Wolverine comeback comes up short in 66-54 loss to Stanton

STANTON — Stanton built a 36-0 lead but had to hold on late in a 66-54 upset of Eight-Man, No. 5 East Mills Friday night in Stanton.

“Our kids played well,” Stanton Football Coach Jeff Grebin said. “We found a way to pull off a win and we’re just excited with what the future holds.”

Stanton (2-2 overall, 2-0 district) got their lead to 36-0 at halftime, thanks to a late touchdown catch in the half by wide receiver Brady Johnson.

With their lead, Stanton immediately got a running clock the final 2:50 of the half, as well as the start of the second half.

“For us at halftime, we said we wanted to salvage a little bit of pride. We felt like we didn’t play well in the first half,” East Mills Football Coach Andy Irwin said. “They came to play and we didn’t. We woke up a little bit in the second half, but it was too late.”

East Mills (3-1 overall, 1-1 district) stopped the running clock early in the third quarter when Cavin Darnold picked off a David  Sorensen pass and returned it for a touchdown. The Wolverines missed the two-point conversion and trailed 36-6 with 10:07 left.

“We talked about at halftime that traditionally we’re a team that doesn’t make mistakes or gets down on ourselves,” Irwin said. “We wouldn’t accept that.”

Stanton scored to get the mercy rule clock running again as Johnson caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Sorensen.
Johnson had another big receiving night for the Vikings as he caught nine passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns.

The Vikings missed the conversion, but led 42-6 with 8:17 to go in the third quarter.

East Mills stopped the clock on its next drive with a touchdown run by quarterback Logan Currin on fourth down. Stanton’s lead was 42-12 with time remaining in the third quarter.

The scoring continued for Stanton as Jacob Lindgren caught a 25-yard touchdown pass with 2:42 left in the third quarter. Lindgren had two catches for 50 yards in the win. Stanton made the two-point conversion and led 50-12.

The key moment of the drive occurred on second down at midfield when a questionable defensive pass interference call riled up the East Mills fans. It set up the touchdown pass to Lindgren two plays later.

The Wolverines responded with a score of their own on the last drive in the third quarter. Darnold scored on a one-yard run on third and goal with 2.7 seconds left. Austin Edmunds caught the two-point conversion pass and East Mills trailed 50-20 entering the final period of play.

East Mills caught a significant break at the start of the fourth quarter when quarterback David Sorensen fumbled the snap. The Wolverines set up shop deep in Stanton territory, eventually scoring on a one-yard run by Josh Hopkins.
Currin’s two-point conversion pass was deflected, but East Mills drew closer and trailed 50-26 with 10:46 left in the game.

The struggles continued for Stanton in the second half as they turned the ball over on downs on the next drive, setting up East Mills at the Viking 38-yard line.

East Mills scored again with 8:15 left on a Currin 25-yard touchdown pass to Sam Rew. The Wolverines missed another two-point conversion, but now trailed 50-32.

A kick-off return set up Stanton around midfield for the next drive. They moved quickly downfield thanks in part to a catch by Peterson, setting the Vikings up at the East Mills two-yard line.

The passing game was vital for Stanton in the East Mills win as Sorensen completed 19-of-33 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns.

Alex Becthold scored his first of two touchdowns in the quarter on a two-yard run. He scored on the two-point conversion play and Stanton’s lead was back to 58-32 with 7:47 left in the game.

East Mills responded with another touchdown with 7:06 to go on a Currin touchdown pass to Edmunds. East Mills converted the two-point play and the lead was down to 18 again, 58-40.

With time running out, East Mills got the ball back thanks to an onside kick, setting them up around midfield.
After a 15-yard catch by Darnold to start the drive, East Mills struggled to get the next first down.

However, on 3rd-and-4 at the Vikings 19-yard line, Currin scrambled for 11 yards to get first and goal.

Currin was injured on the next play, during a sack-strip-fumble by Vikings defensive player Connor Hultman. Hopkins recovered the ball and picked up positive yardage.

“He was having a little bit of a problem with a hip flexor,” Irwin said about Currin. “That’s been a nagging injury for him for awhile.”

It was Hopkins who scored on third and goal from the four on a run up the gut. East Mills converted the two-point conversion, after both teams pushed back on forth on the play, turning briefly into a rugby scrum.

With the touchdown play, Stanton’s lead, at one point 36 during the third quarter, evaporated and was now 58-48 with 5:46 to go in the game.

“[East Mills] made some adjustments and we struggled to get the first down,” Grebin said.

Problems continued to plague the Stanton offense on the next drive. Despite driving into the East Mills redzone, Stanton turned the ball over on downs with three minutes left in the game.

East Mills had the ball at their 15-yard line with Currin back in the game. The drive got off to a rough start, however, when Hultman sacked Currin.

Two incomplete passes led to it being four and 14 at the 11-yard line. Currin scrambled but fumbled short of the first down, giving Stanton the ball.

Stanton put the game on ice with a 17-yard touchdown run on the third play of the drive by Becthold, his second for the game. Stanton converted the two-point play and led 66-48 late.

East Mills had one more touchdown, which came with 59.1 seconds left in the game as Ben Christensen completed a touchdown pass of 31-yards to Rew. They missed the two-point conversion and trailed 66-54.

Defensively, East Mills entered having shut out two of its three opponents and allowed just one touchdown all season. The Vikings bested that total just a few minutes into the game.

The Vikings finished with 427 total yards. Sorensen was on target all night, connecting on 19-of-33 passes for a career-high 341 yards and four touchdowns. Becthold was Stanton’s leading rusher with 34 yards on eight carries while season leading rusher Kyle Peterson was held to 31 yards on 20 carries.

East Mills meanwhile travels to Tabor Friday take on Eight-Man No. 1 Fremont-Mills. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.