Alta-Aurelia joined the weather in putting a damper on South O’Brien’s Homecoming, outscoring the Wolverines 44-27 September 22 at Paullina. The loss dropped South O’Brien to 0-3 in Class A District 1 and to 0-5 on the season.
Wolverine quarterback Justice Frerk completed 14 of 19 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown. Eight of those receptions went to Derek Paulsen for a total of 183 yards and one touchdown. Justin Paulsen carried 17 times to pick up 80 yards on the ground.
“Offensively, I thought we did a better job of being productive on offense especially the passing game,” commented South O’Brien head coach Mark Fuhrman. “Justice Frerk had a great night throwing the ball. He set the school single game passing record with his statistics Friday. Derek Paulsen also set the single game receiving record for South O’Brien. Justin Paulsen had a great night running the ball with his 80 yards rushing. We had other opportunities to score but we continue to make simple mistakes every night but our young guys continue to learn and keep getting better.”
South O’Brien turned the ball over twice, once on a fumble and once on an interception.
The Warriors, who improved to 2-3 on the season and 2-2 in the district, were led by the 198 passing yards from quarterback Camden Reinert and the 79 yards rushing provided by DJ Rodriguez.
“Defensively, we continue to struggle,” said Fuhrman. “We were not able to get a stop all night. We had to play some younger guys due to some injuries, so hopefully we can get them to fill their roles in the coming weeks.” Caden Wittrock and Mitchell Enger were the leading tacklers for the Wolverines. Wittrock made eight solo tackles and assisted on another. Enger recorded nine solo tackles and four assists.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn pays a visit September 29. Like their hosts, HMS is 0-5 on the season and 0-3 in the district. Last Friday, non-district opponent Kingsley-Pierson scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to overtake the Hawks 34-24.
“We really need to focus on the basics for HMS Friday,” stressed Fuhrman. “We need to be able to stop their run game. This goes back to tackling and winning the line of scrimmage. Offensively, we need to continue to improve up front. We are getting more time to throw the ball and are holding our blocks longer. This improvement needs to continue for us to be successful.”