The Cobbler football team surprised the entire state with a big win over second-ranked Sioux Falls Roosevelt.
Central’s decade-long drought against Sioux Falls Roosevelt finally came to an end after Friday night’s win against the second ranked team. Central’s senior night football game didn’t start as the Cobblers had hoped, as the Rough Riders took a quick 15-0 lead. The Cobblers had a tough time getting going on offense and found themselves in a 18-0 hole early in the second quarter.
Just before half time the Cobblers finally put points on the board, with a touchdown pass from sophomore Kohl Meisman to junior Wyatt Jungclaus. Trailing 18-6, the Cobblers knew they needed to get things figured out if they wanted to come out on top and beat the Rough Riders in the second half. “At halftime, everyone realized we could compete with these guys,” said senior Tyler Liebig, “and the mentality of everyone switched from being afraid of these guys to knowing we could win this.”
The Cobblers came out of halftime with a shutout performance, the defense also forcing three turnovers. The offense started to get rolling, led by junior Jeremy Weidman, who scored two touchdowns to help the team take a 19-18 lead late in the third quarter.
On the final drive of the game the Rough Riders inched their way down the field, chewing up the remaining time on the clock. The game came down to a crucial 4th & 11 play at the Cobblers’ 26-yard line. Two time-outs and a penalty later, the Rough Riders had a 4th & 5 at the Cobblers 21- yard line. The pass play fell incomplete and all that was left for the Cobblers was to kneel and complete the upset.
“The entire game was back and forth and you never got a sense of how it was going to end,” said Liebig. “The last play especially was nerve racking because it took so long to happen, it felt like we were on the field five minutes before the play was finally over. Once the clock hit zero everyone was going crazy and I knew everyone outside the team didn’t believe we could actually pull this off.”
The Cobblers go on to play Sioux Falls Washington Friday at Howard Wood Field.
The Pine Needle 