Yankton's Lucas Kampshoff throws for 371 yards, four total TDs in win
WATERTOWN — Playing in one of its biggest games in a few years, fourth-rated Class 11AA Watertown High School's football game got off to a great start Friday night.
It didn't last.
Third-rated Yankton scored 31 unanswered points to overcame an early 14-0 deficit on the way to a 31-20 Eastern South Dakota Conference win at Watertown Stadium.
Here's how it happened:
Yankton cleaned up mistakes and got defensive
Watertown got off to another fast start that was in part helped by Yankton. A bad snap on a punt on their first possession gave the Arrows the ball deep in the red zone and Watertown converted with a 2-yard TD run by Juven Hudson with 6:30 remaining in the opening period.
The Arrows doubled their lead on their next offensive possession when Hudson turned a fourth-and-two play into a 35-yard dash to the end zone. Watertown led 14-0 with just over three minutes to go in the first quarter.
Things changed after that.
"They're a good football team. They got the momentum and we lost the momentum," said Watertown head coach John Hodorff.
A big key for Yankton was it shut down Watertown's offense after the quick start.
Hudson, who added a 14-yard TD run with 1:38 left that completed the game's scoring, accumulated 152 yards and three touchdowns rushing on 28 carries.
Still, the Bucks did a much better job on him after the fast start and that sparked the stretch on unanswered points.
The Bucks headed to the air
Not only did Yankton do a better job on defense, they also got their offense going behind senior quarterback Lucas Kampshoff.
Operating a spread offense out of the shotgun, Kampshoff spread his passes around and guided the Bucks to the comeback victory.
He completed 19 of 37 passes for 371 yards and had a hand in all four of the Bucks' touchdowns.
"We made some mistakes that we can't afford to make and be good," said Hodorff. "We had opportunities to make big plays and we didn't get it done."
Prep Polls: Watertown football, volleyball teams each remain fourth in this week's Prep Media polls
Kampshoff scored on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter, tossed a 19-yard TD pass to Tucker Gilmore with 5:36 left in the half and got the Bucks into position for Josue Trujillo-Melgoza's 34-yard field goal on the final play of the half. The field goal put Yankton head for the first time (17-14) and for good.
In the second half he opened with an 80-yard TD pass to Austin Gobel and completed his team's scoring with a 3-yard TD jaunt with 3:36 left that made it 31-14. Gobel finished with four catches for 117 yards.
Good effort not enough for Watertown
Mistakes hurt Yankton early and also didn't help the Arrows. Yankton's first score was set up by an interception by Gilmore. A roughing-the-penalty punter helped the Bucks continue a possession that produced a second touchdown.
Obviously, there were also some pass coverage issues as Kampshoff was able to find wide-open receivers and even missed on a few of those opportunities.
The Arrows also had a 25-yard field-goal attempt by Riley Fischer blocked and a kickoff return for a touchdown by Nathan Briggs nullified by a penalty.
"Yankton probably should be rated No. 2 and it's not good enough to hang with a team like that especially when you feel like you're better than they are in certain places," said Hodorff. "They played better than we did today but I still think we're a good football team and we can beat a team like Yankton."
The loss kicked off a tough three-game stretch for the Arrows, who will host fifth-rated Class 11AAA Sioux Falls Washington in their homecoming game at 7 p.m. Friday at Watertown Stadium before visiting top-rated and six-time defending Class 11AA champion Pierre on Friday, Sept. 22.
Watertown quarterback Treyton Himmerich completed 13 of 26 passes for 196 yards, connecting with Nathan Briggs five times for 60 yards, Kohen Kranz twice for 45 yards and Mitch Olson three for 44. Kaden Decker (6 solos, 2 assists, QB sack), Briggs (5-2 plus QB sack), Owen Spartz (3-5 plus interception), Jeremiah Schulte (3-4), Spencer Wientjes (2-4) and Brayden Ross (QB sack) led the Arrow defense.
Aberdeen Central 24, Sturgis 14
ABERDEEN — Two key plays from Cordel Rychlik sparked Aberdeen Central to its first win of the season on Saturday.
Rychilk blocked a punt late in the first half that led to Parker Lemer's go-ahead 5-yard touchdown run and also nailed down the victory by drilling a 33-yard field goal with 2:53 remaining in the game.
The Golden Eagles (1-2) opened the scoring on Austin Erickson's 19-yard TD run with 11:17 showing in the second quarter. Sturgis (2-1) pulled even on Aidan Hedderman's 5-yard TD pass to Jadon Blair with 5:07 left in the first.
Aberdeen Central's followed it's go-ahead score late in the first half by putting together a scoring drive to start the second half that last eight minutes and 55 seconds. It concluded with a 2-yard TD run by Avery Ligon,
Sturgis scored again with 8:26 left in the fourth quarter on a 67-yard dash by Hedderman. Rychlik added the field goal and the Golden Eagles stopped the Scoopers on downs to close out the win.
Ligon rushed 30 times for 205 yards to lead the Golden Eagles. Erickson added 51 yards rushing and Lemer completed four of eight passes for 24 yards. Tate Huff blocked a punt and Ayden Gisi contributed a quarterback sack.
Hedderman gained 150 yards rushing on 11 carries and also competed eight of 15 passes for 58 yards for Sturgis. Sully Jost added 63 yards rushing and Kalvin Ketlesen an interception.
Aberdeen Central plays Mitchell at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Kernel Bowl.
Elkton-Lake Benton 39, Deubrook Area 30
ELKTON — Blake DeVries ran for 96 yards and three touchdowns to lead fourth-rated Elkton-Lake Benton (4-0) to the win over Deubrook Area (3-1). DeVries also had eight tackles and a fumble recovery on defense.
Colt Beck completed six of nine passes for 144 yards, including a TD pass to Tanner Stein for the Elks. Stein caught three passes for 128 yards and Teigan Krog contributed eight tackles.
Jace Vomacka threw for 134 yards and two touchdowns (one to Jaxon Quail and another to Nolan Peterson) for Deubrook Area. Gavin Landmark rushed for 52 yards and a TD and Vomacka 43 and a TD. J.P. Rogness returned a kickoff for another. Quail caught two passes for 68 yards and Jacob Jorenby two for 49.
Vermillion 22, Milbank 20 (OT)
VERMILLION — Nolan Nygren tossed three touchdown passes, including a 12-yarder to Connor Peterson in overtime, to lead the Tanagers (1-2).
The Tanagers scored on a conversion in overtime. Milbank answered with a 3-yard touchdown by Owen Tesch but failed to convert the game-tying conversion.
Connor Roerig hauled in three passes for 95 yards and Peterson four for 65 for Vermillion, who threw for 166 yards. Rollie French was involved in 16 tackles and Landon Cerny nine.
Garrett Mertens tossed a 23-yard TD pass to Emmett Hanson and scored the game-tying TD on 1-yard run in overtime. He finished with 13 rushes for 97 yards and completed 10 of 15 passes for 105 yards. Hanson caught two passes for 38 yards and Jayden Johnson three for 26. Tate Schlueter contributed 44 yards rushing. Ethan Owen had six tackles and Johnson five. Hanson added two quarterback sacks.
Hamlin 57, Britton-Hecla 12
HAYTI — Mason Trowbridge scored three touchdowns to carry the second-rated Class 9AA Chargers (4-0) past the Braves (3-1).
Trowbridge, Tyson Stevenson, Easton Neuendorf, Jonathan Leonardi and Jackson Wadsworth each had TD runs and Stevenson tossed TD passes to Trowbridge and Aiden Abraham.
Stevenson completed nine of 11 passes for 175 yards and ran for 51 yards. Wadsworth rushed for 88 yards and Trowbridge 59.
Deuel 27, Webster Area 15
CLEAR LAKE — Trey Maaland ran for three touchdowns and passed for another to lead the Cardinals (4-0, 4-0) to the Northeast Conference win.
Maaland rushed 27 times for 192 yards and scored on runs of 1, 4 and 57 yards. He also completed seven of 12 passes for 60 yards, teaming with Oliver Fieber on a 23-yard score. Fieber caught three passes for 32 yards and Gabe Sather three for 19. Owen Haas contributed 57 yards rushing.
Ian Lesnar went 13-for-27 passing for 112 yards and two scores for Webster Area (1-3, 1-2). Jacob Keller (12 yards) and Joe Shoemaker (7 yards) caught the TD passes. Brent Bearman ran for 43 yards and Shoemaker caught four passes for 31.
Gavin Kloos and Kaden TeKrony each made eight tackles and Maaland, Reed VanWormer and Robert Begalka six each for Deuel's defense, which also received two interceptions from Sather. Martin Dorsett had eight tackles, Gavin Witt and Bearman seven apiece and Carson Mount six with an interception for Webster Area.
De Smet 57, Oldham-Ramona-Rutland 6
RUTLAND — Britt Carlson went 6-for-6 passing for 147 yards and four touchdowns for second-rated Class 9B De Smet (3-1).
Trace Van Regenmorter caught two passes for 35 yards and two TDs, Tommy Aughenbaugh two for 58 and a TD and Kadyn Fast also hauled in a 54-yard TD passes to go along with kickoff return TDs of 70 and 72 yards. Ganon Henrich, who rushed twice for 74 yards, and Wyatt Rigge each added TD runs and Melville Deloye went 3-for-3 in extra-point kicks.
Gannon Gilligan's 19 tackles and Slayten Wilkinson's 15 led the De Smet defense.
Sioux Valley 53, Hill City 0
VOLGA — Boden Schiller accounted for four touchdowns and 179 yards of total offense in the win for the second-rated Class 11B Cossacks (4-0).
Schiller scored on runs of 2 and 27 yards and tossed TD passes to Maverick Nelson (89 yards) and Donovan Rose (35 yards). He ran for 44 yards and completed three passes for 135.
Rose (47 yards), Boden Teske (1 yard) and Brody Haaland (12 yards) added scoring runs and Nelson return an interception 50-yard to the end zone. Rose ran five times for 69 yards.
Defensive leaders for the Cossacks were Braden Danzeisen (nine tackles plus an interception), Mitchell Guthmiller (seven tackles), Johnnie Vermeulen (six tackles), Nelson (two interceptions) and Wyatt Hardt (one interception).
Caleb Sobolik rushed for 55 yards, Devin Buehler threw for 50 yards and Daniel Hernandez caught seven passes for 72 yards to lead Hill City (1-2). Breylon Rahn, Nick Schroeder and Brandon Ramirez each made six tackles.
Groton Area 14, Clark-Willow Lake 0
GROTON — Teylor Diegel and Colby Dunker scored first-half touchdowns to propel the Tigers (3-1, 3-1) to the Northeast Conference win over the Cyclones (1-3, 1-2).
Diegel scored on a 47-yard run and Dunker on a 13-yard pass from Lane Tietz. Korbin Kucker rushed for 94 yards and Tietz completed eight of 15 passes for 92 yards. The defense featured 10-tackle performances by Brevin Fliehs, Kucker and Christopher Ehresmann and interceptions by Tietz and Keegen Tracy.
Griffin Musser rushed for 35 yards and Jack Helkenn 25 for CWL. Helkenn and Elliot Bratland each made eight tackles.
Faulkton Area 56, Sully Buttes 20
ONIDA — Layne Cotton scored on a 4-yard run and fired four touchdown passes for the top-rated Class 9B Trojans (4-0).
Garrett Cramer (16 yards), Charlie Deiter (20 yards), Carter Hall (52 yards) and Gian DiMaria (9 yards) each hauled in scoring passes for Faulkton Area. Tristan Baloun, Landon Coyle and Lincoln Dikoff scored on runs of 2, 5 and 40 yards, respectively.
Cotton finished 10-for-20 passing for 97 yards and Cramer rushed for 79 yards, Spencer Melius 63 and Coyle 53. Deiter also had 10 tackles including a quarterback sack.
Wesley Wittler passed for 139 yards and teamed with Gavin Barber on TD passes of 29 and 60 yards for Sully Buttes (1-3). Gavin Carlson added a 92-yard kickoff return for a TD. Barber rushed for 51 yards and made five receptions for 105 yards. Elly Heuertz had nine tackles.
Leola-Frederick Area 53, Great Plains Lutheran 16
LEOLA — Brayden Sumption found the end zone three times and Gavin Nickelson twice to propel LFA (3-1) to the win over GPL (1-3).
Sumption scored on runs of 1 and 42 yards and also returned a punt 55 yards for another TD. Nickelson (1 and 5 yards) and Westyn Thorpe (3 yards) added TD runs for the Titans, who also scored on a 72-yard pass from Noah Kippley to Milo Sumption. Thorpe rushed for 72 yards and Sumption 58.
The Panthers got TD runs from Brody Scharlemann (1 yard) and Greyson Leins (8 yards). Scharlemann rushed 11 times for 85 yards and also completed seven of 17 passes for 68, teaming with Martin Krenz twice for 32.
Hitchcock-Tulare 56, Waverly-South Shore 38
TULARE — Erik Salmen rushed 25 times for 352 yards and scored four touchdowns to help the third-rated Class B Patriots improve to 3-1.
He scored on runs of 1, 96 and 66 yards and also hauled in a 16-yard TD pass from Brendan Nowell. Nowell, who ran for 38 yards and passed for 55, also connected with Patrick Maynard on a 20-yard TD pass. Maynard added TD runs of 21 and 13 yards and finished with 34 yards rushing and four catches for 45 yards. Payton Chasing Hawk rushed for 48 yards.
Salmen also was involved in 11 tackles, Cameron Noethlich six and Mikael Nelson five for HT. Noethlich had an intercepted and joined Derek Johnson with a fumble recovery.
Cody Thompson hauled in three touchdown passes, two from Zach Ries and one from Colton Kranz, for Waverly-South Shore (0-4). Kranz and Ries also scored on TD runs.
Ries tossed two conversion passes to Thompson and one to Sam Appelhof and also caught another conversion pass from Thompson.
Dell Rapids St. Mary 46, Castlewood 16
DELL RAPIDS — Lucas Flemmer rushed the football 17 times for 107 yards, caught two passes for 80 yards and scored twice to lead the St. Mary (2-2) to the win.
Flemmer, who scored on a 65-yard pass reception from Owen Vargas, also had an intercepted on defense. Trimmier Hanson ran for two touchdowns and Lincoln LeBrun one. John Hoyer, who ran for 172 yards on 14 carries, returned the opening kickoff for another score.
Jackson Schofield caught five passes for 129 yards and a TD for Castlewood (1-2) and Kolby Davis also hauled in a TD pass. Lane Tvedt completed seven of 14 passes for 84 yards and a TD and Brody Bass five of 10 for a 122 yards and a TD. Tvedt also ran for 73 yards. Quincy Thu ran for 48 yards and caught three passes for 30 yards.
Chester Area 42, Arlington 6
ARLINGTON — Layke Wold threw five touchdown passes to Jovi Wolf and also ran for another score to lead Chester Area.
Wold completed 11 of 16 passes for 174 yards, including six to Wolf for 111. The TDs came on passes of 40, 26, 10, 18 and 22 yards. Wold also scored on a 3-yard run. Garrett Hansen added 151 yards rushing on 22 carries and Dalton Reiff recorded 12 tackles for Chester Area (3-1).
Arlington (1-2) scored on a 2-yard run by Jake Burns. Caden Murphy ran for 57 yards on 14 carries, Brecken Vossler 52 on nine and Burns 48 on nine. Vossler also made 11 tackles and Marshall Holz seven.
Tri-Valley 46, Sisseton 0
LYONS — Tri-Valley compiled 455 yards of total offense (including 361 rushing on 49 totes) on the way to improving to 3-1 on the season.
Sisseton (1-3) was limited to 75 yards rushing and 31 passing. Ethan DeSpiegler completed five of 19 passes and also rushed five times for 37 yards. Nate Tchida added 24 yards rushing.
Hughin Current and Mason Shultz each notched six tackles and Tschida and Delbert Peters Jr. five each to lead the defense for the Redmen.
Canistota 57, Florence-Henry 6
CANISTOTA — Second-rated Class 9A Canistota racked up 360 yards of offense and used three touchdowns from Easton Miller to roll to the win.
Miller ran for a 29-yard score and caught TD passes for 15 and 34 yards from Brady Scott. Tage Ortman scored on a 68-yard kickoff return and tossed a 26-yard TD pass to Ty Doblar. Cayden Scott (57 yards), Austin Weber (10 yards) and Prayden Acheson (26 yards) added TD runs for the 3-0 Hawks. Brady Scott went 4-for-6 passing for 81 yards and Cayden Scott had two carries for 64 yards.
The Falcons (0-3) scored on a 71-yard kickoff return by Karter Kohlenberg in the second quarter. Dawson Hlavacek rushed eight times for 51 yards and Dawson Lantgen completed four of nine passes for 32 yards including a 14-yard completion to Tristyn Sumner. James Kahnke (11 tackles including a sack) and Tate Hartley (four tackles and an interception) led the defense.
Aberdeen Roncalli 50, Dakota Hills 0
ABERDEEN — Brody Weinmeister rushed for two touchdowns and Zane Backous connected with Aiden Fisher on two TD passes to lead Roncalli (3-1) to victory.
Weinmeister scored on runs of 85 and 5 yards and Backous teamed with Fisher on passes covering 37 and 21 yards. Cade Young added a 1-yard scoring plunge and Brad Harms and Backous each recovered fumbles in the end zone for other TDs.
Young rushed for 30 yards and Kaden Larson 25. Carter Samson and Jean Anthony Thomas added fumble recoveries.
The Grizzles (0-4) got 31 yards rushing from Dylan Rumpza and fumble recoveries from Newton Campbell and Tyler Heinje. Brooks Dolen and Rumpza each made seven tackles and Micah Pelzel five.
Warner 51, Potter County 6
WARNER — Hunter Cramer scored on TD runs of 45, 6 and 10 yards and also tosses scoring passes to Zach Evans (19 yards) and Payton Volk (69 yards) for top-rated Class 9A Warner.
Jesiah Baum (15 yards), Charlie Dulany (10 yards), Jace Schwab (19 yards) and Tanner Wolberg (34 yards) added TD runs for the 30 Monarchs. Cramer fan for 71 yards and completed seven of 10 passes for 179 yards. Baum added 66 yards rushing. Chays Mansfield collected seven tackles, Brodey Sauerwein six and Alex Pudwill five.
Landon Larson completed four of 11 passes including a 79-yard scoring strike to Ryder Falkenhagen for PC (2-2).
Ipswich 44, Northwestern 6
MELLETTE — Max Kulesa completed 12 of 19 passes for 151 yards and four touchdowns for Ipswich (2-2).
Trevor Heinz caught three passes for 48 yards including 15- and 18-yard TD receptions. Chet Peterson (40 yards) and Tyler Hettich (12 yards) also caught TD passes. Casey Geditz ran for 67 yards and scored on a 10-yard run. Hettich made seven catches for 57 yards. Brody Davis and Justin Rohrbach each tallied 13 tackles.
Dallas Stoltenberg tossed a 41-yard TD pass to Cole Caulder for Northwestern (0-4). Stoltenberg passes for 54 yards and joined Caulder with six tackles apiece. Dustin Dirksen rushed 18 times for 64 yards and also recorded 10 tackles.
Mobridge-Pollock 40, Redfield 20
REDFIELD — Jackson Eisemann passed for two touchdowns and also caught two more to lead Mobridge -Pollock (2-1) to the win over Redfield (0-4).
Eisemann completed six of eight passes for 195 yards and also had 137 yards receiving with two TD catches from Taylor Carmody. Carmody went 6-for-18 passing for 164 yards. Mack Saxon finished with 102 receiving yards and two scores.
Simon Fried contributed 101 rushing yards and a touchdown. Carter Hintz had nine tackles, while Fried had two interceptions on defense. Jackson Eisemann, Easton Eisemann and Joseph Dutenhoffer each had interceptions.
Herreid-Selby Area 49, Newell 8
NEWELL — Fifth-rated Herreid-Selby Area rolled to the win, improvinig to 3-1.
Wayde Grage completed eight of 12 passes for 141 yards and two passing touchdowns and Houston Hauge rushed for 68 yards and two scores. Porter Gregg racked up 129 rushing yards on 12 carries and a TD. Jared Weisbeck scored two rushing touchdowns and Kaleb Claymore gained 53 rushing yards.
Trevor Gill and Cole Zabel each hauled in TD passes from Grace. Gill finished with 86 yards receiving. Weisbeck recorded 13 tackles and Kaden Sayler eight for the Wolves. Mason Vetter chipped in with an interception.
William Juelfs scored on a TD run for Newell (0-4).
Other Games
Tiospa Zina 34, McLaughlin 0
Estelline-Hendricks 48, Iroquois-Lake Preston 0
Week 4 Area Football Schedule Other unbeaten matchups include Hamlin vs. Britton-Hecla, Deubrook Area vs. Elkton-Lake Benton
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: The Week 4 landing page for area South Dakota high school football
