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Red Cloud holds on for sixth straight win

PINE RIDGE – Red Cloud’s Billy Scott, a 178 pound senior tailback, carried the ball 26 times for 229 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game with a high ankle sprain early in the fourth quarter; Little Wound closed the gap to two points and had an opportunity to put another score on the board and pull the game out in the last minute and a half before Dave Giago forced his second fumble of the game, knocking the ball out of Mustang quarterback, Trin In The Woods hand allowing Cord Tibbitts to cover the ball and secure Red Cloud’s 26-24 win on Friday.

“It was an ugly win, we did not play well overall,” said Keith Ferguson, Red Cloud head coach, “Andrew Twiss, our best tackler and defensive leader was ineligible for the game and we struggled to cover their short passing game, we just didn’t seem to have any sense of urgency-it was probably Little Wound’s most important game after losing to us by two last year yet our focus didn’t seem to be there.”

The Crusaders rolled up 353 yards on the ground on 42 carries while Little Wound’s In the Woods completed 10 of 14 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

Neither team scored in the first quarter, both teams turned the ball over while they were testing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Finally on his ninth carry, Bill Scott rolled around the left end and rumbled down the field for a 71 yard touchdown, Red Cloud’s fullback, Wade O’Bryan, ran up the middle for the two point conversion and it was 8-0 for Red Cloud. A little over a minute later, Trin In The Woods located Casey Montileaux behind the defense and hit him for a 60 yard pass play for a touchdown, Jacee Mesteth ran it over for two and the teams were tied up at eight a piece.

Late in the second quarter, Jeremy Blacksmith connected with Art Vitalis on a 23 yard pass for a touchdown, the run failed giving Red Cloud a 14-8 lead. The half ended as Montileaux intercepted a halfback pass thrown by Scott.

Halfway through the third quarter, Scott ran off the right tackle for a nine yard score, the run for two failed and it was Red Cloud up 20-8. In The Woods came right back and hit Spur Pourier on an 11 yard toss, Mesteth scored two on a run and it was 20-16. Scott went down with an injury and Dominick LeBeaux, his replacement hustled around the left end and went 69 yards for a touchdown and it was 26-16 early in the fourth for Red Cloud. After Red Cloud gambled on a fourth and eight and lost, Little Wound got the ball on the Red Cloud 31 yard line and Michael Pretty Voice Crane finished off the Mustang drive with a five yard run for a touchdown, Mesteth’s run for two closed the gap 26-24 for the Crusaders.

Red Cloud couldn’t move the ball on offense and punted it to Little Wound where they ended up with good field position at their own 48 yard line with just under two minutes to go. After an incomplete pass, In The Woods rolled out to the right looking for an open receiver when Dave Giago came from behind and knocked the ball out of his grasp; Cord Tibbitts recovered the fumble and Red Cloud ran out the clock to pick up their sixth straight win of the season and move their record to 6-1.

“Today, practice went well, we need to start Thursday’s game with some intensity, play hard on defense and go into the game feeling confident that we have the team that can play with any these teams,” said Ferguson looking ahead to Red Cloud’s final regular season game at Todd County Thursday evening, “we need a good game to help move us into the playoffs with some momentum.”

In addition to Scott, Red Cloud benefited from Dominick LeBeaux’s 72 yards on three carries, Art Vitalis chipped in 38 yards on eight carries, O’Bryan added 11 yards on three carries and freshman Kiley Weston had three yards on two carries. Blacksmith was five for 11 for 60 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Giago caught four passes for 37 yards and Vitalis had one reception for 23 yards and a touchdown as well as forcing two fumbles from his defensive end position. Wade O’Bryan ran in the regional cross country run at noon and then played a strong game on defense from his linebacker position with 10 tackles and two sacks.

Little Wound’s ground game suffered from five quarterback sacks; Kevin Hunter ran 11 times for 79 yards, Mesteth carried 12 times for 25 yards and Montileaux once for 19 yards.

Little Wound is now 4-3 and hosts Bennett County on Thursday at 1pm.,

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