YANKTON — Rugby Ryken made the first half look simple for the Yankton Bucks on Thursday night.
Ryken threw for five touchdowns on the Bucks’ first five possessions to put Yankton up 35-0 and help the Bucks cruise to a 42-21 Class 11AA quarterfinal victory at Crane-Youngworth Field, bringing Mitchell’s season to an end at 3-7.
Ryken was 20 for 23 passing in the first half for 258 yards and finished the game with 26 completions on 31 attempts for 329 yards and six touchdowns. He found receiver Tyler Sohler three times for touchdowns, the last of which capped a short field off a Mitchell interception with 8 seconds left before halftime for a 35-0 halftime lead.
Cody Oswald caught a pair of touchdowns from Ryken that helped Yankton (6-4) to a 21-0 lead, with the first coming on an 11-play, 76-yard drive for the Bucks and the second on a 13-play, 88-yard march. Sohler had scoring catches of 35, 16 and 1 yard on his touchdowns in the first half, as Mitchell struggled to pressure Ryken and make life difficult for him in the pocket.
Unfortunately for Mitchell, the first half harkened back to Oct. 1, when Yankton had a 28-0 halftime lead and won by an eventual score of 45-0 in a game where Ryken threw for four touchdown passes. On Thursday, Yankton had a 312-105 edge in total yards in the first half, including going 7-for-7 on third downs.
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Fifth-seeded Mitchell, which had four punts on its first four possessions, was able to get something going in the second half on offense. Josh Grosdider capped a 52-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 35-7 late in the third quarter.
Quarterback Treyson Schulz was able to connect for a pair of touchdowns in the final quarter, hitting Jace Larson for a 36-yard touchdown with 7:14 remaining and Landon Waddell on a 22-yard scoring strike with 4:13 to go to set the final margin at 42-21.
Mitchell rushed 29 times for 102 yards and was 7 for 13 passing for 128 yards through the air. Grosdidier finished with 68 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. Schulz had 24 yards on seven carries, and was 6-for-12 passing for 93 yards. Larson, A.J. Siemsen and Lucas Bennett each had two catches, with Larson logging 42 yards, Siemsen 39 yards and Bennett 25 yards.
On defense, Joe VanOverschelde had a game-high 13 tackles, including three tackles for a loss. Bryce Palmer had seven tackles and a fumble recovery and Jake Helloloid had seven tackles. Beau Foote had a sack for Mitchell and Kaden Hart recovered a fumble for the Kernels.
The game finished with Yankton outgaining Mitchell 417-230. Mitchell was 2-for-9 on third down, while Yankton finished 8-of-9 on third downs. Oswald caught nine passes for 108 yards, with Cameron Zahrbock picking up eight receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown. Sohler had four catches for 61 yards.
Yankton moves on to face top-seeded Tea Area in the Class 11AA quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 5.
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