Sports

A trip to Shickley for both the Sandy Creek Cougars and Sutton Fillies had differing results, as the Cougars fell in straightsets to both Sutton and Bruning-Davenport/Shickley, while Sutton went 2-0, upending Sandy Creek and winning a come-from-behind match over BDS.

Sandy Creek took on the host BDS girls to open the triangular, falling 25-18, 25-8. No game information was made available for the match, however.

The Cougars and Fillies then went head to head in the second match of the night, with Sutton claiming a 25-10, 25-14 win.

Sutton was led in the service lane by Junior Lily McCroden and sophomore Jacee Haight, as both gained two aces in the win. Sutton served at an 87.8% clip, converting on 43 of 49 attempts.

At the net, offensively, senior Alivia Huxoll gained eight kills, while junior Carly Skalka delivered four, as Sutton totalled 16 kills, while hitting .107 at the net.

Terry Owens is certainly a name that goes hand in hand with Harvard football, but this past week was a night unlike any other night for Owens.

Owens took over the head coaching duties for the Cardinals program after nearly 40 years of involvement with the Cardinals. After his first outing as the bossman of the program, Owens stands with a 1-0 record, as his Cardinals steamrolled the Santee Warriors 55-25 in front of the hometown fans.

Harvard raced to set the tone of the win, outscoring the Warriors 27-0 in the first quarter and 21-13 in the second quarter to establish a 48-13 halftime lead.

Senior Xavier Marburger single-handedly set the tone of the night, scoring all four first-quarter touchdowns, which by game’s end, his game totals would gain him seven touchdowns and 292 rushing yards on just 15 carries, an average of 19.5 yards per carry.

BY ASHLEY D. SWANSON

Harvard opened their volleyball season with a 1-1 split, after earning a win over Heartland Lutheran and falling to Kenesaw in triangular play in Grand Island Aug. 25.

Against Heartland Lutheran, the Cardinals claimed a 25-20 openingset- win, followed by a 26-24 close-call victory.

Taylor Braun led with seven kills, while Aimee Whetstine-Jones claimed the top spot in assists and digs with 10 and seven, respectively.

Harvard vs. Heartland Lutheran

Harvard....................................................... 25 26 Heartland Lutheran..................................... 20 24

In round two against Kenesaw, the Blue Devils claimed a 25-14, 25-18 win over the Cardinals.

In this game, Whetstine- Jones again led in assists and digs with six and seven, while in kills, six players earned one each.

Harvard vs. Kenesaw

After coming off an impressive 27-7 run a year ago that would see head coach Shelli Mohnike and her Fillies claim the Class C-2 state runner-up title, the Sutton volleyball team opened the 2022 season with a quick run past Exeter-Milligan, on the Fillies’ home court.

The new-look Fillies cruised past the Timberwolves in straight sets, winning 25-13, 25-15, 25-19.

Sutton combined for 39 total kills and 13 ace serves in the victory, with senior Alivia Huxoll crushing a team-high 12 kills, while junior Lily McCroden powered down nine kills and junior Carly Skalka an additional seven kills.

As a team, Sutton hit at a 90.54 percent clip, missing on just seven of 74 total attempts in the season opener.

Guiding the hit parade to their big night was setter Kennedy Perrien, as the junior put up 32 assists, while converting on 61 of 63 set attempts in the win.

The Sutton Mustangs, as they stepped into the world of 8-man football this past Friday night, had one of the toughest tests in all of Class D-1, as the Mustangs hosted the 2021 defending Class D-1 state runner-up, Cross County Cougars.

The Cougars had advanced to, or past the D-1 semifinals in each of the past three seasons, making Sutton’s opening game a big challenge.

It all started well for the Mustangs, as a pair of scores, one in the first quarter and one early in the second quarter gained Sutton a 16-0 lead, but the Cougars reeled off 28 straight points in the second and third quarters to take a lead that Cross County wouldn’t give up en route to a 44-30 win over the Mustangs.

Andrew Kuta, the Sandy Creek head football coach, was treated to a big career opening win by his squad Friday night, as Sandy Creek piled up one of, if not their biggest lopsided wins in program history. Sandy Creek began a new era of football in the 8-man ranks of the game with a 70-0 win over the BlueHill Bobcats in front of the home crowd.

A well-balanced offensive attack, combined with a stout defensive effort would give Kuta and the Cougar fan base a big charge as Sandy Creek posted 438 total yards, chewing up 283 yards on the ground, while averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

Through the air, sophomore quarterback Ethan Shaw connected on nine completions for 155 yards.

The scoring onslaught began with 16 first-quarter points. Shaw and sophomore teammate Connor Rempe posted the first score of the season, as the duo connected for a 30-yard touchdown pass to go up 8-0, after Shaw added the two-point conversion.

Sandy Creek and Sutton football opened their 2022 football season in the Class D-1, 8-man ranks this past Friday night. The Cougars suffocated the Blue Hill Bobcats with a 70-0 victory, which perhaps is the most lopsided Cougar win in the program’s history, giving first-year head coach, and Sandy Creek alum, Andrew Kuta a big win as he marked his first game as head coach.

Senior Drake Lally rushed for 142 yards in the win, and scored three touchdowns on the ground and one through the air, while sophomore quarterback Ethan Shaw passed for three scores and a total of 155 yards. Sutton opened their new season with a stout challenge, hosting Class D-1 defending state runner-up Cross County on the Mustangs’ home field.

Sutton opened the game with a 16-0 lead throughout the first 16 minutes of the game, before Cross County came to life and scored 28 straight points to take a 28-16 lead over Sutton.

As the 2022 Sandy Creek volleyball hits the court for their first match of the season this Thursday night at Adams Central High School, a look back in the history of the program, two memorable seasons in the history of the program will mark key anniversaries as state champions this season.

Sandy Creek’s teams in 1977 and 1997 will celebrate their 45th and 25th anniversaries of winning state championships.

1977 TITLE

In an article written by Gary Person, in the Clay County News, the 1977 team earned their trip to state by beating “a team that was considered the best team in the state, regardless of class in the district finals, Hastings St. Cecilia.”

With the glaring history and success of the Sutton High School football program over the course of the past 35 some odd years, one thing had always been missing, a youth football team.

That missing link has become a moot point this year, however, as a youth football team is hitting the field this fall for the first time in the history of Sutton youth sports.

According to new head coach Jason Hajny, “It was just time to get this done and have our kids play with Sutton pride for our schools in this community.”

Hajny noted that none of this would have been possible without the support of this community and so many people.

Jason Friesen and son Jadyn competed in eight total races between two nights recently, with Jadyn winning five of eight races and finishing the weekend run with two, third place finishes and a second place, while his father Jason had one win, five third places, one fourth place, and one fifth place finish. Combined, the Friesen’s both raced a potential 130 laps, with the younger Friesen leading in over 95 total laps. Pictured with Jadyn (third from the right), in the top photo is his mother, Crystal, to the left, along with Shannon Suhr, left of Crystal, and Shawn, to the right of Jadyn. In the picture to the left, two Jefferson County firefighters are at the left, followed by Shannon Suhr, Crystal Friesen, Jason Friesen and Shawn Suhr.