Total domination by a very fine football team. That’s about the only way to describe Sigourney - Keota’s 55-0 triumph over Highland (Ainsworth - Riverside) - Lone Tree at Lone Tree last week. Just how dominating was it? Highland - Lone Tree had four first downs, Sigourney - Keota had 20. Of those four first downs, two came as the result of face mask penalties and the other two came in the third quarter when there were some reserves sprinkled into the Sigourney - Keota defense. Highland - Lone Tree had 27 rushes for a net of 18 yards. In those 27 rushes the Raiders had six for no gain and seven for losses. Sigourney - Keota had 38 rushes for 417 net yards with just one for no gain and one for a loss. Raiders’ coach Dan Dickel told the team afterward, “Underclassmen remember, we have a long ways to go but it can be done if you hate what’s happened this year and tonight. I hate it. It’s embarrassing.”

The Raiders were overmatched and outgunned on both offense and defense. Highland - Lone Tree had the ball nine times. On five of those occasions the Raiders were three plays and punt. One ended with the end of the first half. One ended with a turnover that turned into a Sigourney - Keota touchdown. Two times the Raiders got first downs. Sigourney - Keota had eight possessions and scored on seven of them.

So, let’s get the litany of the scoring parade over with. Sigourney - Keota made one of its few mistakes when Jake Flanders bobbled the kickoff and recovered it at the S-K 19. From there, it took the Savage - Cobras just four plays to score. Luke Scheetz had a 41 yard burst to the H-LT 38, a five yard penalty against S-K put the ball on the 43 and Flanders scored from there. Derek Greiner place-kicked the extra point and it was 7-0 with 10:27 left in the first quarter.

The Raiders returned the kickoff to the 28 and, aided by those two face mask penalties on Sigourney - Keota, marched into S-K territory. However, the drive stalled and H-LT punted into the end zone. Starting from the 20 it took S-K only three plays this time. After runs by Flanders and Scheetz the score came on a 40 yard run by Jonathan Wallerich. Greiner kicked the extra point and it was 14-0 with 6:14 left in the first quarter. After forcing a punt Sigourney - Keota took over on its 21. This time it took S-K six plays to score. One of them was a 26 yard pass from Sande Choun to Mark Knowler. Knowler made a fantastic juggling catch of the pass that got S-K a first down on a third and 19 situation. Choun then hooked up with Wallerich on a 40 yard touchdown pass. Greiner kicked the extra point and it was 21-0 with 2:15 left in the quarter.

After forcing another punt, the Savage - Cobras had their one drive that did not end up in a touchdown. Joe Poch intercepted a Choun pass at the Raiders 17. However, a motion penalty backed up H-LT and then, on third down, a Nick Cole to Josh Bonebrake lateral didn’t connect and Trent Steinhart picked up the ball at about the five and ran into the end zone for S-K. Greiner’s kick made it 28-0 with 9:27 left in the half. On its next possession S-K used six plays to cover 51 yards. Choun scored on a 27 yard run. Greiner then made it 35-0 with 4:51 left in the half. Sigourney - Keota had a 43 yard drive in eight plays for its next touchdown. Flanders scored from two yards out and Greiner made it 42-0 with 1:01 left in the half.

The Raiders went nowhere with the second half kickoff and punted to the Sigourney - Keota 41. On the ninth play Scheetz scored on a 24 yard run and Greiner made it 49-0 with 6:46 left in the third quarter. The Raiders moved into S-K territory but stalled at the 33. In four plays S-K had the game ending touchdown. There was a 42 yard run by Dan Hammes and the touchdown came on an 11 yard run by Nick Baker to make the score 55-0 with 2:53 left in the third quarter. Besides the running, H-LT completed two of six passes for 32 yards, fumbled once and lost it and was penalized four times for 27 yards. Josh Bonebrake had 24 yards on 11 carries. Sigourney - Keota completed four of seven passes for 88 yards and had one intercepted, fumbled once and was penalized five times for 55 yards. Jake Flanders led the S-K ground attack with 164 yards on 16 carries.

After the game Coach Dickel also told the seniors, “You are .500 for the last two years. Don’t be a .500 person in life. Choose the right way. You’ve seen the good and bad side.” To the underclassmen, “I’m looking for commitment. We have a long ways to go. They’ll be good every year. Do we want to be back there?”