Savage Horsemen run away late for 2nd win

Andrew Waite

The Plains Savage Horsemen blanked Superior in the second half Friday night at Superior High School’s homecoming game to hand the Bobcats their first loss, a 20 to 6 loss, since 2007.

“It’s hard,” Bobcat Head Coach Dan Lucier said after the defeat. “But shoot, in 29 years I have been here a lot. We’ve just got to come back to work on Monday, strap on the helmet and eliminate some mistakes.”

One mistake late in the third quarter severely crippled the Bobcats’ chances. After opening up the second half with a solid drive, Superior stalled near the Savage Horsemen 20-yard line. But the Bobcats threatened again on their second possession in the half and appeared on the verge of turning a 10-6 deficit into a 12-6 lead.

Tanner Coon, the Bobcats’ quarterback, took the snap and tried to dish it to a wide receiver sprinting toward the right side of the end zone. Instead, Plains’ Carson Lilja got his hands on the ball and ran the interception back into Superior’s end.

“That was a huge play,” Plains Head Coach Seth Pettit said after the game. “Reading that and making that pick, that was a game-changing play. If he didn’t make that, they score right there and go up 12, if not 13, to 10 and that changes the whole game.”

Lucier blamed himself, not his quarterback, for the mistake.

“My call on the goal line was a bad call. When we were going into score, that pick, that was my bad,” Lucier said. “We should have just ran a slant route instead of an out route. I should have learned my lesson.”

Lucier blamed himself for most of his offense’s woes against the Savage Horsemen.

“From my standpoint I think I just added too much stuff,” he said. “There was too much confusion.”

That may have been true, but in the second half Plains simply dominated on the offensive and defensive lines. Plains’ second touchdown, a five-yard run by Cody Hoff, resulted from a drive in which the Savage Horsemen punished Superior on the ground.

“They were about twice our size. It kind of wore us down a little bit, but we’ll find a way to keep fighting,” Lucier said.

Plains had 204 yards of total offense on the night.

Matt Campbell stood out for Superior, scoring the team’s only touchdown on a three-yard scamper and contributing 53 yards on the ground.

“I don’t know if we wore them down, it was just a dog fight,” Pettit said.

A controversial call in the fourth quarter, right before Plains scored its second touchdown, did not help the Bobcats.

With the ball on Superior’s 15-yard line, Plains’ quarterback Riley Winebrenner missed the snap from his center and Superior’s Cristofer Eriksson recovered the fumble. It appeared as though the play would give the Bobcats the ball back still facing only a four-point hole. Instead, the referee mistakenly blew the play dead before Superior recovered the fumble, meaning the ball stayed with Plains. The Savage Horsemen took advantage and extended their lead a few plays later.

While Friday’s game was largely a defensive effort, it began with some offensive sparks. Dillon Fryxell hauled in an over-the-shoulder grab for a 40-yard touchdown strike on Plains’ first possession of the game to take an early 7-0 advantage. Fryxell had 63 yards receiving on the night.

After the victory, Plains is ready to keep rolling.

“Now we start league play,” Pettit said. “We go five straight games in the league and no breaks. Now it’s where it really counts.”