Fight Till the End: Pipestone vs. Redwood Valley

Friday night in the final game of the day at SMSU, the Pipestone Arrows and Redwood Valley Cardinals met in the Section Title game for the 4th time in 5 years. The Cardinals had already beat the Arrows pretty handily in the regular season 34-6, with Redwood taking advantage of turnovers and short fields. The first half of the game had both teams playing each pretty equal. Redwood Valley's Carter Johnson broke the game open rushing for a 6 yard touchdown for the game's first score. Two possessions later Cardinals' Bryant Haas took the ball around the edge for a 1 yard plunge to stretch a 14-0 lead. Time running out in the first half, JT Tinklenberg heaved the ball to Dawson Schelhaas for a 60 yard bomb to get the Arrows on the board. Pipestone opened the second half with Tinklenberg taking the ball himself for a 3 yard score. Redwood answered right back with Adam Bommersbach rumbling for a 2 yard score. After a punt on the next possession, the Arrows would force two Cardinal fumbles and scored off both. The first went to Jason Steenstra with a 3 yard run, the second went to Terry Price taking a screen 20 yards for a TD giving Pipestone their first lead at 24-21. After a defensive stand forcing each team to punt twice, the Arrows had the Cardinals on their own 1 yard line. Steenstra broke through to sack Haas for a safety extending the lead to 26-21. Redwood recovered an onside kick to get one final possession, the Pipestone defense stiffened to force a turnover on downs and punch their ticket to the State tournament. Players Highlighted from Pipestone: Running Back/Defensive Tackle- Jason Steenstra was vital in the victory rushing the ball out of the backfield to catching passes out at receiver. He was also huge on the defensive side making plenty of stops. Quarterback- JT Tinklenberg made plays with both his arm and feet to keep the offense moving. Wide Receiver/Defensive Back- Terry Price made some good defensive plays, was also a reliable target on offense. Wide Receiver/Defensive Back- Dawson Schelhaas emerged as a great deep threat, but can also run the short routes and make the catch. Defensive Back- Maddox Biever flew around the field and made a lot of tackles. Defensive Tackle- Wyatt Stueven wreaked havoc in the backfield forcing most of the fumbles. Linebacker- Braeden Benz was crucial on the defense making many stops in the backfield on blitzes. Players Highlighted from Redwood Valley: Quarterback- Bryant Haas again had a great game throwing and running the ball. Wide Receiver/Defensive Back- Connor Josephson was again a reliable deep threat and good in coverage. Defensive Back- Jaxon Lang had good coverage all night and was crucial in the run stopping. Running Back/Linebacker- Carter Johnson was running very well again and flew around defensively. Running Back/Linebacker- Adam Bommersbach was key in the run game as well and made some big defensive plays. Offensive/Defensive Lineman- Chad Maddock made it very difficult for the opponent run game, making many stops in the backfield. Tight End/Defensive Back- Carter Guetter was good in man-to-man coverage all night.