Aberdeen Central won the turnover battle, but lost the one on the scoreboard Friday night.
The Golden Eagles forced five turnovers and blocked a punt, but were not able to capitalize on the way to a 35-7 Eastern South Dakota Conference football setback to Watertown in the final game at Brownell Activities Complex this season.
“(The defense) kept us in it and gave us opportunities to get the ball back. The offense just couldn’t get things going,” said Central coach Justin Briese. “Give credit to Watertown. They played a good game defensively and kept us from getting stuff done offensively. Great effort from our guys. Just a few mistakes here and there, again.”
Central grabbed the early momentum, forcing a fumble on Watertown’s first play from scrimmage when Mee Nee Poe stripped a ball carrier giving the Golden Eagles the ball inside the Watertown 30-yard line. However, Central ended up losing 20 yards on its opening possession, signaling a sign of things to come.
While Watertown did not force as many turnovers, the Arrows did take advantage of their first one, picking up a fumble and returning it nine yards for a touchdown.
Watertown then broke the game open with three touchdowns in the second quarter for a commanding 28-0 lead at halftime. The Arrows connected on a 78-yard pass play for one score, used an interception to set up a short field another TD, and then burned the Golden Eagles on a 57-yard touchdown strike with just 15 seconds left in the second quarter.
After that, the final 24 minutes of football was played on near even terms, but by then the hole was too big for the Golden Eagles to climb out of.
“That’s one thing I’ll always give our kids credit for is they give great effort and they work hard, and they’re going to finish a game no matter what the scoreboard is,” Briese said. “We preach that all the time, that we don’t look at the scoreboard. We’re not worried about what is says. It’s just a matter of you playing each play. Just win each play. Worry about that one play. You can’t worry about the last one, you can worry about the next one. You’ve got win the one you’re on right now.”
Central did get some things accomplished through the air as Jackson Berry passed for 96 yards, including 41 of them to junior tight end Ben Weishaar.
“If I’m open I’ll tell the quarterback or coaches, and they’ll see it,” Weishaar said. “I’ll get the ball.”
Weishaar caught a pair of passes on a third-quarter drive that resulted in Central’s only TD of the night, when Polin Joseph scored on a 1-yard run.
Meanwhile, Central continued to rack up one turnover after another, finishing with five fumble recoveries.
“Our defense did a really good job today,” Weishaar said.
Junior Oaklee Wurtz was in on two big plays during the contest, recovering a fumble and blocking a punt.
“Effort,” Wurtz said of how he was able to produce those plays. “It’s just effort.”
Wurtz shot through the line to block a punt midway through the third quarter.
“I jumped it a little bit,” Wurtz said, “and swam a guy and killed the kicker.”
Those were big momentum plays for the Golden Eagles, and Wurtz said he could sense it on the field.
“You could feel it during the game,” Wurtz said. “You could feel the momentum, all of it.”
However, Central’s offense was unable to take advantage of those chances.
While Wurtz said it can be frustrating when the offense struggles, he noted it goes both ways, and there are times when the defense has a tough time, also.
“It’s a team game,” he said. “Some games we don’t do our jobs.”
The Golden Eagles continue to have issues with injuries, but it does allow players like Berry a chance to contribute.
“We’ve had a lot of younger guys come and step up and help our team, like our quarterback,” Weishaar said. “He’s a sophomore. He’s doing a pretty good job.”
Central, 0-7 on the year, caps the regular season with two road games, at Spearfish and then at Brookings.
“We’ll continue to fight and keep working,” Briese said.
Watertown (4-3) 7 21 0 7 35
Aberdeen Central (0-7) 0 0 0 7 – 7
First Quarter
W – Caden Corey 9 fumble recovery return (Carson Schlacht kick), 3:00.
Second Quarter
W – Kutler Swenson 78 pass from Kaeden Himmerich (Schlacht kick), 11:49.
W – Tyson Miller 6 run (Schlacht kick), 7:17.
W – Owen Engelbrecht 57 pass from Himmerich (Schlacht kick), :15.
Third Quarter
AC – Polin Joseph 1 run (Colton Hanigan kick), 8:15.
Fourth Quarter
W – Swenson 4 run (Schlacht kick), 2:21.
OFFENSE: Watertown rushing 35-217 (Miller 16-134, Holton Schutt 2-28, Jayden Ross 5-22, Himmerich 5-22), passing 9-20-0 for 220 (Himmerich 9-20-0 for 220), receiving (Swenson 1-78, Engelbrecht 2-61, Hunter Peterson 3-36, Ross 2-27, Braden Jenc 1-24), first downs 19; Aberdeen Central rushing 33-26 (Paden Appl 7-27, Joseph 5-19, McIntosh 4-10), passing 15-29-1 for 96 (Jackson Berry 15-29-1 for 96), receiving (Ben Weishaaar 4-41, Owen Ward 5-28, Carter Lust 4-19), first downs 10.
DEFENSE: Watertown, Charles Whiting 8 tackles including 2 sacks, Luke Roark 3 tackles, Vincent Marlow 3 tackles, Ross tackles; Aberdeen Central, Ward 6 tackles, Jude Sumner 4 tackles, Oaklee Wurtz 3 tackles, blocked punt, fumble recovery, Micah Bruns 3 tackles, Bennett Eisenbeisz 3 tackles.
