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Red Cloud closes out season in first round of playoffs

MISSION/PINE RIDGE – With the number two seed in the region, Red Cloud hosted the first round playoff game with Stanley County on Tuesday; the Crusaders marched down the field on their first offensive series, got stalled on the Buffalo 15 yard line, lost five more yards on a penalty and lined up for a field goal on fourth and long – Jesse Arthur faked the kick and hit Carl Swallow in the end zone for a touchdown and it seemed to be a good start in the first round of the playoffs. The TD pass was called back because of an illegal procedure penalty, after an incomplete pass and turning the ball over on downs, Stanley County marched down the field with an 80 yard drive and scored on a five yard quarterback keeper to go up 6-0, a lead they never relinquished on the way to a 12-0 win.

“We just couldn’t get our offense going after that first series,” said Keith Ferguson, wrapping up his first year as head coach for Red Cloud, “they played smash mouth football on defense and we just couldn’t find any rhythm.”

Red Cloud picked up three first downs on that opening drive and only one more first down the rest of the game on a 15 yard penalty in the second half. Stanley County scored their second touchdown on a three yard quarterback keeper with five minutes to go in the game.

Jeremy Blacksmith, Red Cloud’s sophomore quarterback, finished with three completions out of 10 attempts, for 30 yards and four interceptions while Billy Scott, seeing limited playing time because of an ankle injury, carried the ball ten times for 26 yards.

In the last game of the regular season, Red Cloud scored two touchdowns in the last two and a half minutes to earn a come from behind 12-8 road win over Todd County, their seventh win in a row.

“This team seemed to progress each week, they found a number of different ways to win,” said Ferguson, “they showed real heart in the Todd County game with Art Vitalis coming up with a key punt return and Blacksmith keeping his head on a broken play to come up with a big completion for the first of his two touchdown passes.”

After a knock down drag them out scoreless first three quarters, the Falcons scored on a Canku One Star two yard run and followed it up with a Mike Neiss two point conversion for an 8-0 lead half way through the fourth. With a little over two minutes left in the game, Blacksmith dropped the ball after getting the snap, looked up and saw the planned play was no longer possible, saw Mike Cuny open in the middle of the field, hit him with a pass and watched Cuny break one tackle and score on a 61 yard pass play. Red Cloud’s two point conversion failed and the Crusaders were still down 8-6.

After recovering the kick-off, Red Cloud turned the ball over on downs and Todd County tried to run out the clock. The Falcons had to kick a punt, Vitalis ran it back 40 yards and it took two passes, the second one a 14 yarder to Christian McGhee with seven seconds left for Red Cloud to gain a 12-8 win over Todd County. The win gave Red Cloud seven in a row and the All Nations conference crown.

Vitalis, subbing for the injured Scott, finished with 19 carries for 118 yards in his first game as a running back while Blacksmith was four of eight for 103 yards and two touchdowns.

“This has been a great season, especially for me as a first year head coach,” said Ferguson, “the team was special with 12 seniors that really played hard and provided good leadership – its hard to replace players like Andrew Twiss, Art Vitalis, Billy Scott and Dave Giago but we’re looking ahead to next year and we’re looking to a good off-season where we get stronger and build on the season we had this year.”

Red Cloud finished the season 7-2, their best record in over ten years.