WATERTOWN — The Huron Tigers football team saw its season come to an end Thursday night, as the No. 2 seeded Watertown Arrows scored on four of their first five possessions in the game, and coasted into the Class 11AA semifinals with a 35-0 win over the Tigers at Watertown Stadium.

Huron’s season ends with a record of 4-6, while Watertown, now 8-2, will move into the semifinals next week, when it will host Brookings, which downed Tea Area 23-13 in another quarterfinal match up.

“We knew that they were big and strong and we needed to come out strong,” said Dru Strand, the Huron Tiger head coach. “Unfortunately, we got down quickly, I think the nerves kind of got us and we didn’t have a good response. We played hard, but those big plays really hurt us tonight.”

Big plays were the story for Watertown as the Arrows shot out of the gate quickly, when 6-foot, 1-inch senior running back Spencer Wientjes took a handoff on third and one and broke through the line, setting sail on a 47-yard touchdown run with just over a minute and a half off the clock.

The Tigers looked solid on their first possession, as Landon Hulst gashed the Arrows defense for runs of five and six yards, while quarterback Colt McNeil also found open space and moved the chains with his legs.

Two quick first downs quickly moved the Tigers into Watertown territory, as Huron converted a pair of fourth down plays on the drive. But a loss on a third-and-three run forced Huron into a passing situation and McNeil’s pass was tipped away at the last second and Huron turned it over on downs.

If Watertown’s first drive was concise, its second was meteoric, as backup quarterback Markus Pitkin, playing after starter Treyton Himmerich was injured in the previous week’s season finale, lofted a pass down the left sideline, and Arrow receiver Mitch Olson out jumped the Tiger defender and then danced into the endzone with a 67-yard pitch and catch touchdown.

Huron went three-and-out on its next possession as the large Arrow front line began to assert itself, and the Tigers kicked it back to Watertown, who took over on the 37-yard line.

Pitkin ran for 18 yards on the first play, pinballing off Tiger tacklers, and then Huron saw 15 yards tacked on for a facemask penalty. Now at the Huron 30 yard line, the Arrows concentrated on running the ball. Pitkin did toss a 17-yard pass to Nathan Briggs to set up a first-and-goal and the Arrows quarterback punched it in from there.

Huron again went three and out, but Watertown gave the ball back on a fumble by Wientjes on its second play and Huron’s Oakley Anderson recovered.

A first down moved Huron close to midfield but the drive stalled and Anderson Porisch launched a tremendous punt that rolled one time too many, setting up Watertown with a touchback instead of being in the shadow of its endzone.

On the first play, Wientjes looked to push his way through the middle of the line, but was blocked, so he jumped outside to the right side and outran the Tigers defense for an 80-yard run.

When Riley Fischer kicked his fourth successful point after, Watertown took a 28-0 lead to the halftime break.

The teams exchanged three-and-outs on their respective first possessions of the second half, and after another Porisch punt bomb, Watertown took over at its own 30-yard line. Two short runs set up at third-and-three, when Pitken hit Olson in stride on a post pattern and 63 yard later, the Arrow receiver celebrated his second touchdown catch of the game and with the extra point the Arrows moved to a 35-0 lead, enacting the running clock.

Huron moved the ball well on its next possession, as Hulst again began to find space to run. A short run by Mason Jurgens on first down resulted in a loss, but the Arrows were flagged for a facemask penalty and Huron got a first down at the Watertown 40-yard line as the third quarter ended.

The Tigers attempted to dial long distance for Blake Ellwein to open the fourth quarter, but Briggs managed to cut in front of the tall Huron receiver and returned it to the Watertown 39.
Watertown, playing its second string offense, failed to move the ball, but benefitted from a fortuitous roll on the punt and Huron took over at its own five yard line as the clock rolled past the six minute mark.

The Tigers forged two first downs, but the drive stalled and the Arrows took over on downs and ran out the clock for the win.

Hulst ended the game with 78 yards on 24 carries as he was the Tiger workhorse in the game. McNeil ran for eight yards and was 10/24 through the air for 54 yards and one interception, while Porisch completed a pass to Ellwein for 24 yards.

Weintjes led the Arrows with a gaudy 137 yards on four carries. Pitkin had six carries for 33 yards and ended the game 5 of 7 through the air for 165 yards.

“We are losing some solid seniors who have been the backbone of this program for the past couple years,” said Strand. “They did a great job working with all of the younger players that we were able to play this year, so all of those kids are going to come back with some experience and hopefully remember this and it motivates them this off season.”

Huron 0 0 0 0 — 0
Watertown 14 14 7 0 — 35

Scoring summary

2nd quarter
WAT — 11:55 - Pitkin, 2-yard run. Fischer PAT.
WAT — 6:17 - Wientjes, 80-yard run. Fischer PAT.

3rd quarter
WAT — 4:30 - Olson, 63-yard pass from Pitkin. Fischer PAT

4th quarter
No scoring