A few key moments helped the Kimball-White Lake WiLdKats to a 20-0 season opening win over the De Smet Bulldogs on Friday, August 23rd.
The Bulldog defense was able to stand strong in the first inning. De Smet went three and out on their opening drive. After a short punt, the Bulldogs got a fumble recovery to keep the WiLdKats out of the endzone. De Smet marched down the field, but had their drive stall on a turnover on downs deep in Kimball-White Lake territory. The WiLdKats got a big run by Iden Meyers, but Tanner Tolzin chased him down and got a touchdown saving tackle. The Bulldog defense rallied and forced a turnover on downs to keep the first quarter scoreless.
De Smet had a chance to put the first score on the board. On a fourth down and goal play, the WiLdKats got an interception on their own four yard line and returned the ball to the De Smet nine-yard line. Kimball-White Lake but the ball in the endzone on the first next offensive play for a 6-0 lead with 5:47 to play in the half. After holding De Smet on their next possession, Kimball-White Lake got a 46-yard touchdown pass with 1:07 left in the half after a couple of missed tackles. The made extra point gave the WiLdKats a 13-0 lead going into halftime.
Each team only had the ball one time in the third quarter as the ground game was featured by both squads. The Bulldogs were on the move again late in the third quarter and into the start of the fourth quarter. They again had the ball inside the five-yard line, but the WiLdKat defense forced another turnover on downs with a goal line stand. They then scored on their next drive on a quarterback sneak with 4:38 left in the game for a 20-0 lead.
De Smet finished with 263 yards of offense, 216 rushing yards and 47 passing yards. Kimball-White Lake had 292 yards of offense, 219 rushing yards and 73 passing yards. Ganon Henrich had 19 carries for 93 yards. Slayten Wilkinson had 21 carries for 91 yards. Gannon Gilligan added 12 carries for 28 yards. Henrich was 1-5 passing for 36 yards and two interceptions. Brody Halverson was 1-1 passing for 11 yards. Tolzin had a catch for 36 yards, and S. Wilkinson had the catch for 11 yards.
S. Wilkinson finished with 8.5 tackles defensively. Henrich added 4.5 tackles. Sam Gigov had four tackles. RJ Cleveland had 2.5 tackles. Both Tolzin and Grant Wilkinson had two tackles each.
