Argus Leader

Second half fuels Sioux Falls Christian

Not every athlete can be LeBron James or Megan Rapinoe. Remember Michael Jordan’s comment about Republican­s buying shoes? There’s a long history of athletes putting as much space as possible between themselves and controvers­y, and what Caitlin Clark and Patrick Mahomes did this week was no different.

Asked about the presidenti­al election Wednesday and who they might be supporting, both Clark and Mahomes dodged the question and instead found a safe space in encouragin­g people to register and to vote.

“It’s more than nothing, but it doesn’t put them on the front lines of the discussion,” said David Niven, an associate professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati who teaches a course on sports and politics.

“If you look at all this by the LeBron James standard, somebody who could not have been more outspoken … this looks like a little bit of a retreat,” Niven said. “If you look at it by Derek Jeter and Michael Jordan’s standards, you’d say there’s still an awful lot of political activism out there.”

Athlete involvemen­t in politics is taken for granted these days. James appeared beside Hillary Clinton in 2016 and four years ago helped launch a group dedicated to safeguardi­ng voting rights for Black Americans. Rapinoe was an early endorser of Joe Biden, even jokingly offering to be his running mate.

Heading into Friday night’s 11A clash between No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian and No. 3 Lennox, supporters of both teams probably expected some offensive fireworks. The Chargers scored 41 points against Rapid City Christian last week while the Orioles hung 52 points on the board in their Week 2 win over Custer.

That’s not exactly how Friday night’s game went, though.

Instead, it was more of a defensive slog that ended in a 19-8 Sioux Falls Christian win. The first touchdown, a 1-yard rush by Lennox’s Tate Gerdes didn’t come until halfway through the second quarter, and it was the only touchdown of the first half.

There were only two more touchdowns and a school-record 41-yard field goal from junior Dawson Unruh scored in the entire game. Both touchdowns were scored by Chargers senior Brayden Witte.

“It was a challenge for us,” Sioux Falls Christian senior Cole Snyder said of the matchup against Lennox. “...They’re a really good team, really physical. That was a good challenge for us.”

Here are a few takeaways from Sioux Falls Christian’s third win of the season.

Renewed intensity after halftime

You could sense the Chargers’ frustratio­n reaching a boiling point at the end of the first half. They clearly weren’t happy with how they played. Lennox had scored the first touchdown of the game and were dominating offensivel­y. On the other side, Sioux Falls Christian couldn’t get anything going offensivel­y.

Chargers’ coach Jared Smith said his team was “frazzled,” perhaps not prepared for the level of physicalit­y Lennox played with. They’d watched the Orioles on film but because of the level of competitio­n Lennox had faced through the first two weeks, Sioux Falls Christian wasn’t sure how different this iteration of the Orioles would look compared to last year, when the Chargers beat them 42-14.

Sioux Falls Christian was stunned by how quickly Lennox ran the ball down the field. Smith said they had different players going the wrong direction on certain play calls on more than one occasion in the first half. He said that shock likely spread to the offense, contributi­ng to their lackluster first-half performanc­e.

During halftime, the entire Sioux Falls Christian team gathered in the end zone closest to the Lennox scoreboard.

“We just said, ‘Hey, we’ve taken their best shot, and it’s 8-0. Let’s settle in here,’” Sioux Falls Christian football coach Jared Smith told his team. “‘Let’s realize these guys are really good, it’s a really good team, (but) we’re really good too, and we just have to play them and respect this opponent like they are.’”

After that, it was clear the coaching staff ’s message had gotten through. The Chargers defense was suddenly flying and getting the results they wanted. Sioux Falls Christian forced a safety on Lennox’s first drive of the game and looked like a completely different group in the second half.

Getting Lennox to punt

The high-powered Lennox offense plays an unconventi­onal style, frequently going for it on fourth down and refusing to take field goals. Up until this game, the Orioles hadn’t punted a single time, giving the Sioux Falls Christian defensive coordinato­r a unique goal for this week: get Lennox to punt.