Hawks rout Gettysburg in 9B semifinal

CANISTOTA — The Canistota High School football team kept on rolling in Saturday’s Class 9B semifinal.

The undefeated and top-ranked Hawks got five touchdown runs from senior Jeb Olsen on their way to a 58-8 win over Gettysburg. Canistota (11-0) faces Hitchcock-Tulare in the state championship game at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.

“The kids executed very well and we took advantage of getting them down early,” Canistota coach Lenny Schroeder said. “We let our style of play dictate the game after we marched it right down the field on the first drive.”

Olsen punched in from two yards out to kick off the scoring and later, added runs of 25, 12, 36 and 8 yards. The game ended on Olsen’s 8-yard score in the third quarter.

Olsen finished with 154 yards on 18 carries, while Sam Jolley completed 4-of-6 passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns to tight end Trevor Schroeder.

Schroeder caught a 32-yard TD in the first quarter and a 28-yard score in the second.

“We had them guessing,” Schroeder said. “(Gettysburg) was a good defensive team, but we just played one of our best games. We pounded the ball until they brought everyone up to the line of scrimmage, then (Jolley) was able to find (Schroeder) for a couple big plays.”

Schroeder finished with three catches for 63 yards and Jolley added a 7-yard TD run in the second quarter. Junior Troy Hofer added 80 yards on eight carries for the Hawks, who had 274 yards rushing in the game.

Nic Golder had 10 total tackles and Alex Robertson picked off two passes to lead the Canistota defense, which also got nine tackles from Hofer and eight from Olsen. Jolley also intercepted a pass.

The Hawks have outscored their opponents 561-38 this season and will look to finish off a perfect campaign with a state title.

“The kids were excited, but it wasn’t chaos like you see sometimes,” Schroeder said of his team’s reaction to its semifinal victory. “Everybody was happy, but it was more controlled and the guys are just happy to be where we are.”

First Quarter

C: Jeb Olsen 2 run (Olsen run)

C: Trevor Schroeder 32 pass from Sam Jolley (run failed)

Second Quarter

C: Olsen 25 run (Schroeder pass from Jolley)

C: Schroeder 28 pass from Jolley (pass failed)

C: Jolley 7 run (pass failed)

G: Jerad Schmidt pass from Jeffery Devine (Blaine Schmidt run)

Third Quarter

C: Olsen 12 run (Olsen run)

C: Olsen 36 run (Troy Hofer run)

C: Olsen 8 run (Olsen run)

Tags: high school football, our towns, sports, football, canistota