Team defense, big plays lift Indians past Tigers

The Spirit Lake football team played for 48 minutes like they had a chip on their shoulder and weren't going to be denied by their larger Class 3A rivals to the south, leading from start to finish in a 25-6 throttling of Spencer at Dale Norton Field Friday, Aug. 27 in Week 1 non-district football play.

The Indians used the first play from scrimmage to make a bold statement to the Tigers, as sophomore running back Cody Poock broke off a 78-yard run to the Spencer 2-yard line less than 20 seconds into the contest. A bad snap on the next play would cause Spirit Lake to regroup from the 20, and the Tiger defense used the miscue to hold the Indians on downs.

After both teams punted, Spirit Lake would get the ball at its own 44 with 3:29 to play in the quarter. The Indian offense began to pound Spencer's defense from the air. Senior quarterback Mitch Peschon completed four passes for 45 yards on the 9-play, 56-yard drive that was highlighted by a 20-yard strike between three defenders to Aric Waltz. The drive was capped off on a 1-yard plunge by Peschon on the first play of the second stanza. Brett Cochran-Bray's low extra point attempt was blocked to leave the score at 6-0.

The Tigers never seriously threatened the remainder of the half, failing to get across midfield until the beginning of the third quarter.

"A lot of things set the tone, but defensively we held them right at 40 yards on 20 plays in the first half," said Bolluyt. "They never got past midfield and a lot of that was contributed to the first play by Cody Poock that went for 78 yards. We played great team defense, a lot of guys had tackles. It was pretty much everybody but our corners, which you don't want to see get a lot of tackles. Cornerback Alex Dau had a great pick and we played great team defense all the way across the board -- from all 11 players."

The Indians defense came up big in the second half when junior defensive tackle Andrew Broocks stuffed Spencer quarterback Robby Schlaeger in the backfield for a loss on a fourth-and-1 play that gave SL the ball at their own 11-yard line.

"Andrew did a good job of penetrating and got their quarterback's ankle," said Bolluyt. "It was huge play early in the second half and stopped their momentum after they had gotten a few first downs."Spirit Lake tacked on another touchdown with 2:19 left in the third to move the Indians ahead 12-0. Sophomore tailback Rick Maris scampered into the end zone from 67 yards away on the play.

Maris scooped up a fumble and rumbled 35 yards to paydirt 37 seconds later on the Tiger's ensuing possession. The two-point attempt failed, leaving the Spirit Lake lead at 18-0.

Spencer sliced the deficit down to 18-6 when Schlaeger hit Brandon Illg on a 13-yard scoring play with 7:04 to go.

The Indians knocked the wind out of the Tigers sail late in the final period, gobbling up nearly six minutes of clock time before Luke Kabele rushed across the goal line from two yards away with 1:13 to play. A 60 yard jaunt by Kabele down to the Spencer 2 set up the short touchdown run by the junior running back. Cochran-Bray drilled the PAT attempt, pushing the final margin to 25-6.

"The keys were rushing for 240 yards, our offensive line did a good job of getting downfield blocks and we had some explosive plays from explosive players offensively," said Bolluyt. "We missed an opportunity with first-and-goal on the 1 and at halftime we felt like it should have been up 21-0 instead of 6-0, but we came out focused and played well in the second half. On special teams, offensively and defensively we really played as group. Rick and Cody did a great job of following the guards and Mitch did a great job of throwing the ball and using his feet to make some plays too."

The Indian defense, which limited Spencer to 100 yards rushing on 44 attempts, had seven players record seven or more tackles and was constantly in the Tigers backfield -- registering eight tackles for a loss and forcing two turnovers.

"This (3-5) defense is so fun for these guys because everyone has an opportunity to make plays," said Bolluyt..

Maris and Aric Waltz paced the defense with 10 tackles each, followed by Kevin Martinson with nine and Poock with eight. Andrew Broocks, Brown and Kabele all came away with seven stops. Maris also had a fumble recovery and a tackle for a loss. Alex Dau added an interception, while Brown and Sawyer Harms both had two tackles for a loss.

The offense was nearly as potent as the defensive unit, tallying 326 total yards, 239 yards rushing and 7.5 yards per carry. Poock needed only four touches to rush for 111 yards. He also caught four passes for 51 yards. Maris rushed five times for 79 yards and a touchdown, while Kabele had 15 carries for 49 yards and a score. Peschon also ran for a touchdown and completed 7-of-14 passes for 85 yards.

"I feel like our offense moved the ball well and the line sustained blocks," said Peschon. "Our line is a little bit undersized, but they're the hardest workers I know."

The Indians were able to break off three plays of 60 yards or more due to some misdirection and a newly implemented "Wildcat" or direct-snap formation, which kept Spencer off-balance for much of the game.

"The fun thing about this offense is that it allows us to get people involved. You saw Luke, Cody, Rick and Mitch touch the ball in different ways running it and throwing it. We were able to get some perimeter things going, which we haven't been able to do in the past," Bolluyt said. "As far as the misdirection goes, it allows us to mesh in the backfield and get to the perimeter quickly."

Spirit Lake (1-0 overall) next takes on Storm Lake this Friday at Hafer Field.