Indians top Knights, earn Haala first win

By DAVE CLARK

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- If you can't score early and often, at least score early.

That was the ticket Friday night as the Sleepy Eye Indians not only beat the crosstown rival Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Knights 20-8, they grabbed their first win of the season and the first win for coach Cory Haala.

"It wasn't pretty, but we got the job done," Haala said of his 1-3 Indians. "I thought we stepped it up defensively in the second half. We didn't turn the ball over as much as we have, but we've got to cut down on the penalties."

It was the 2-2 Knights that had turnover problems, giving up the ball six times and continuing a trend this year that bothers coach Ron Berdan. "We're 4-for-4 for starting out giving up early touchdowns," Berdan said. "We've got to get away from that."

The Indians scored about as quickly as possible, holding the Knights offense to a three-and-out after the opening kickoff and then taking just two plays to hit the end zone. Sleepy Eye had great field position, starting at the Knights 36 yard line. They then handed the ball twice to Justin Sellner, who ripped off gains of 24 and 11 yards, the second giving the Indians a 6-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.

After holding the Knights offense again, the Indians started their second possession at their own 45. This time it took four plays to travel 55 yards, the longest play a 34-yard end around by Jason Schueler that set up a ten yard run up the middle by Lupe Trevino that opened up a 12-0 Sleepy Eye lead.

The Knights had good field position two possessions later, starting at the the Indians 46, but fumbled and the ball was recovered by Sleepy Eye's Tom Marti. SESM's longest drive occurred on their next possession and set up both their scores without reaching the end zone.

The Knights started on their own 24 and spent 17 plays moving to the Indians' 9-yard line and setting up a first-and-goal. Three plays later, Mike Petersen intercepted an Alan Woitas pass at the 1-yard line and Sleepy Eye had the ball just outside their own end zone.

However, the Knights defense held them to a three-and-out, with the out resulting in a high snap to their punter that resulted in a safety and two points, decreasing the Indians lead to 12-2.

The team committing the safety then has to kick off to the team that just scored, so SESM immediately had the ball again, this time at the Indians' 45 and with just 50.2 seconds left in the half. But the Knights used the time wisely, as Alan Woitas zeroed in twice on Andrew Woitas through the air, the second catch resulting in an 11-yard touchdown with just :15 remaining in the second quarter and cutting the Sleepy Eye lead to 12-8.

The Knights had two more turnovers in the third quarter, but the final score didn't occur until the fourth, when the Indians took over at the Knights 30 with 10:59 left in the contest. Sleepy Eye took four plays to get down to the SESM 11, then handed off to Trevino and watched him slash up the middle for the final touchdown of the night. Petersen then ran the ball in for the two point conversion and the end score of 20-8 was on the board.

The Knights had their next two drives stopped by an interception and a fourth-and-ten run that ended up about a half a yard short of a first down.

The Indians had 175 total yards, 159 of them on the ground. Sellner had 65 yards on 13 attempts with a touchdown, while Trevino carried for 49 yards on 15 carries and two TD's.

The Knights had 236 total yards, with Alan Woitas going 22-for-48 for 222 yards in the air, while the rushing attack had just 14 total yards. Terry Ibberson had seven receptions for 163 yards, while Andrew Woitas also had seven catches for 110 yards and the TD.

The Indians take on Red Rock Central Friday night in Lamberton, while the Knights host Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin Friday night for homecoming.