The Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles came out with plenty of energy Friday night, but a strong start wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Tea Area Titans.
The third-rated Titans pulled away for a 45-7 non-conference football victory at Brownell Activities Complex.
Central opened the game with a strong first quarter, matching Tea Area’s intensity and headed into the second quarter tied at 7-7.
“We came out with some fire and energy, and we rode that high through the first quarter and half,” said Central coach Justin Briese. “We were right there in it and kind of lost our steam in the second half and started making some mistakes, and having penalties and those kinds of things start to snowball on us.”
The Titans took control late in the first half, scoring 13 points in the final 44 seconds for a 20-7 advantage going into the break. The visitors scored a TD with 44 seconds remaining and then recovered a fumble for a score just 19 seconds later.
Central’s defense had some bright moments throughout the night, including an interception by outside linebacker Jude Sumner.
“Reading my keys I saw the outside receiver break in and I dropped right under him, and being in the right spot, got a good deflection of the receiver and caught the pick,” Sumner said. “Our effort was really good, our defense played well, but mental mistakes killed us.”
The Golden Eagles also struggled with turnovers on special teams, with a couple of fumbles on the kickoff return team adding to the difficulties they faced.
Despite the final score, Central showed some offensive flashes, particularly through the passing game. Wide receiver Gary Wade broke free for a 63-yard touchdown reception that gave the Golden Eagles their lone score of the night.
“It was supposed to be a post, and I broke more like a slant, but the guy guarding me wasn’t there, so I was gone,” Wade said. “I thought we did some good things, but our mental mindset needs to be better. Our passing game was well tonight. I think moving forward we can execute on passing the ball.”
Tea Area, which also scored twice in less than 30 seconds in the third quarter, continued to build its lead in the second half, eventually pulling away for the final margin of difference.
The Titans finished with 363 yards from scrimmage in the contest.
Central was led on defense by Carter Board and Isaac Torbert who both accumulated nine tackles.
Moving forward, the Golden Eagles will look to be more consistent and eliminate mistakes.
“They didn’t do anything we weren’t expecting but it’s about matchups and sometimes our guys against their guys weren’t the best,” Briese said. “There were a lot of sparks of greatness where we are playing well and doing a lot of good things, but we have to be consistent about it and consistently do good things, and not be a flash in the pan every once in a while.”
Central will head on the road for the first time this season, playing at defending Class 11AA state champion and top-rated Pierre next Friday.
Tea Area (2-0) 7 20 18 0 – 45
Aberdeen Central (0-2) 7 0 0 0 – 7
First Quarter
TA – Mitch Grant 2 run (Landon DeRuyter kick), 7:24
AC – Gary Wade 62 pass from Jace Byram (Caden Forred kick), 6:01.
Second Quarter
TA – Grifin Wiebenga 20 pass from Devyn Rhodes (DeRuyter kick), 8:46.
TA – Grant 7 run, :44.
TA – Hayden Biala 1 fumble recovery return (DeRuyter kick), :25
Third Quarter
TA – Rhodes 1 run (DeRuyter kick), 6:13.
TA – Grant 15 run (Wiebenga pass from Grant), 5:55.
TA – DeRuyter 21 field goal, :14.
OFFENSE: Tea Area rushing 38-206 (Grant 9-76, Rhodes 10-55, Bialas 6-50, Kade Korleski 6-25), passing 13-20-1 for 157 (Grant 9-12-1 for 111, Rhodes 4-8 for 46), receiving (Wiebenga 4-73, Adam Berglund 3-35, Lane Sieber 3-30), first downs 18; Aberdeen Central rushing 21-47 (Lawsen Stewart 7-23, Paden Appl 11-21), passing 4-10-2 for 79 (Byram 4-10-2 for 79), receiving (Wade 2-76), first downs 5.
DEFENSE: Tea Area, Rhodes 5 tackles, Henry Fortin 4 tackles; Aberdeen Central, Carter Board 9 tackles, Isaac Tobert 9 tackles, Jude Sumner 5 tackles, Micah Bruns 5 tackles.
