Tigers record shutout against Spearfish

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SPEARFISH — The teams vying for the final seed in the Class “AA” football playoffs squared off Friday night, as the Huron Tigers traveled to Spearfish to take on the Spartans at Lyle Hare Stadium, for the Spearfish homecoming game.
Huron spoiled the festivities for the Spartans, posting a 24-0 shutout victory, behind a strong ground game and a solid team defensive effort and overcoming more than a dozen penalties..
It was Spearfish that knocked Huron out of the playoffs last year, in the first round of postseason play, after the Tigers had defeated the Spartans only a few weeks earlier in the regular season.
“We wanted to come out quicker on offense and defense tonight and try to establish ourselves from the opening kick,” said Huron coach Michael Schmitz.
Both teams had turnover issues early. Huron fumbled on its second play of the game, giving the ball to Spearfish inside the Huron 40-yard line.
Spearfish returned the favor on its second play, fumbling the ball right back to the Tigers.
Taking over at nearly the same point as where they had given up the ball on its first possession, Huron methodically moved the ball down the field, relying on a solid ground game led by Chip Shillingstad. The Tigers converted two fourth-down plays to keep the drive alive - one of them an 18-yard pass from Jett McGirr to Kobe Busch on 4th-and-9 — and McGirr hit paydirt on a one-yard run with 5:26 left in the first quarter.
Spearfish moved the ball better on its next two drives, converting two long passes and using a couple of Huron penalties to move deep into Huron territory.
But the Spartans fumbled the ball on one possession - inside the Tiger 10-yard line - and turned it over on downs on its next possession.
After sputtering on a couple of drives, the Huron offense again caught fire, driving 71-yards in 10 plays - all on the ground, most via Shillingstad and Alex Hill - and Walker Schiltz capped the drive with a three-yard plunge, with 4:02 left in the half. On the drive, Hill ripped off gains of 21 and 18 yards, to keep the Tigers offense purring.
The half ended with Huron holding a 12-0 lead.

“The kids really took ownership of the game here,” Schmitz said.
“They were involved and suggesting plays that worked and that we came back to on different occasions.”
After Spearfish opened the third quarter with a quick three-and-out, Huron took over with good field position. A penalty pushed the Tigers back to their 27-yard line, but Shillingstad shook free down the sideline and McGirr hit him in stride for a 73-yard catch-and-run touchdown, which put Huron up 18-0.
Spearfish was a gracious host, coughing up the ensuing kickoff and putting Huron in business deep in Spartan territory, but a couple of penalties forced the Tigers backward and they had to turn it over on downs.
The Spartans took over and moved upfield quickly, but for the fourth time in the game, put the ball on the turf and turned it back over to the Tigers.
After yet another strong defensive effort, the Tigers forced a three-and-out. Huron began driving down the field, overcoming a couple more penalties as Shillingstad and Mason Small carried the load. Facing a long third down from the Spearfish 31-yard line, McGirr rolled out and found Busch in the endzone. The big 6-foot, 4-inch sophomore got his feet down for the score and a 24-0 lead, with nine minutes and change to play.
Spearfish tried to throw the ball to get back into the game, but had little more success through the air than it did on the ground, and Huron was able to regain possession and effectively run out the clock in the game.
Shillingstad carried 19 times for 90 yards and Hill matched that total in 10 carries. Schiltz carried seven times for 29 yards, while McGirr had 26 yards on the ground on five carries, and was 9/17 through the air, for 166 yards and two touchdowns. The Tigers rolled up 232 yards on the ground and 398 yards in total offense.
The Tigers limited Spearfish to six first downs while moving the chains 16 times in the game.
“Our lines - offense and defense both - really controlled the line of scrimmage tonight and deserve a lot of credit,” Schmitz said.
Spearfish was led by Jordan Brinson, who carried eight times for 21 yards, while quarterback Tyler Barkley was 5/18 through the air for 78 yards, most of them to tight end Brady Greger.
Huron will close out the regular season on Thursday night, when they travel to Brookings, and then see where the chips fall as far as a playoff spot is concerned.

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
5:26 - Huron: Jett McGirr, one-yard run. (PAT no good)
2nd Quarter
4:02 - Huron: Walker Schiltz, 3-yard run. (Conversion failed)
3rd Quarter
10:38 - Huron: Chip Shillingstad, 73-yard pass from McGirr. (PAT failed)
4th Quarter
9:05 - Huron: Kobe Busch, 31-yard pass from McGirr. (PAT failed)