By South Dakota Public Broadcasting
On Friday Aug. 17, night, high school football season kicked off in South Dakota for all three nine-man classes and class 11B. It’s always said that records are meant to be broken, and that nearly happened opening night when Colome hosted Centerville.
The theme of this game was lots of scoring… for the Cowboys that is. Coach Ben Connot’s Cowboys were victorious 72-6. Yes, you read that correctly, Colome scored 72-points. And it to make it even more impressive, all of the scoring occurred in just the first half.
For Class 11A, 11B, and all three nine-man classes, there’s a mercy rule. If a team has a lead of 50-points by the end of the first half, or if they secure a lead of that magnitude in the second half, the game is over.
Colome’s 72-point performance didn’t break a record but it came close. In South Dakota nine-man football history, Avon has the record for the most points scored in one half of football with 76. That record occurred in 2004, and it was a season that concluded with Avon winning the Class 9A State Championship.
Cowboys head coach Ben Connot said he’s proud of the way his team played to open the season. He mentioned the importance executing plays, and how preparation in practice correlated over to game day.
“I think a big thing is confidence. We’re doing a few things a little different this year than we did last year, so to come out that first game and execute – to show that we can put points on the board,” said Connot. “We relayed the message that we do have some confidence and that we can call any play and it’s going to work.”
Colome is currently ranked No. 3 in the South Dakota Media Preps High School Football poll, behind only Sully Buttes (No. 1) and Castlewood (No. 2). With the Cowboys football program receiving well-deserved respect from around the state, Coach Connot is keeping his team focused.
“It starts on the practice field and a sense of urgency in everything we do, making every rep count,” explained Connot. “Being on top of the kids for focus and just staying disciplined. Every game counts when you look at seed points and all that, so really we just try to keep kids locked in to practice and hope we execute the same way in our games.”
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