Football: Watertown helps playoff cause, Waverly-South Shore snaps 20-game skid

What a difference two weeks has made for the 2022 Watertown High School football team.

The Arrows were 1-5 and riding a four-game losing streak 14 days ago, while also facing the distinct possibility that they'd be one of three Class 11AA teams who did not get to play in the state playoffs.

Things are much different after Friday's 26-7 home victory over Spearfish, which followed last week's 24-14 win at Mitchell. The back-to-back wins likely secured a playoff berth for the Arrows.

The Arrows are not only 3-5, but are also playing better and at least entertaining the possibility they won't be an easy out come playoff time.

"A couple of wins in a row is huge for our guys," said Watertown head coach John Hodorff. "They're excited about football again."

How Watertown got things done on Friday

First of all, the Arrows played well in a number of facets against Spearfish. Watertown's defense held the Spartans (3-5) scoreless until quarterback Seth Hamilton scored on a 14-yard run with 31 seconds left. A decent portion of Hamilton's 220 passing yards also came during the final drive against a unit of reserves.

The defense also scored when senior Drew Denzer intercepted a pass and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter that made it 26-0. Denzer also recovered a muff punt. Spencer Wientjes recorded two quarterback sacks and Caden Beauchamp one.

"It's the first interception return I've had for a touchdown and it was awesome," said Denzer.

On the other side of the ball, Spearfish's defense focused its attention on Watertown junior running back Juven Hudson and did limit him to 86 rushing yards on 23 carries. Hudson managed to break lose on a 17-yard touchdown run late in the first half and added a 1-yard TD run in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

A big help came from sophomore quarterback Treyton Himmerich, who has making his first career start. Himmerich completed six of 13 passes for 108 yards including a 5-yard TD pass to Ashton First In Trouble that opened the game's scoring with 4:37 remaining in the first period. Jesse Werner caught three passes for 84 yards.

Wins are wins, especially wins when you need them

While it's true that the combined record of Mitchell and Spearfish is 5-11, they were still games the Arrows needed to win and did.

"They were must-win games. Everybody did their job and we came through," Denzer said. "We still have something to prove, but now we're very happy. We're sitting in a lot better place than we were two weeks ago."

There's no question that the Arrows, who close out their regular season on Thursday by hosting No. 2-rated Tea Area at 6 p.m. at Watertown Stadium, have to prove they can play a full game against the state's better teams.

Still, Watertown showed plenty of signs of improvement on Friday. The defense was stellar throughout and the offense had some success in the red zone while also showing it doesn't completely have to rely on Hudson.

Where does the Class 11AA playoff picture stand

One thing I've learned in nearly 40 years of covering high school sports in South Dakota is that I don't know everything I need to know how to determine playoff seeding and how it all works. Hodorff was among the many Arrow coaches who said Friday's win would clinch a playoff berth for the Arrows. A loss next week to a Tea Area team that has only one defeat won't necessarily prove costly.

I'll let the others do the math and just assume that the playoff seeding is the only thing up in the air for Watertown. They could likely meet Tea Area again the following week in the first round of the state Class 11AA playoffs.

"You never know what can happen," said Hodorff. "We're starting to get better at the end of the season."

Confidence is a big thing and the Arrows have some of it at the moment.

Is it enough to carry Watertown to a bigger victory or more come playoff time?

"Absolutely, I think we have a chance to beat some of the teams that have beaten us," said Denzer. "When you look how we played in the first half against Pierre, obviously the No. 1 team in the class. They got us in the second half, but if we can play like we did in the first half against them, I'm confident we can beat anybody."

Here's a look at Friday's other area high school games:

Waverly-South Shore 55, Langford Area 0: Big games from Troy Kneeland and Cody Thompson helped Waverly-South Shore snap a 20-game losing skid dating back to Sept. 11, 2020 (a 29-0 win over Great Plains Lutheran). Kneeland had a hand in five touchdowns and also recorded a safety. He ran for a TD, returned a fumble for another and passed for three scores. Thompson scored on a run, a pass and two returns (interception and punt). Grant Holman and Gavin Meadors also caught TD passes and Bryan Ramirez added a field goal.

Holman and Endres each interception passes for the Coyotes, who finished 1-7. Langford Area ended 0-8.

Elkton-Lake Benton 32, Castlewood 26: Ryan Krog's 52-yard touchdown pass to Carson Griffith as time expired capped a fourth-quarter comeback that gave fifth-rated Class 9AA Elkton-Lake Benton (8-0) the Dakota Valley Conference title over third-rated Class 9A Castlewood (6-2). Castlewood led 26-20 before Krog and Griffith teamed on a 11-yard TD pass early in the final period.

Krog rushed 21 times for 186 yards and a 19-yard TD and also passed for 126 yards and three TDs. Tanner Stein hauled in a 13-yard TD pass. Griffith caught four passes for 80 yards and added seven tackles, including two quarterback sacks.

Lane Tvedt passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns, one to Carson Kirwan (74 yards) and one to Jackson Schofield (38 yards) for Castlewood. Kirwan also added a pair of 2-yard TD runs. Kirwan caught three passes for 122 yards, Schofield three for 78 and Booker Schooley four for 53. Adam Heyn and Bryon Laue each made eight tackles and Jeremiah Wiersma six.

Sioux Valley 29, Flandreau 13: Two fourth-quarter touchdowns helped the Cossacks (5-3) pull out the win. Boden Schiller blocked a punt and returned it 24 yards for a score and Brock Christopherson added a 36-yard TD jaunt. Lane Liebsch rushed for 85 yards and a 6-yard score and Donovan Rose 81 and an 18-yard TD. Jace Christensen passed for 71 yards, teaming with Schiller twice for 61. Schiller also had 12 tackles and Christopherson nine.

More: 11B, 9-man playoff pairings sethttps://www.thepublicopinion.com/story/sports/2022/10/15/south-dakota-high-school-football-playoff-pairings/69560417007/

Ethan Hoffman scored on a 7-yard run and Lane Johnson on a 7-yard pass from Paul Parsley for Flandreau (3-5). Hoffman ran for 80 yards and Parsley threw for 154, hooking up with Kolby Peterson six times for 118. Ethan Hoffman tallied 13 tackles and Ben Ballard 10.

Deuel 26, Redfield 13: Deuel capped a 7-1 regular season with the Northeast Conference win that featured a four-touchdown performance by Owen Quail. He scored on runs of 4 and 39 yards, hauled in a 7-yard scoring pass from Trey Maaland and also returned an interception 60 yards to the end zone. He finished with 66 yards rushing, 10 tackles and an interception.

Maaland rushed for 146 yards and completed eight of 13 passes for 95 yards, teaming with Josh Mussi four times for 51. Tate Kenyon added seven tackles, Carver Nothem six, Ronnie Begalka five and Gavin Benck four. Benck also recorded an interception and Begalka a quarterback sack.

Redfield (5-3) scored on a 32-yard pass from Nolan Gall to Keaton Rohlfs and on a 9-yard run by Mason Whitley.

De Smet 32, Deubrook Area 14: Dylan Zell scored three touchdown runs and also notched a safety to lead the fifth-rated Class 9B Bulldogs (5-3) to the Dakota Valley Conference win. Britt Carlson added a TD run and finished with 95 combined yards rushing and passing. Kadyn Fast ran for 163 yards and Trace Van Regenmorter hauled in three passes for 36 yards.

Jace Vomacka (25 yards) and Jaxon Quail (1 yard) each had TD runs for the 4-4 Dolphins.

Dell Rapids St. Mary 36, Estelline-Hendricks 18: Nic Gaspar rushed for 198 yards and three TDs (55, 2 and 57 yards) and also caught three passes for 67 yards for St. Mary, which also got a 3-yard TD from CJ Smith and a 34-yard scoring pass from Smith to Tate Bunkers. Smith passed for 101 yards and Bunkers rushed for 104. Lincoln LeBrun contributed nine tackles and Camden Gilbert intercepted pass.

Mattix Hausman scored on runs of 15 and yards and Joseph McAninch dashed 61 yards for another score to lead Estelline-Hendricks. Hausman finished with 81 yards passing, McAninch 120 yards rushing and Braxton Saathoff 64 yards receiving on five catches. Jon Nefzger made 12 tackles and joined Hausman and Wyat James with fumble recoveries. Matthew McAninch added seven tackles and Braxton Jongeling and Joseph McAninch each six.

St. Mary closed out the season with the Dakota Valley Conference win. Both teams will open nine-man playoffs next week with 4-4 records.

Freeman-Marion/Freeman Academy 36, Florence-Henry 14: Maddox Kihne tossed TD passes to Karter Weber (21 yards) and Evan Scharberg (68 yards) and hauled in TD passes of 4, 16 and 18 yards from Riley Tschetter to lead the Phoenix (6-2). Tschetter passed for 209 yards, teaming with Kihne 10 times for 136. Kihne also rushed for 56 yards.

Tegan Sumner scored on a 1-yard run and Mehki Keller an 80-yard kickoff return for the Falcons (4-4). Sumner rushed for 44 yards, passed for 101 and made eight tackles. Keller caught two passes for 49 yards and Clay Trupe two for 39 to go along with 10 tackles. The two teams will play again Thursday in the Class 9AA playoffs.

Hitchcock-Tulare 50, Great Plains Lutheran 0: Second-rated Class 9B Hitchcock-Tulare wrapped up an 8-0 regular season by beating GPL (3-5) at South Dakota State's Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings. Landon Puffer (28 run and 65 punt return) and Carter Binger (5 run and 21 interception return) each scored twice and Riley Fliehe (43 run), TJ Salmen (56 punt return) and Blaze Binger (8 pass from Brendan Nowell) also scored.

The Panthers were limited to 25 yards of offense. Myles York made seven tackles and Joseph Dahlberg five. Alex Heil intercepted a pass.

Herreid-Selby Area 50, Britton-Hecla 0: Brenden Begeman rushed 11 times for 296 yards and four touchdowns (14, 53, 94 and 43 yards) to help the top-rated Class 9B Wolverines complete an 8-0 regular season. They'll head into the Class 9B playoffs next week as the top seed.

Tray Hettick tossed a 19-yard TD pass to Cole Zabel and scored on a 1-yard run and Ethan Thompson added a fumble recovery for another TD. Nathan Bradford recorded seven tackles and Begeman 6.5.

BoDell Davidson rushed for 50 yards and passed for 57 for Britton-Hecla, which takes a 4-4 record into the Class 9AA playoffs. Tucker Mertens made 3.5 tackles and Bryce Hawkinson added an interception.

Milbank 16, Chamberlain 8: Milbank won its second-straight game. Team is now 2-6.

Sisseton 20, Baltic 6: Sisseton (2-6) closed out its season by snapping a six-game losing streak. Baltic finished 0-8.

Iroquois-Lake Preston 44, Oldham-Ramona-Rutland 6: The Sharks won the Dakota Valley Conference game and will take a 2-6 record into the Class 9A playoffs. ORR is also 2-6 and in the state 9A playoffs.

Colman-Egan 64, Arlington 14: Colman-Egan (1-7) broke into the win column with the Dakota Valley Conference win. Arlington finished 0-8.

Other Friday South Dakota Scores

Aberdeen Central 29, Yankton 7, 3OT

Alcester-Hudson 36, Irene-Wakonda 14

Beresford 22, Dakota Valley 20

Burke 33, Gayville-Volin 22

Canistota 22, Platte-Geddes 8

Canton def. Custer, forfeit

Cheyenne-Eagle Butte 38, Marty Indian 22

Dell Rapids 42, St. Thomas More 19

Elk Point-Jefferson 28, Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan 14

Faith 42, Stanley County 16

Garretson 33, Centerville 14

Gregory 23, Bon Homme 12

Hanson 45, Colome 14

Harrisburg 41, Brookings 7

Hot Springs 42, Hill City 0

Howard 45, Chester 7

Ipswich 54, North Central Co-Op 0

Kadoka Area 56, New Underwood 6

Kimball/White Lake 53, Bennett County 0

Lead-Deadwood 53, Lakota Tech 30

Leola/Frederick 56, Faulkton 34

Lower Brule 48, Omaha Nation, Neb. 0

Lyman 60, Lemmon/McIntosh 7

McCook Central/Montrose 44, Parker 0

Miller/Highmore-Harrold 41, Tripp-Delmont/Armour/Andes Central/Dakota Christian 16

Mitchell 21, Huron 14

Mobridge-Pollock 30, Groton Area 12

Philip 50, White River 0

Pierre 35, Tea Area 30

Potter County 42, Sunshine Bible Academy 14

Red Cloud 48, Winnebago, Neb. 42

Sioux Falls Christian 48, Belle Fourche 7

Sioux Falls Jefferson 38, Brandon Valley 14

Sioux Falls Lincoln 38, Sioux Falls Washington 7

Sioux Falls O'Gorman 53, Rapid City Central 7

St. Francis Indian 26, Pine Ridge 6

Sturgis Brown 27, Douglas 0

Sully Buttes 32, Corsica/Stickney 14

Todd County 30, Standing Rock, N.D. 22

Tri-Valley 48, Wagner 6

Vermillion 28, Madison 20

Warner 55, Northwestern 0

West Central 38, Lennox 16

Winner 34, Mt. Vernon/Plankinton 8

Wolsey-Wessington 34, Avon 16

Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central 14, Rapid City Christian 6

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Waverly-South Shore halts 20-game losing streak dating back to 2020.