Asante Adams and Riley Dell scored two touchdowns each and the Laker defense held Sauk Centre to 225 total yards as Minnewaska Area earned a 34-13 victory over Sauk Centre during the 2024 home opener, Friday night on Veterans Field at Glenwood State Bank Stadium.

The Lakers led 13-2 at halftime and then piled on 15 more points in the third quarter to take control of the game.

“It was a great team win,” coach Jared Lyle said.  “We utilized a strong running game to control the time of possession and our defense did a great job of limiting their big plays.”

Minnewaska improved to 1-1 overall heading into this Friday’s game at 7 p.m. at Pierz.  The following Friday, the Lakers are set to host Howard Lake-WW for Homecoming, Friday, Sept. 17.

Waska 34, Sauk Cen 13

The Lakers earned a 34-13 win over Sauk Centre, Friday night.  Minnewaska went up 7-0 after one quarter thanks to a one-yard run by quarterback Levi Johnson followed by an extra-point boot by Zach Gugisberg.

Sauk Centre cut the Waska lead to 7-2 when a snap from center on a punt sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone.  Later, the Mainstreeters took over around midfield late in the second quarter, but the Lakers stopped Sauk Centre with just over a minute left in the first half.

That was just enough time for the Lakers to score one more touchdown.  Starting at their own 45, Johnson connected with Miles Wildman for a four-yard gain and then passed to Asante Adams for another 35 yards to the SC 16.  On the next play, Adams took the ball and scored on a 16-yard run with 18 seconds left.  Although the extra-point kick was blocked, the Lakers still went into halftime with a 13-2 lead.

The second half started off perfectly for the Lakers as Minnewaska went on a 3-play, 62-yard touchdown drive on its first possession of the second half and then scored again on a 3-play, 55-yard scoring drive.

Adams scored the first touchdown of the second half on a 47-yard run and Riley Dell scored the second one on a 9-yard run.  Gugisberg booted another extra-point following the Adams’ score and Johnson hit Wildman with a pass for the two points following Dell’s score.

Sauk Centre scored its only touchdown on its first possession of the fourth quarter, but the Lakers would score again with just under three minutes left in the game when Dell scored his second touchdown on a 10-yard run.

•  The Lakers had a 357-225 total yards advantage over the Mainstreeters.  Minnewaska had 273 net yards rushing on 39 carries with Adams rushing eight times for 107 yards, Dell adding 63 yards on nine carries, Kearri Dickens gaining 55 yards on five rushes, Carter Meyer adding 39 yards on eight carries and Johnson running four times for 24.

Johnson also completed 3-of-4 passes for 84 yards with one interception.  Wildman (45 yards), Adams (35 yards), Meyer (four) and Gugisberg all had one reception each.

at Waska 34, Sauk Cen 13

Sauk Centre (0-2) 0 2 0 8 — 10

Minnewaska (1-1) 7 6 15 6 — 34

Min-Levi Johnson 1-run (Zach Gugisberg kick)

SC — Safety

Min — Asante Adams 16-run (kick blocked)

Min — Adams 47-run (Gugis. kick)

Min — Riley Dell 9-run (Miles Wildman run)

SC — Jeric Schloegl 5-run (Sch. run)

Min — Dell 10-run (kick failed)

Team stats Min SC

First downs 16 17

Rushes-net yards 39-273 44-184

Pass-cp-int-yds 5-3-1-84 20-8-0-42

Total yards 357 225

Fumbles lost 2-1 2-1

Punts-average 0-0 2-33.5

Penalties-yards 6-52 6-55

Minnewaska statistics

Rushing — MIN-Asante Adams 8-107, Riley Dell 9-63, Kearri Dickens 5-55, Carter Meyer 8-39, Levi Johnson 4-24, Miles Wildman 1-1 . . . SC-Jeric Schloegl 13-68, Hunter Dickinson 8-30, Alex Helgeson 7-22

Passing (attempts-comp-intercept-yrds) — MIN-Levi Johnson 4-3-1-84; Marc Gruber 1-0-0-0 . . . SC-Damian Ahrens 20-8-1-42

Receiving (catches-yards) — MIN-Wildman 1-45, Adams 1-35, Meyer 1-4, Zach Gugisberg 1-0 . . . SC-Schloegl 4-19, Matthew Zenzen 3-20, Isaac Hokanson 1-3

Punts-average — MIN-None

Returns — Kickoff-Wildman 1-10. . . Punt-Wildman 2-17

Defense — Fumble Rec-MIN-Luke Danielson 1 . . . Interceptions-MIN-UA . . . Sacks-Min-NA

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