This past Friday, the Garretson Blue Dragons faced Canistota/Freeman. A very tough and highly contested game. Canistota/Freeman is a defending state champion team, and they played like it. Garretson, however, played extremely well too.
"It was a tough loss,” said head coach Chris Long. “When you get out to the start we had, you expect to be able to make the plays you need to win the game. We went on about an 8-minute stretch to end the first half and start the second that really cost us. We can't turn the ball over and need to just make more plays on defense."
It was a spectacular start for the Blue Dragons. The first quarter they dominated the scoreboard. Dylan Kindt made three passes to Jayse Miller (73 yards), Cooper Long (87 yards), and Cadyn Ockenga (16 yards) respectively for some nice touchdowns, and Jenna VanHolland didn’t miss a single extra point kick, leaving the quarter 21 to nothing! Canistota/Freeman came back with a touchdown of their own, though they couldn’t deliver on the two-point conversion and the Blue Dragons were called out for holding. The Dragons responded with a touchdown of their own as Kindt ran it in himself for 7 yards for a touchdown, with another good extra point kick from VanHolland. Canistota/Freeman pushed back with a 45-yard run for a touchdown, though they had no joy on their 2 point conversion yet again.
Kindt again passed the ball to Miller for a touchdown, and VanHolland delivered that package for another point.
But there was an upset as the last few seconds of the half ticked away. Kindt threw a pass that was intercepted by Isiah Robertson of Canistota/Freeman who ran for a touchdown, and then they delivered on their two-point conversion, leaving the score for the half at 35-20. This seemed to be the rallying cry the defending championship team needed, as the third quarter was almost all Canistota/Freeman. Three touchdowns in a row plus some successful two point conversions put the Dragons down 35-44.
The Dragons were not done fighting however, far from it. In the last minutes of the third quarter Kindt snuck that ball in, making a two-yard run for a touchdown and VanHolland delivered once again, not missing a single kick this game, putting the score at 42 to 44.
In the fourth quarter, Kindt made a successful 14-yard pass to Long for another touchdown, then Kindt again squeezed into the end zone for a two-point conversion. This brought the score to 50-44 in favor of the
Dragons. But Canistota/Freeman was not finished. Cayden Scott ran in a two-yard touchdown with 1:32 left on the clock. They did not get their extra point, so the quarter ended 50-50, going into overtime!
Canistota/Freeman ground their way toward the end zone, with Tage Ortman making a 1-yard run for the final touchdown of the night, leaving the final score 50-56.
"We know what we need to work on and have been doing that the past couple of weeks,” said Coach Long. “We'll continue to try and improve in those areas. It's a matter of our players taking what they are coached and applying that to Friday night. We have shown the tendency to revert back to bad habits when the game starts and that is one of the things that is causing us issues with penalties and not being very successful on the defensive side of the football."
The stats for the night prove that out. GHS had 536 offensive yards compared to Canistota’s 460 offensive yards. But Canistota/Freeman made more plays than GHS, 65 to 59, so they were able to do more with less out on the field because of better defensive discipline. Even so, it was a very competitive game, you can most certainly say that the Blue Dragons put the fear of Dragon might into the hearts of a champion team.
GHS Football will travel to face Irene-Wakonda, Friday, Sept. 24. Because of an official shortage the game will not start until 7:30 or afterward instead of the originally scheduled time of 7 p.m.
