STURGIS, SD – The Sturgis Scoopers earned their second straight football victory on Friday night at Woodle Field with a 24-16 win over the Rapid City Stevens Raiders.
It was the first meeting for the two teams since the 2021 Rushmore Bowl and the first Scooper win over Stevens since Sept. 12, 2008.
After stopping Stevens on their first series, the Scoopers took over on the Raider 49-yard line and pulled a rabbit out of the hat on their first play, as Scooper signal caller Carter Williams handed off the ball to Brody Royer on an end around option and Royer threw a long ball to wideout Teigen Wormstadt who advanced it to the Stevens 19-yard line. The Stevens defense held and forced Sturgis to kick a 22-yard field goal by Sully Jost. The Scoopers led 3-0 with 7:46 left in the first.
Sturgis stopped the Raiders again on their second possession and Jost ran the ball into the end zone two plays later from 36-yards out, giving the Scoopers a 10-0 lead.
Stevens pieced together a solid drive on their next series, moving the ball to the Scooper 10-yard line, culminating in a 10-yard touchdown run by halfback Carter Johnson with 2:57 left in the first quarter. Sturgis took the 10-7 lead into the second.
The second quarter was a defensive struggle for both teams until Raider running back Jack Day found daylight through his offensive line, sprinting 50 yards downfield for a score. Stevens led Sturgis 14-10 at the half.
It looked like Stevens had figured out a way to stop Scooper running back Sully Jost until the junior running back sprung loose on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, scoring a 44-yard touchdown run to give Sturgis a 17-14 lead.
The Scooper defense held strong again on the next Stevens series and forced a Raider punt, pinning Sturgis back on their 11-yard line. Stevens blitzed Williams, who was forced to throw the ball away as he stood in the Raider end zone. Williams was called for intentional grounding and Stevens was awarded a two point safety since Williams was standing in the end zone as he got rid of the football. The Scoopers held on to a razor thin 17-16 lead with 6:47 left in the third quarter.
Rapid City Stevens attempted two field goals in the fourth quarter, one of which was blocked, and Sturgis held on to their one point lead.
The Scoopers ran more than four minutes off the clock on their next possession, methodically moving the ball downfield to the Raider 31, when Williams fooled the defense with a pump fake, freezing the defensive back and finding Jesse Lane with a 31-yard touchdown toss, giving Sturgis a 24-16 lead with 5:00 left.
Scooper defensive back Jadon Blair sealed the win with just 1:30 left on the clock as he picked off a John Paul Sullivan pass near midfield. The Sturgis offense ran out the clock in victory formation, earning a hard-fought 24-16 victory. Blair described what he saw prior to the interception.
“I saw that third receiver roll over and we were in our regular coverage,” Blair said. “I saw (the receiver) break inside and I said ‘I gotta go get that’! I saw the ball in the air and I looked it all the way in. It was an amazing play and it was nothing better than I could ask for, especially with that close of a game and that little time (left), it was just awesome.”
Sturgis finished with 265 yards of total offense, 121 on the ground and 144 through the air. Jost finished with 113 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns. Williams was 9 of 16 passing with one touchdown pass. Wormstadt had three catches for 55 yards and Lane had five receptions for 54 yards and one score. Sturgis had one turnover, an interception by Williams early in the fourth quarter. The Scoopers had eight penalties for 70 yards. Sturgis improves to 2-1 on the year.
Rapid City Stevens had 200 yards of offense, with 33 carries for 160 yards and 40 yards passing. Day led the Raiders with 73 yards rushing on five carries. Stevens had one fumble and two interceptions, with 70 yards of penalties. The Raiders fall to 0-3 on the season.
Scooper head coach Chris Koletzky was pleased with the hard-fought victory.
“It was just a great team win,” Koletzky said. “Coaches and players bought into the plan that we had going into the week. Our coaches coached hard and I felt like our team was prepared. Our coaches had them ready and our kids had that look in their eye where they were bought in. There was some things that we saw on film that came to play and the kids executed. It’s just great to see when that happens.”
The Scoopers travel to Huron next Friday night to take on the Tigers for their homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 6pm Mountain time.
