This last Friday, the GHS Football team traveled to Flandreau for Flandreau’s homecoming game. Almost right out of the gate, they pushed forward to get a touchdown with a kick in extra point.
“The Flandreau program is getting better all the time,” said GHS Head Coach Chris Long. “They have been through a couple of tough years but their coaches and players are getting better each week. We knew going in that we would have our hands full with their size and some of their athletes.”
That first touchdown was a wakeup call for the Dragons, so they fought back, and it was a struggle for the next several minutes of play. Parker Schelenker made a four yard run for a touchdown with 3:25 left in the first quarter. At 1:52 Dylan Kindt made a 16 yard pass to Cooper Long for another touch- down. Cody Erikson’s solid kicks in both instances made the score 14-7 in Garretson’s favor.
The scoreboard didn’t change apart from one act by the Blue Dragons, where Erickson made a 22 yard field goal. The first half ended 17-7.
The third quarter was another grind back and forth, until Kindt made a single yard run for a touchdown at 3:27. Erikson delivered on the kick once again, and the 3rd quarter ended 24-7.
Flandreau rallied, and Tanner Christenson made a pass to Tash Lunday for 19 yards that was good for their second touchdown of the night, with their Kevin Fernandez kicking in an extra point, putting the score to 24-14. With just 2:34 left in the quarter, Kindt had a breakaway run for 36 yards, getting the final touchdown of the night and Erikson again made good with the kick, leaving the final score 31-14.
Though the Blue Dragons claimed victory, Coach Long said that there were some issues with execution. Also it was a brutal game for the guys.
“We are still not executing the way we need to in order to be consistent and effective,” he said. “We are missing too many assignments and not finishing plays. It’s our bye week so we have some time to try to reinforce what we are doing and get better. It’s a good week for a bye in that we are a little banged up and this extra time can hopefully get us healthy and ready for our last three games."
GHS homecoming is coming right up. Next game for the Garretson Blue Dragons is vs. Elk Point-Jefferson on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7pm for GHS Homecoming.
