Firestorm shut out Holsteins
By CRAIG HAUPERT, Staff Writer chaupert@minotdailynews.comArticle Photos
TIOGA - If there were holes in Williams County's defense, New Salem-Glen Ullin could not find them.
The Firestorm (8-2) recorded their fifth-straight shutout and got 137 rushing yards from Jared Vejtasa in a 20-0 win over the Holsteins (6-3) in the first round of the Class A high school football playoffs Saturday.
The Firestorm haven't given up a point since Sept. 18 and held the Holsteins to 37 rushing yards. Holsteins running back Nathan Seeger gained just 22 yards on 10 carries.
"We knew they had a good running attack and we wanted to make sure we kept them in check," Firestorm head coach Tim Schaffer said. "And we wanted to make them throw. That is the thing we talked about. We wanted to make sure they threw the ball and we were able to stop their two big running backs."
At halftime, the Holsteins had gained only 18 yards of total offense. They finished the game with 125 yards of total offense, padded by meaningless passes of 16 and 37 yards in the final 15 seconds of the game.
Holsteins quarterback Jared Kautzman finished 5 of 16 for 88 yards passing with one interception. Holsteins' Jarad Wolf had four catches for 77 yards and ran for 16 yards on seven carries.
"They were just extremely quick up front and we just couldn't get anything established," Holsteins head coach Steve Kleinjan said. "It is just one of those deals where early on I think we had a chance to get some momentum and couldn't get that first down on that first drive in short yardage. I think from that point on they settled in on us. They were better up front than we were."
Williams County quarterback Kellen Grubb was efficient, making good on 7 of 9 passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. His 3-yard keeper gave Williams County a 6-0 lead with 1:47 to play in the first quarter and capped a methodical 13-play, 6:36 drive that began on the Firestorm 20.
He also threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Perdue in the second quarter for a 18-0 lead. Perdue had four catches for 40 yards.
"I'm very happy with the way Kellen threw the ball," Schaffer said. "Overall, as a team, we did a nice job offensively and he does well executing the offense for us."
Whereas the Holsteins could not find any room to run, the Firestorm had little trouble running the ball - especially to the right side.
Williams County had four players finish with 34 or more rushing yards led by Vejtasa (16-138), Grubb (15-50) and Kolton Jungemann (6-47).
"We were trying to see where (Wolf and Seeger) were lined up they are two good linebackers and we wanted to kind of run away from them," Schaffer said. "They were switching things around pretty good and sometimes we ran at them, but our guys did a pretty good job of picking them up."
Vejtasa had four runs go for more than 10 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that put the Firestorm ahead 12-0.
"We were keeping on our blocks, just like every week. We have to keep on our blocks and we'll get through," Vejtasa said. "We took care of business."
Williams County will travel to play No. 1 Watford City Saturday in the quarterfinals.
NS-GU0000-0
WC61400-20
First quarter
WC - Kellen Grubb 3 run (kick failed) 1:47
Second quarter
WC - Jared Vejtasa 21 run (run failed) 6:39
WC Ryan Perdue 26 pass from Grubb (Kolton Jungemann pass from Grubb) 2:08
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
No scoring
Highlights
Rushing - NS-GU: Nathan Seeger 10-22, Jarad Wolf 7-16. WC: Vejtasa 16-138, Grubb 15-50, Jungemann 6-47, Matt Perdue 7-34.
Passing -NS-GU: Jared Kautzman 5-16-1-88. WC: Grubb 7-9-0-60.
Receiving - NS-GU: Wolf 4-77. WC: Perdue 4-40, Jungemann 2-17.




