Canistota dominates en route to 9B title

VERMILLION — There were no first-time state-title appearance jitters for Canistota.

It was just another day on the football field to blow out the opposition.

Canistota claimed its first-ever state championship Thursday after routing Hitchcock-Tulare 66-0 in the Class 9B title game at the DakotaDome.

Earlier in the day, Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan won the 9AA championship and, later, Hanson won the 9A championship. Both of those teams were previous victims of Canistota, making the Hawks the unofficial top 9-man team in the state.

“They’re a terrific team,” said Hitchcock-Tulare coach Kenny Heuther, after suffering his first loss of the year. “They’re one of top 9-man teams this state has ever seen.”

For the 11th time, Canistota defeated a team by more than 40 points this year. The lone game the Hawks didn’t rout their opponent was against Hanson in a Cornbelt Conference matchup in Alexandria.

Every other game, the Hawks scored at least 46 points and in many games, they scored at least 50 points. They finished the season 12-0.

“I haven’t expected points in the 50s or 60s all year long,” Canistota coach Lenny Schroeder said.

To lead Canistota, Sam Jolley had five touchdowns and Jeb Olsen ran for 109 yards, scored twice and forced three turnovers in the win.

Olsen was named the game’s MVP and given the outstanding back award. He didn’t rush for a touchdown, but intercepted the opening pass in the second half and caught a 12-yard swing pass in the first half. Each play went for a touchdown.

“At the opening kickoff, we made sure to let them know that they were in for a ballgame,” said Schroeder, whose team finished with 476 yards of total offense.  “We just took them out of their rhythm right away.”

The Hawks sure did.

Hitchcock-Tulare didn’t make it into Canistota territory until its last drive of the first half.

Canistota led 30-0 after two quarters and scored 24 points in the third before sending its junior varsity in to finish the game.

And while the Hawks offense was scoring on nearly every drive, their defense was just as strong, too.

Hitchcock-Tulare Joey Mitchell — who had a 3,000-plus yard offensive season — didn’t fare well. He finished with seven yards rushing, 46 passing and was intercepted three times.

Two of Jolley’s three touchdown passes went to junior wide-out Trevor Schroeder. He caught the game’s first score from two yards out. He also caught a 33-yard bomb in the back corner of the end zone midway through the third.

Canistota also got touchdowns from Troy Hofer, Nick Hofer and Boone DeKramer.

If the Hawks had not pulled their varsity with an entire quarter to go, they quite possibly could have topped the state’s Class 9B record for most points scored in a game. Tripp-Delmont scored 72 in 1997. Whereas all other games would have been stopped by the mercy rule during the regular season and playoffs, the state championship game is played the full 48 minutes.

Hitchcock-Tulare 0 0 0 0—0

Cansitota 14 16 24 12—66

First Quarter

CAN—Schroeder 2 pass from Jolley (Olsen run), 4:49.

CAN-T. Hofer 2 run (pass failed), :53.

Second Quarter

CAN—Olsen 12 pass from Jolley (Olsen run), 4:56.

CAN—Jolley 8 run (Hofer run), :54.

Third Quarter

CAN—Olsen 37 interception return (Olson run), 11:45.

CAN—Schroeder 33 pass from Jolley (Olsen run), 6:14.

CAN—Jolley 66 run (Hofer run), 2:26.

Fourth Quarter

CAN—N. Hofer 6 run (pass failed), 9:13.

CAN—DeKramer 85 run (run failed), 2:09.

H-T CAN

First downs 12 20

Rushes-yards 40-154 46-388

Passing yards 56 88

Return yards 140 117

Passes 5-15-3 6-8-1

Punts 2-24 0-0

Fumbles-lost 3-2 2-0

Penalties-yards 4-25 6-55

Time of Possession 24:37 23:23

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — H-T, Mullenberg 8-45, Chaplin 13-39, Jens 5-33, Bushong 5-19, Mitchell 5-7, Armstrong 1-5, Cole 2-3, Stahl 1-3 Can, Olsen 18-109, DeKramer 3-90, Jolley 5-80, Hofer 12-55, Schroeder 1-25, Bunger 4-19, Hofer 2-9, Dick 1-1.

PASSING — H-T, Mitchell 4-12-3-14, Steinheuser 1-1-0-10, Armstrong 0-2-0-0 Can, Jolley 6-7-1-88, Bunger 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — H-T, Binger 2-19, Bushong 1-14, Barrie 1-13, Cole 1-10 Can, Schroeder 4-54, Robertson 1-13, Olsen 1-12, Tieszen 1-9.

Tags: high school football, sports, canistota