Wolverines blank Sioux Central in football opener
The 2022 South O’Brien Football season started off well with a big win over Sioux Central Friday night. The 32-0 win is a great way to start off the season.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair to begin the game. Neither team could establish the rushing game consistently but with 3:04 to go in the first quarter, Wolverine quarterback Jacob VanLith found Hudson Oolmann on a 45-yard pass play to put the Wolverines up 6-0. David Bottjen added the extra point kick and the Wolverines led 7-0.
The remainder of the quarter and the whole second quarter was a scoreless affair for both teams. The Wolverines survived a turnover with six minutes to go in the second quarter and were able to put a drive together going into halftime but we came up short on a fourth down play and the quarter ended without a score.
The third quarter proved to be more exciting as the Wolverines came up with two scores. The first was with 9:55 to go. We finally were able to establish the run game and Cole Tjossem punched it in from four yards out. David Bottjen put the extra point through and the Wolverines led 14-0. The Wolverine defense then forced another punt. With 5:47 to go in the third quarter, VanLith scored on a seven-yard bootleg run to give the Wolverines another six points. The extra point kick failed and the Wolverines led 20-0.
The Wolverine defense continued to play well. By the end of the game the defense had only allowed three first downs and 82 yards of total offense for the Rebels.
The fourth quarter provided two more scores for the Wolverines. The first was a 27-yard pass from VanLith to Willie Conley. The extra point came up short and the Wolverines led 26-0 with 11:30 to go in the game.
The final score of the game came on a 41-yard run by Tjossem. The extra point kick again came up short but the Wolverines led 32-0 with 5:45 to go in the game.
Cole finished the night with 16 carries for 146 yards. VanLith carried seven times for 82 yards and was 8-of-11 for 108 yards passing. Oolmann caught two passes for 53 yards, and Boston Riedemann caught four passes for 28 yards.
Next week is the home opener against the Sheldon Orabs. This is our final non-district game of the 2022 season.