South O’Brien opened up District play by entertaining Sibley-Ocheyedan September 13 for Homecoming at Paullina. The visitors were able put a damper on the festivities by holding off the Wolverines 28-22.
At 0-1 in Class A District 1, South O’Brien is tied with Akron-Westfield. The Generals lead the District at 2-0, along with Gehlen Catholic, while MMCRU and HMS are 1-1 and Alta-Aurelia is 0-2.
“Overall, I think we are improving,” said Wolverine head coach Mark Fuhrman. “The game is starting to slow down for our inexperienced guys especially defensively. Offensively, we are becoming a more balanced attack. Our run game is improving every week and we are able to get guys open for the passes.”

The contest included some missed chances for South O’Brien. “We had opportunities to win this game, especially when they turned the ball over with about five minutes to go,” noted Fuhrman. “We just weren’t able to finish the drive. We need to quit giving up big plays defensively. I did believe we got better at that as the night went on.”
Brady Riedemann threw for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Catching the TD tosses were Derek Paulsen and Brody Van Beek. The duo finished with 54 and 21 receiving yards respectively and Van Beek also returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. Paulsen kicked a 27 yard field goal in the fourth quarter to draw the Wolverines within a touchdown and his 55 yard interception return gave the team a chance to pull off the win.
“Brady is really doing a nice job offensively,” said his coach. “He is getting the ball to open receivers and doing a nice job when he needs to tuck it and run. Derek had a nice night both offensively and defensively. He had a nice return on an interception but we came up just short on the 40 yard field goal attempt.”

The leading rushers for South O’Brien were Jaden Kreber with 82 yards and Jordan Jenness with 51. Jenness added 11 tackles on defense with three tackles for loss including a sack. Caden Wittrock recorded seven tackles including two for loss. Jaxon Weier and Paulsen made six tackles apiece and Jayven Miller added another five.
The Generals rushed for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns. They also threw for a score and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Next up for South O’Brien is another home game, this time against MMCRU. The Royals picked up their first win Friday with a 44-0 victory over HMS in District play. “MMCRU is going to provide some challenges for us,” said Fuhrman. “They have some great athletes and we need to control their output. We also need to be able to capitalize with points more consistently on offense.”
Sibley-Och.
7 14 7 0 – 28
S. O’Brien
7 12 0 3 – 22