5 hours Ago By Blake Durham
VERMILLION — Given the depth Winner High School football brings each week to the field, someone will inevitably step up with lights bright. For the Class 11B championship-winning Warriors, Gus Bartels and Eli Vobr came through when it mattered most. ADVERTISEMENT Bartels knocked the football out of Sioux Valley quarterback Brock Christopherson’s hands with the Cossacks deep in their own territory towards the end of third quarter.
Ryken Orel’s subsequent recovery keyed the go-ahead touchdown in Winner’s 20-14 victory on Friday at the DakotaDome. Initially, Bartels didn’t even know that he knocked the ball free upon delivering the hit to Christopherson. However, the senior fullback and linebacker knew he couldn’t miss a tackle against the running duo of Christopherson and Donovan Rose out of the backfield.
“They can move,” Bartels said about the Sioux Valley backfield. “If you don’t hit them hard the first time, they’re going to run right through you. .
.. I saw the ball going out and I was just smiling.
I was happy to be there.” “That was a huge play,” added Winner head coach Trent Olson. “You just felt like Rose could score on any play.
Then all of a sudden, you got the ball at their 22 (yard line) or whatever it was and we were able to capitalize. Those are the breaks in a football game.” Bartels immediately was handed the ball on the offensive end, picking up 14 yards on the play to set up a first-and-goal from the one-yard line.
He ended the game as the most outstanding back with 41 yards rushing on eight carries in addition to the forced fumble and five tackles. Olson immediately called for the quarterback keeper, putting the ball into quarterback Eli Vobr’s hands. Fighting through cramping in his right leg that initially sidelined him for a drive in the third period, Vobr, a transfer from nearby Colome prior to the season, powered through into the end zone for the score to start the fourth quarter, giving the Warriors the advantage.
Vobr finished with 59 passing yards and a touchdown pass and 29-yards and a rushing score. “I knew coach Olson said that I was going to punch it in and I knew that I had to get in the end zone,” Vobr said. “Get it in four downs for sure.
We needed to go up and it was a game-changer.” ADVERTISEMENT Winner ultimately held off the Cossacks, picking up its 10th championship in the playoff era of high school football in South Dakota. It was another display of the depth and options the Warriors have, and it was members of the senior class coming through in those critical moments.
“It’s the senior leadership that’s used to being in this,” Olson said. “They’ve played in big games that help us a little bit, but we try to rotate (positions) all through the year. It comes down to things like that.
” “We keep guys fresh all the time,” added Bartels. “When you’re out there, you kind of have to make a difference, or else you probably don’t get that spot. .
.. Our guys played hard and I don’t know if you can find a better front seven in the state.
” The championship victory for the graduating seniors came from the determination to not let last season’s semifinal defeat to Elk Point-Jefferson happen again. The key moments and the moments before and after the game will be remembered by everyone on the sidelines. “We had a goal and I was set on getting here,” Vobr said.
“We were all set on getting here. I’ll probably watch this game quite a few times the next couple of years with all my senior friends and friends in general.”.
