Winner High School football team was shut out by Sioux Falls Christian 36-0 Friday night.
This was the opening game of the season for the Warriors who played on the University of Sioux Falls field.
Sioux Falls Christian is the defending Class 11B state champions.
“We knew going into this game they would be a challenge,” said Coach Dan Aaker. “Give them credit, they are a tough team, they executed and hammered away at us. We knew if we did not make some stops defensively it would be tough on us,” said the coach.
Aaker noted the Warriors made some critical mistakes early and before you know it Sioux Falls Christian was up 12-0 early in the first quarter.
The Crusaders scored 12 points in the first quarter and added 16 more in the second quarter.
The coach said Winner had a nice drive moving the ball 45 to 50 yards and then fumbled. The telling statistic in the first half was Sioux Falls Christian scored four touchdowns on their possessions and Winner only had 2 the entire first half.
Aaker explained the Warriors played better in the second half. The team had a couple of drives and got some stops.
The Warriors had a total of 124 offensive yards and Sioux Falls Christian had 359. They had 24 first downs to Winner’s 7.
Phillip Jorgensen was Winner’s leading rusher with 56 yards on 9 carries. Trevor Peters had 23 yards and Brady Fritz, 13.
In passing, quarterback Fritz was 2-5 for 13 yards.
Leading tacklers for the Warriors were Shea Connot and Preston Norrid with 8 each, Elijah Blare, Colton Schroeder with 6 each, Brandon Volmer with 5.
Aaker says this is the first time in his 17 years in Winner that a team got a running clock on the Warriors. Also, this is only the seventh time Winner was shut out.
It was back to work on Monday. The loss left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. “It is not about the scoreboard but about how we played,” said Aaker.
The Warriors will host Stanley County on Friday, Aug. 24. The game will start at 7 p.m. and is the first home game for the Warriors.
The Winner coach says Stanley County returns a lot of skill kids and has a nice junior running back.
This week in practice will be a Winner Warriors week. “We need to find out who we are and what kind of character we have. The question is are we going to let the Sioux Falls Christian game define our season or are we going to put that in the rear window and move on. I hope it is the latter,” said Aaker.
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