Cobras buck Beckman, advance to quarterfinals

SIGOURNEY - Between the 20s, Friday night's Class 1A Round 3 playoff game between No. 3 Sigourney-Keota and Beckman Catholic looked even, but in the red zone it was all Cobras.

Despite total yards being virtually even, SK rolled on the scoreboard. The Cobras capitalized on three huge red zone take-aways and a Beckman missed field goal to blast the Trailblazers 35-14.

The Cobras set the tone early, scoring on an opening drive that took up seven minutes and 20 seconds. On a drive that included a 4th-and-1 conversion on a Trailblazer encroachment, the Cobras drove down the field and punched one in on a 1-yard touchdown run by Sam Sieren, his first of four on the day.

'That feels pretty good,” Sieren said. 'Especially when you look up and you ran a lot of that clock off.”

Beckman drove downfield to set up a 34-yard field goal try early in the second quarter. The kick sailed wide right to keep the Blazers scoreless, and that was the first of four-straight Beckman goose eggs laid in SK territory.

On the ensuing SK drive, the Cobras scored again. SK did it mostly with a strong running game, at one point converting a 3rd-and-17 on a 19-yard rush by Sieren, but ended the drive with a touchdown pass. On the first SK throw of the game, Cade Molyneux found a wide open Evan Dawson for a 29-yard touchdown pass. With 6:11 left in the half, it was 14-0 Cobras.

Beckman had two more drives in the first half, both of which looked promising, but both of which ended in interceptions. Wyatt Sieren had the first, picking off Blazer quarterback Nick Offerman at the 16-yard line. On the next drive, Brady Duwa stepped in front of a past just in front of the goal line to turn a potential Beckman touchdown into a Cobra take-away.

'It was broken coverage,” said Duwa. 'We tried to rotate some guys in and didn't get the play in quick enough. We actually checked into a man coverage, and luckily I saw the ball quick enough and made a good play.”

Beckman started the second half with another long drive, but once again the SK defense answered the call. This time, the Cobras forced a fumble inside the 10-yard line, and Carson Sprouse fell on it for SK's third forced turnover.

'The defense has just been playing lights out this year,” said SK head coach Jared Jensen. 'We know we're going to put up points, but when you don't have to score a ton to win the game, that's advantage us.”

S. Sieren and the Cobra offense busted the game open on the drive, when the senior running back scored on a 3-yard run to put the Cobras up 20-0 early in the fourth quarter.

Beckman scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Offerman to Trenton Koelker on its next drive, but the Cobras recovered the onside kick. On the first play from scrimmage, S. Sieren busted off a 49-yard touchdown run to put the game on ice.

'I saw an opening, and the line did a good job,” S. Sieren said. 'I made a cut and went with it.”

S. Sieren scored his fourth touchdown of the game after Beckman went 3-and-out inside its own 15-yard line. The Blazers put one more touchdown on the board with just 19 seconds left on another touchdown catch by Koelker.

S. Sieren ended the day with 35 carries for 225 yards and four touchdowns. Molyneux ran for 50 yards and also went 2-for-3 passing the ball for 30 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Colten Clarahan led the defensewith eight tackles on the night. SK won the turnover battle 3-1.

SK (9-0) is now one win away from a trip to the UNI-Dome. The Cobras will host No. 10 Columbus Catholic (8-1) next Friday for a spot in the Final 4.