Oakes wins in return to 11-man

The Oakes Tornadoes made a successful return to 11-man football on Tuesday night, taking down the Class AA East Region Kindred Vikings 20-0 during their season-opener in Oakes.

Oakes, who made the jump from 9-man to Region 1 Class A 11-man during the off-season, made a statement against the Vikings defensively. Linebacker Ethan Plemel led the Tornadoes with an impressive 17 tackles and one quarterback sack, while lineman Cody Kasprick added five tackles and two sacks.

The Tornadoes jumped on the Vikings in the first quarter with a 21-yard touchdown run by running back Tanner Zetocha. Senior quarterback Taylor Ptacek then stepped up and hit Adam Ladwig for a 10-yard TD strike.

Ptacek and Ladwig hooked up again for a 15-yard pitch and catch to put the game away in the third quarter.

Oakes 20, Kindred 0

Kindred 0 0 0 0 — 0

Oakes 12 0 8 0 — 20

O—Tanner Zetocha 21-yard run (kick failed)

O—Adam Ladwig 10 pass from Taylor Ptacek (kick failed)

O—Ladwig 15 pass from Ptacek (Zetocha pass from Ptacek)

Stats, Oakes: Ethan Plemel 17 tackles, sack; Cody Kasprick 5 tackles, 2 sacks; Jason Hagen 17 carries for 75 yards; Ptacek 78 yards passing, 2 touchdowns.

Records: Oakes 1-0; Kindred 0-1.

Ellendale 48, Sargent Central 14

The Region 1 Ellendale Cardinals opened up its high school football season with a 34-point victory over Region 2 9-man opponent Sargent Central in Ellendale.

The Cadets were the first team to crack the scoreboard when quarterback Jared Huckell hooked up with L.J. Hansen for a 60-yard TD through the air with 6:50 left in the opening quarter.

But Ellendale would have its way with Sargent Central’s defense after that. The Cardinals rifled off five unanswered touchdowns to take a commanding 30-6 lead with seven minutes remaining in the third.

Junior quarterback Donovan Flaherty had his hand in a trio of those five scores, connecting with junior Tanner White for a pair of touchdowns through the air. Flaherty also ran in a nine-yard score, and later ran the ball into the end zone from one yard out in the fourth quarter.

Ellendale senior running back Josh Morrissey also scampered into the end zone three times in the game. Morrissey had TD runs of 26, 16 and 51 yards.

Ellendale 48, Sargent Central 14

SC—LJ Hansen 60-yard pass from Jared Huckell (pass failed)

E—Tanner White 35 pass from Donovon Flaherty (pass failed)

E—Josh Morrissey 26 run (Raymond Orwig pass from Flaherty)

E—White 15 pass from Flaherty (Nolan Hamar pass from Flaherty)

E—Flaherty 9 run (White pass from Flaherty)

E—Morrissey 16 run (run failed)

SC—Seth Jablonsky 53 pass from Huckell (Huckell run)

E—Flaherty 1 run (kick failed)

E—Morrissey 51 run (run failed)

Records: Ellendale 1-0; Sargent Central 0-1.

Tags: class b, sports, football, oakes