The Bucks (7-3) used that recipe once again on Tuesday at Crane-Youngworth Field to defeat a pesky Aberdeen Central squad 44-20 to advance to the second round of the Class 11AA football playoffs.
The Golden Eagles, who finished their season at 2-8, appeared ready to make an upset bid after battling through a scoreless first period and only trailing 10-6 less than a minute before halftime. That is when Aberdeen was once once again plagued by penalties.
After Golden Eagles senior quarterback Jake Carrico scored on a one-yard dive with 33 seconds left in the half, Aberdeen was set to kick off and hopefully shut down the Bucks for the final few plays of the half before entering the locker room with momentum on its side.
Instead, a host of offsides penalties backed up the Golden Eagles kickoff and allowed Yankton to take over at their opponents 28-yard line after a nifty kickoff return with less than half a minute of time on the clock.
"Every time we had a couple good plays, it seems like a nasty penalty or a turnover hurt us," Golden Eagles coach Mike Flakus said.
That excellent field position would prove to be huge as Bucks senior quarterback Michael Rucker found fellow senior Evan Schroeder in the back corner of the end zone for a 14-yard scoring strike with eight seconds left in the first half. Brady Hale's extra-point kick sent Yankton into the locker room with a 17-6 advantage, which would be the closest Aberdeen got the rest of the night.
"We were fortunate enough to make some plays," Bucks coach Arlin Likness said. "Evan got to play some more offense tonight and that was a little bit of a spark plug for us."
Rucker, who was 9-17 through the air for 152 yards, also added a pair of touchdown passes to junior J.J. Hejna and had one of his best overall games of the season.
"It should have been a 10-6 game at halftime," said Flakus. "Giving up that touchdown before halftime hurt us. The penalties are something that bit us all year long and hurt us here, too."
Yankton punted on its first three possessions after attempting to run a "jumbo" set in the first quarter with standout lineman Kellen Soulek lining up to block alongside Lightner with a third running back directly behind Rucker.
"We tried to do something different and we were not strong enough or quick enough to do it," Likness said. "As a result, we went back to plan B and we executed pretty well."
Yankton ran a well-balanced offense for the remainder of the game as the Bucks piled up 205 yards on the ground on 37 carries (5.5 average) to go along with their 152 yards through the air.
"In the third quarter they started to establish that inside game and it took us out of the game," said Flakus. "We did some nice things. They (Yankton) came out in a different formation to start the game and didn't bother us a bit. Traditionally, they pound us up front and run the ball."
The Golden Eagles were able to pick up big chunks of yardage through the air, finishing with 210 passing yards, but they managed just 30 yards on the ground.
"We didn't know if we would be in the playoffs or not and we were very excited to get one more chance," Flakus added. "I'm proud of our kids. They came down here to battle a quality team in a great atmosphere."
Flakus saw big improvements in his team since their 42-14 defeat at Yankton back on September 14.
"The score was fairly similar to the last time we played but the game was not," Flakus added. "I'm not saying that we came out here and should have won the game but our kids battled. We didn't just show up, we played hard and that's all I can ask."
In addition to committing 13 penalties for 70 yards, the Golden Eagles saw Carrico throw two interceptions (one to Jase Likness and one that was returned a short distance by Kolby LaCroix for a touchdown) and were forced to punt five times.
"When we play well, we create turnovers," coach Likness said. "When the offense plays well, we can move the ball and we finally got that going a little bit."
Yankton will play at Sioux Falls O'Gorman in the second round on Monday.
Aberdeen Central (2-8)| 0 6 0 14--20
Yankton (7-3)| 0 17 14 13--44
|Second Quarter|
Y -- Michael Rucker 20 run (Brady Hale kick).
Y -- Hale 22 field goal.
AC -- Jake Carrico 1 run (kick failed).
Y -- Evan Schroeder 14 pass from Rucker (Hale kick).
Y -- JJ Hejna 19 pass from Rucker (Hale kick).
Y -- Schroeder 4 run (Hale kick).
Y -- Kolby LaCroix 20 interception return (Hale kick).
AC -- Kurtis Hettich 3 pass from Michael Stotz (Isaac Jones pass from Stotz).
AC -- Stotz 5 run (pass failed).
|ACHS YHS
First downs 14 15
Rushes-yards 23-30 37-205
Passing 210 152
Comp-Att-Int 16-34-2 9-17-0
Punts-Avg. 5-27.0 3-35.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 13-70 9-53
|INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS|
RUSHING--Central, Josh Hilgemann 8-32, Stotz 4-18, Mitch Johnson 2-8; Yankton, Jordan Lightner 9-56, Levi Davis 9-55, Schroeder 2-49, James Hisek 6-26, Rucker 3-12.
PASSING--Central, Carrico 10-24-2 for 156, Stotz 6-10-0 for 54; Yankton, Rucker 9-17-0 for 152.
RECEIVING--Central, Hilgemann 6-115, Curtis Paysen 2-43, Jones 2-19, Anthony Buechler 2-15; Yankton, Hisek 1-55, Schroeder 3-33, Lightner 2-26, LaCroix 2-19.
DEFENSE--Central, Hilgemann 4 tackles, Chase Severson 5 tackles, Jon Brave 5 tackles, Schyler Kumpf 4 tackles, Hayden Grote 4 tackles; Yankton, Davis 5 tackles, Kellen Soulak 5 tackles, Lightner 4 tackles, Sam Wendte 4 tackles.
