The Lennox High School Oriole football wasted no time showing their dominance in their home game against Dakota Valley on Friday, Sept. 29 as they went on to take the 38-6 victory.
In the first quarter Lennox’s Boston Katzer, connected with Porter Ihnen on a 9-yard pass. Despite the two-point conversion attempt failing, the Orioles took the early 6-0.
With the offense off to a great start, the Oriole defense followed suit. Lennox’s Lucas Bontje intercepted a pass and ran it back an impressive 64 yards for a touchdown. This time, the Orioles successfully converted the two-point attempt, extending their lead to 14-0.
The second quarter saw Lennox continuing their offensive onslaught. Ihnen and Katzer’s connection was on fire as they connected for another touchdown, this time from 13 yards out. Porter ran in the two-point conversion to increase the Orioles lead to 22-0, a lead they would take into halftime.
Lennox scored again in the third quarter as Katzer found Tate Gerdes on the 12 yard score. Katzer ran in the two point conversion to build the Orioles’ lead to 30-0.
Dakota Valley tried to mount a comeback in the third quarter as Jackson Boonstra managed to find the end zone with a 7-yard run, bringing the score to 30-6, but their two-point conversion attempt failed.
In the fourth, Katzer threw a 15-yard pass to Teegan Musser for yet another touchdown. Katzer then ran in for the two-point conversion, making the score 38-6 in favor of the Orioles, giving them the eventual victory.
Throughout the game, the Orioles’ offense was unstoppable, racking up a total of 437 yards, with Katzer leading the way with 344 passing yards and four touchdown passes, completing 24 of his 37 pass attempts. Ihnen was his favorite target, hauling in two touchdown receptions and accumulating 165 receiving yards.
Drake Mikkelsen had four grabs for 55 yards, Chase Faulds four grabs for 48 yards, Tate Gerdes two for 23, Musser one for 15 and Bontje one for ten.
On the ground, Lennox rushed for 93 yards. Leading the ground attack was Tate Gerdes with 27 yards on six carries. Braeden Harmelink had 22 yards on eight carries and Katzer 16 on six carries.
Dakota Valley, on the other hand, struggled to gain momentum, managing only 111 total yards.
Lennox’s Tate Gerdes and Carter Benning led the team in tackles with five each. Benning had three sacks and Nate Harr had one.
The 5-1 Orioles are scheduled to take on the 0-6 Madison Bulldogs this Friday, Oct. 6. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Lennox football field. Madison has losses to Canton (30-14), Dakota Valley (12-7), Sioux Falls Christian (21-15), West Central (35-7), Milbank (37-34), and Dell Rapids (44-13).