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Thursday, 11.6.14 ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net SPORTS DEPARTMENT: [email protected] PRESS DAKOTAN PAGE 9 sports BY JEREMY HOECK [email protected] When the Harrisburg Tigers and Yankton Bucks meet for a chance to move on to the state championship game, there will be no shortage of connections between the two programs. From the players on the field to the coaches on the sidelines, Friday night’s Class 11AA semifi- nal game at Crane-Youngworth Field has special significance for a select group. • Harrisburg standout run- ning back Jonathan Kabambi was in the Yankton School Dis- trict through seventh grade. • On the sidelines, Tigers’ de- fensive coordinator David Dohn is married to Trisha (Thunker) Dohn, whose brother Mike Thun- ker was a standout receiver for the Bucks. • Tyler Muth, the offensive line coach for Harrisburg, is the brother of Yankton assistant Brady Muth. • And then there’s Harrisburg head coach Brandon White, who played football at the University of South Dakota — as did Yank- ton assistant Marc Murtha. Even though he has coached against Yankton teams since the middle school ranks, it’s still meaningful to face his former program, according to Tyler Muth. “Obviously this one is a lot more important,” said Muth, a 2002 Yankton High School gradu- ate. Kabambi, of course, is the focal point. The 5-foot-11, 208-pound run- ning back has rushed for 1,286 yards and 21 touchdowns this season for Harrisburg. “No doubt about it, as he goes, our team goes,” coach White said this week. Kabambi burst onto the statewide scene last season when he ran for nearly 1,000 yards with five touchdowns as a junior. “He was pretty raw as a fresh- man and sophomore; not a ton of football IQ, but the last two years he’s really come into his own,” White said. After opening some eyes at a North Dakota State camp this past summer, Kabambi has taken his game to another level, his coach said. Kabambi has not yet decided on a college, but he’s likely to be playing on Satur- days, his coach said. “He understands where the Local Connections Highlight 11AA Semifinal Tilt JAMES D. CIMBUREK/P&D Yankton's Tim Cross, left, Colton Diefenderfer, 43, and Jordan Lightner wrap up Harrisburg's Jonathan Kabambi during their regular season game Oct. 17 at Crane-Youngworth Field. 11AA | PAGE 10 Yankton Hosts Harrisburg Friday For Spot In Title Game Neb. High School Football Playoffs Eagles Swat Bees 60-20 D1: Creighton Moves On To Quarterfinals BY JAMES D. CIMBUREK [email protected] SHICKLEY, Neb. — The Bruning-Davenport-Shickley Eagles jumped out to an early lead and pulled away, beating Bloomfield 60-20 in the sec- ond round of the Nebraska Class D1 football playoffs on Wednesday. Bloomfield finishes with a 7-3 record. BDS will take a 9-1 record into a quarterfinal matchup with Heartland on Tuesday. “Credit BDS. They’re a tough team,” said Bloomfield head coach Matt Kuchar. “We didn’t get off to a good start, and it snowballed from there.” BDS co-coach Chris Ardis- sono said the Eagles having its full lineup, possibly for the first time this season, played a key factor. “We’ve had a lot of in- juries,” he said. “We play so much better, so much more together, when we have our top eight.” BDS led 30-0 after one quarter, with Eagles QB Grant Norder passing for two touchdowns and rushing for another. Kale Kleinschmidt scored for BDS on the open- ing drive. Norder passes to T.J. Krupicka and Chris Rohr, and Norder’s 31-yard keeper stretched the lead. “We got a lot of breaks in the first quarter,” said BDS co-coach Mark Rotter. “We had it in our minds that, when we got our breaks, we had to make the most of them. I just thought it would be in the third or fourth quar- ter.” Bloomfield got its initial first down of the game early in the second quarter, with Quinn O’Brien’s 28-yard catch setting up an O’Brien keeper. But BDS answered quickly with another Norder TD run. Kleinschmit followed with a 49-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. Another fumble and recovery by Kleinschmit set up another Norder to Rohr connection for a score, making it 52-8. “Kleinschmit is a sopho- more, but he plays like a sen- ior,” Rotter said. “He was huge last week as well.” BY BRUCE VIERGUTZ For the Press & Dakotan NELIGH, Neb. — Creighton had to put in a full day of work for one of the rare times in a football game in the past two years. Lunch pail in hand, the Bulldogs earned a 50-35 blue- collar victory in Class D1 Ne- braska state high school second-round action Wednes- day night a Warrior Field. Creighton, 10-0, will host Elm Creek Tuesday evening in quarterfinal action. The Bulldogs had played just two previous games the past two seasons in which they had to compete for four quarters. After trailing 14-0 early on, it was apparent this wouldn’t be a jog in the park. “We kind of started the game wide-eyed and shell- shocked,” Creighton coach Jeff Jensen said. “A couple of weeks ago we got into a game where it took us a while to score. We’re just not used to playing full games and are used to things being easy.” Thanks to Bulldogs’ run- ning back Reid Liska, things weren’t as hard as they could have been. Liska carried the ball 36 times for 278 yards, including touchdown runs of 68 and 30 yards to help the Bulldogs avoid the upset. Tied at 22-all, the Bulldogs scored on a 1-yard touch- down bolt by Lane Walton with 22 seconds left in the first half, then tacked on Liska’s 30-yard score to take a 36-22 advantage. The Warriors (6-4) an- swered with a potent passing attack all game and pulled with in 36-29 on a 9-yard run by sophomore quarterback Grant White with 5:13 left in the third quarter. White, a 2,000-yard passer for the season, completed 21 of 42 passes for 255 yards and one interception. Creighton got its running game in full throttle when re- serve running back Ryan Neumann added touchdown runs of 13 and one yard to help keep Neligh-Oakdale at bay. A 35-yard pass from White BDS Stings Bees In D1 Playoffs ABOVE: Bloomfield's Cody Beckmann, left, looks for run- ning room against the Bruning- Davenport-Shickley defense during their Class D1 second- round game on Wednesday in Shickley, Nebraska. RIGHT: Bloomfield's Cody Beck- mann, 24, picks off a pass in- tended for BDS' Riley Tegtmeier, 5, during the first half of their Class D1 second-round playoff football game on Wednesday in Shickley, Nebraska. PHOTOS BY JAMES D. CIMBU- REK/P&D BEES | PAGE 10 RANDOLPH, Neb. — Cortney Ark- feld and Kristie Bruening combined for 28 kills as the Wynot Blue Devils swept Bancroft-Rosalie 25-17, 25-23, 25-22 in Tuesday’s Sub-District D2-3 championship in Randolph. The win sends Wynot (22-9) to tonight’s (Thursday) District D2-2 final against Stuart, to be played in Plainview. Arkfeld recorded 15 kills, two blocks, two ace serves and 14 digs in the win, while Bruening had 13 kills. Jenna Heine recorded 30 set assists and 14 digs, and Olivia Wieseler led the defense with 15 digs. No stats were reported for Ban- croft-Rosalie. BANCROFT-ROSALIE (13-23) 17 23 22 WYNOT (22-9) 25 25 25 Wynot 3, Winside 0 RANDOLPH, Neb. — Cortney Arkfeld recorded 11 kills to lead the Wynot Blue Devils past Winside 25-17, 25-10, 25-19 in semifinal action Tuesday at the Sub-District D2-3 tournament in Randolph. Kristie Bruening added eight kills, while Carissa Kuchta had six kills. Jenna Heine recorded 23 set assists and 27 digs. No stats were reported for Winside (14-18). WINSIDE (14-18) 17 10 19 WYNOT 25 25 25 Volleyball: Wynot Wins Sub-District CREIGHTON | PAGE 10 Rodgers Back After Bye, But Pack Guards Hurting GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — A bye week gave Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers some much-needed time to rest a sore hamstring. The injury news isn’t as promis- ing for two beefy guys who protect Rodgers in the pocket. Starting guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang each sat out practice Wednesday with injuries suffered the last time the Packers played, a 44-23 loss at New Orleans on Oct. 26. Sitton and Lang are the Packers’ best offensive linemen, and the longest-tenured players on what coach Mike McCarthy considers one of best front fives in his nine seasons in Green Bay. Now, there are questions about the line going into Sunday night’s NFC North showdown against the Chicago Bears. “The best offensive lines in my opinion are the ones that play week in and week out. The timing, the communication, particularly the non-verbal communication, hap- pens so fast at the line of scrim- mage, so it’s definitely a big part of the flow of your offense,” McCarthy said. Lang was carted off the field in New Orleans with a left ankle in- jury. Sitton said he may have torn a ligament in his left big toe in the sec- ond half of the same game, but gut- ted it out through the end. “First few days, it was pretty swollen and pretty sore. So it’s come a long way,” said Sitton, the left guard. How Sitton and Lang respond to treatment the next few days will be telling about whether they will be available Sunday. At least the Packers got Rodgers back for the first full practice after the bye. Rodgers, who tweaked his hamstring while scrambling against the Saints, followed a rehab pro- gram during the off week and got acupuncture to help with the in- jury. McCarthy said his franchise quarterback looked good at prac- tice. Still, some dynamics have changed since the Bears and Pack- ers last met on Sept. 28, a 38-17 win for Green Bay at Soldier Field. Besides the uncertainty on the line, the Bears figure to have Jared Allen back; the veteran defensive lineman missed the teams’ first meeting with an illness. While not a real running threat, Rodgers does rely on his mobility to help extend plays. Asked about compensating for potentially being without Lang and Sitton or being cautious with his hamstring, Rodgers said “Well, I take care of my body pretty well, and I trust that by Sunday that it’s not going to be an issue. “I just have to play my game and if something happens I might dial it back a little bit,” Rodgers said. But he’s having such a good sea- son that “dialing it back” for Rodgers might mean an average year for anyone else. Rodgers leads the league with a 113.6 passer rating. He has thrown 19 touchdowns in helping lead the Packers to a 5-3 record, which in- cluded a six-game stretch without an interception. What makes the season more im- pressive is that Green Bay hasn’t had the production expected out of the running game with Eddie Lacy and James Starks. That in part is due to a lack of opportunities with the Packers’ up-tempo offense scor- ing on quick-strike drives. While receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb have been tortur- ing secondaries, rookie wideout Da- vante Adams is still emerging as a third target. Also, Green Bay hasn’t had a consistent threat at tight end since Jermichael Finley got knocked out last season by a neck injury. “Well, it’s just about finding the right matchups for us, whatever that might be. Jordy and Randall have had a lot of targets go their way. They’ve been open a lot,” Rodgers said. “But you know this is a progression offense, as the West Coast offenses are, and I’m going to go through (them) and look for the guy that’s open.” NOTES : The Packers did get three defensive starters at practice with safety Morgan Burnett (calf), corner- back Sam Shields (knee) and end Datone Jones (ankle) all returning at full participation. Rodgers was also officially listed as a full participant. ... Green Bay signed guard Jordan McCray to the practice squad while releasing running back Michael Hill. ... The team announced that is testing the addition of 200 standing-room only tickets for the first time for the next two games, against the Bears followed by the Eagles. That would increase Lambeau Field’s capacity to 80,935. The tickets are priced at $75. Rodgers
