2 weeks Ago By Landon Dierks
LAKE ANDES, S.D. — Though entering as the lower-seeded team, Hanson flexed some of its playoff pedigree on Thursday night.
Behind a big passing attack and a pair of crucial defensive stops in the fourth quarter, 11-seed Hanson held on for a 27-26 victory at No. 6 Tripp-Delmont/Armour/Andes Central/Dakota Christian in the Class 9AA playoffs first round. ADVERTISEMENT An upset by seeding only, Hanson came out as the aggressor and led from the second quarter onward.
Though TDAACDC came agonizingly close to the first playoff win in the co-op's history, it was the Beavers that displayed the composure required to move on to the quarterfinal round for a fifth consecutive season. “We’ve played what I think is the toughest schedule in Class 9AA, and in all those games, our guys went out expecting to win,” said Hanson head coach Jacob Giles. “We knew tonight that was a really good football team on the other sideline, but we had confidence in ourselves to get the job done, too.
” Defending its one-point lead in the final frame, Hanson came up with a late stand, turning TDAACDC back on four goal-to-go plays. Later in the frame, with under a minute to play, Stetson Riggs recorded a strip sack and Pierce Kayser jumped on the loose ball to end the Thunderhawks’ final attempt at a rally. “It takes everyone to win a football game,” Giles said of the game-clinching play.
“When you get opportunities, you have to take advantage of them, and our guys took advantage of the opportunity on that play.” Both sides traded punches throughout the first half, as the Beavers’ big plays in the passing game were answered with methodical ground-and-pound drives by the Thunderhawks. But as the back-and-forth affair went to halftime, three touchdown passes from Esten Schlimgen outweighed two Garth Maas scoring plunges, with Hanson ahead 20-12 at the break.
A 2-yard keeper by Hunter Loeffler in the third quarter kicked off a scoring flurry, as Hanson promptly responded with a second long scoring connection between Schlimgen and Cole Dewald to go up 27-18, the nine-point, two-score cushion, proving to be just enough in the end. Loeffler’s second scoring scamper in as many minutes of game action, this time from 58 yards, and the ensuing two-point conversion brought the TDAACDC back within a single point entering the fourth quarter. ADVERTISEMENT “We’ve got a lot of playmakers on the team, and I think each of those guys showed up tonight,” said TDAACDC head coach Mike Erlandson.
“In the end, we shot ourselves in the foot one too many times, but we showed fight the whole game. That’s who we are, and I’m proud of each and every one of these guys.” But Hanson held firm, holding the Thunderhawks scoreless over the final 12 minutes to preserve the narrow advantage.
Schlimgen’s four-touchdown effort through the air, with two scoring strikes to Dewald and one each to Riggs and Weston Kayser, led the Beavers’ offense, which routinely found space behind the defense. “We knew they were going to come out in man coverage, and they’re big and they’re good up front,” Giles said. “ So we knew we were going to have to take some shots and have our athletes make plays.
” Hanson (5-4) moves on to play No. 3 Elkton-Lake Benton in the Class 9AA quarterfinals on Thursday, Oct. 31.
The Elks cruised to a 54-0 win over Great Plains Lutheran in their first-round contest..
