Storm Lake Times Pilot

Sioux Central, Ridge View square off in early key district matchup



One team will be putting its unbeaten district record on the line while the other will be trying to stay in the title hunt when Sioux Central and Ridge View square off tonight in Sioux Rapids.

Sioux Central won its district opener last week while Ridge View dropped theirs.

Sioux Central coach Brandon Goodchild gave his thoughts on the Raptors.

“They have a physical line with skill players who have good speed,” he said.

Ridge View coach Dale Tokheim offered his impressions of the Rebels after watching them on tape.

“Sioux Central is very physical football team with great team speed,” Tokheim said. “They run an old school offense with that quick huddle J-formation and a lot of fullback leads. They are very good at what they do. Their linemen fire off the ball and are in your face on both sides of the ball.”

Ridge View’s offense, which averages 26 points a game, runs through quarterback Cade Harriman. He has rushed for a team-high 528 yards and six touchdowns. Brody Deitering and Earnie Clayton have 177 and 162 yards rushing, respectively.

Harriman has completed 42 of 88 passes for 490 yards and seven touchdowns. Deitering has 14 catches for 77 yards and two scores. Tyhler Kolpin has caught six passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns.

“They are a spread team, but they like to run the football out of it,” Goodchild said. “They have a good quarterback and a physical line.”

Ridge View’s defense, which is giving up 20.3 points a game, is led by Deitering’s 25.5 total tackles. The Raptors will pose some problems for Sioux Central’s offense.

“Their defense is physical and very athletic,” Goodchild said. “They will throw a lot of things at you. We will have to pick up the blitz to be successful in both run and pass.”

Sioux Central’s offense, which averages 30 points a game, is led by running backs Gibson Olson and Ethan Mills, who have rushed for 418 yards and six touchdowns and 326 yards and six scores, respectively.

Quarterback Carter Boettcher is 21 of 43 passing for 386 yards and one TD. Jacob Hargens leads the team with seven catches for 157 yards.

“There are no secrets to what they are going to do,” Tokheim said. “They will run the fullback with a couple of lead blockers out of that J-formation. They are an old school, smash mouth team. If you commit too much to stop the fullback, they can hit you with a quick pitch and a quarterback keeper. They do play-action pass well and they have great athletes in all of their skill positions. Their offensive linemen are relentless in their blocking and they fire off the ball low.”

Sioux Central’s offense will create some challenges for Ridge View’s defense.

“You have to play assignment football and that means be willing to take on a blocker and fill your gap,” Tokheim said. “If you don’t play physically and low, they will drive you back or in and create big gaps for their running back. We must match their physicality and swarm the ball.”

The Rebels’ defense, which is led by Hargens’ 49 total tackles, is allowing 17 points a game. Their defense will pose some problems for the Raptors’ offense.

“They run a 5-2 monster and will switch to a 4-4 against the spread,” Tokheim said. “They are very aggressive and fast. They won’t try and be fancy. They are simple and then their kids just play fast and aggressive. Their defensive ends are disciplined and their linebackers are big and fast.”

Sioux Central’s defense will create some challenges for Ridge View’s offense.

“We will need to be technically sound and aggressive to block things properly because their defensive lineman and linebackers are very aggressive and quick,” Tokheim said. “Cade will have to read things properly and take what the defense gives him.”

There are several things the Raptors need to do a better job of this week than in last week’s game.

“Offensively, we just need to execute the play properly,” Tokheim said. “We had several times last week where one or two guys were not on the same page and did not carry out their assignment, and it hurt the play. Cade needs to do a better job of reading his keys and reacting accordingly. All of our backs need to show some patience and let the blocking develop. Finally, the receivers need to run their routes correctly, hard and know when to settle up in the green grass.

“Defensively, we need to read our keys better and use proper techniques,” Tokheim added. “We can’t have defensive backs standing around and hoping when they should be backpedaling. Our linebackers must read their keys and be downhill players.”

Each coach addressed what their team will need to do to be successful on both sides of the ball.

“We need to eliminate penalties,” Goodchild said. “We need to control the football with no turnovers and make sure we contain the quarterback defensively.”

“We need to take care of the ball on offense,” Tokheim said. “On both sides of the ball, we need to be in the right alignment for the call, know our assignment for the call, and then execute things properly.”