Tanagers' season extended with 49-6 victory over TCHS By Jim Prosser Entertaining the Vermillion fans with a complete roster of player participation, the Tanagers played two halves at the first round playoff game in the DakotaDome on Thursday, Oct. 31.
The first half involved the varsity which built up a 35-0 advantage, then the second half was represented by the junior varsity who held off the opponents until the final few minutes when they gave up a short drive TD before responding with two TDs of their own to complete the 49-6 final score against the Todd County Falcons.
The vaunted defense of the home team held the Falcons to only 100 total yards in the first half with fumble recoveries and pass interceptions being keys to the scoring while the offense accumulated 300 total yards.
After holding the visitors on their first possession the Tanagers mounted an 86-yard drive on five plays capped by a 31-yard pass to Nick Olson from Jon Brooks for a score. On the ensuing kickoff, the Falcons fumbled on the 20-yard line and B.J. Campbell recovered it to set up a four-play TD.
The second quarter was highlighted by the 88-yard return of an intercepted pass by Jeff Brevik for a TD and two drives of 51 yards and 81 yards for scores.
The score remained at that throughout the third and most of the fourth quarter as the visitors attempted to advance the ball by passing, and the JV reserves kept intercepting them (count 'em � Dan Holoch, Kevin Bleil, Chris Teigen and Tyler Brown each snatched an enemy pass).
When the goal line was finally crossed by the Falcons, the young Tanagers responded with two scores in the last couple minutes as Ben Oberle used his outside speed to rush for touchdowns on 66 and 60 yards each.
The defensive statistics were dominated by linebacker Jeff Brevik who recorded seven tackles, a pass breakup and interception. B.J. Campbell was the other varsity defenseman to achieve stats with four Ts, fumble recovery, and pass breakup. The JV players had the following defensive stats: Chris Teigen � six Ts, interception, two breakups; Rich Boys � seven Ts; Mike Hanson � four Ts; Tyler Brown, Kevin Bleil, Kyle Mollet and Jordan Anderson each registered three Ts. Since virtually every member of the team played in the game, nearly 30 participants had a tackle.
Individual rushing
Vermillion
Ben Oberle rushed 11 times for 171 yards and two TDs.
Kellen Cusick rushed seven times for 103 yards.
B.J. Campbell rushed six times for 77 yards and one TD.
Bart Miller rushed four times for 35 yards and one TD.
Rich Boyd rushed seven times for 24 yards.
Todd County
Andrew Schmaltz rushed 23 times for 180 yards and one TD.
Dan Reynolds rushed 15 times for 38 yards.
Individual passing
Vermillion
Adam Brunick completed two of two passes for 19 yards.
Jon Brooks completed two of three passes for 30 yards and one TD.
Kevin Bleil completed one of one passes for three yards.
Todd County
Bradley Folkers completed four of 11 passes for 39 yards and three interceptions.
Andrew Schmaltz completed zero of three passes with one interception.
Carl Hunger completed one of two passes for 14 yards and one interception.
Receiving statistics
Vermillion
Bart Miller caught one pass for minus-one yard.
Nick Olson caught two passes for 34 yards and one TD and one 2-point conversion.
Kellen Cusick caught one pass for 16 yards.
Ben Oberle caught one pass for three yards.
Todd County
Job Young caught three passes for 36 yards.
"It was a nice first round playoff win for our team," said coach Gary Culver. "It got us back on track after our loss to Winner the previous week. We had our best offensive production of the season � and defensively we didn't give up the big play to Todd County.
"It was probably an entertaining game for the fans to watch with all the offensive fireworks," he continued. "It was a great opportunity for our young kids to showcase their talents in a regular game situation. The junior varsity played the entire second half of the game. It is a rare occasion to be able to do that in a varsity contest."
Vermillion took its 7-2 record into the quarterfinal playoff game against the Winner Warriors on Tuesday, Nov. 5
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