Caudell toted the rock 11 times for 71 yards and Davis carried nine times for 91 yards.

Through the air, Davis was 11 of 20 for 187 yards and a touchdown.

Moeding led Tiger receivers with three catches for 61 yards and a score. Zavesky also had three grabs for 19 yards.

The Tigers defense was led by Kolby Hofer with 10 tackles and Bubba Peterson, who had 6 1/2 tackles, a sack, and an interception that he returned for a touchdown.

Douglas falls to 0-6 despite a strong effort from senior running back Anthony Moser, who carried the ball 20 times for 111 yards.

Huron hosts top-ranked Pierre next Friday. Strand knows that Huron will need to complete assignments to compete with the Governors.

“When all 11 guys are doing their assignment, the game is fun,” Strand explained. “Our goal is to come out and be competitive.”

Douglas 0 0 0 14 14
Huron 19 7 0 6 32

Scoring plays
1st quarter
8:06 - H - Quinston Luellman 62-yard TD run. (PAT kick failed.)
4:45 - H - Mason Davis 38-yard TD pass to Gavin Moeding. (Ronald Pineda PAT good.)
1:50 - H - Holden Hegg 1-yard TD run. (PAT kick failed.)

2nd quarter
0:55 - H - Bubba Peterson 72-yard interception return for TD. (Pineda PAT good.)

4th quarter
9:38 - D - Tucker Paris 80-yard return of blocked field goal for TD. (2-pt pass from Aiden Russell to Tyler Dumdei)
8:57 - H - Cashton Caudell 3-yard TD run. (PAT kick failed.)
6:37 - D - Anthony Moser 21-yard TD run. (2-pt run failed.)