Stanton’s season ends with second round loss to Glidden-Ralston

GLIDDEN — Stanton’s football season ended Monday night when they lost to the Glidden-Ralston Wildcats in the second round of the eight-man state playoffs at Glidden, 42-14.
“I felt like we were playing a really good team in Glidden-Ralston,” Vikings Head Coach Don Hicks said. “It was a game we knew we’d have to play our very best to take them and I don’t think we played our very best, but I still thought our kids gave really great effort.”
The Vikings managed only seven first downs and 165 yards rushing the entire evening.  It’s Stanton’s first game with less than 200 yards rushing since their 34-16 loss to Fremont-Mills Oct. 1. In that game, the Vikings rushed for a season low 119 yards. Stanton’s 14 points against the Wildcats are also the lowest since the game against Fremont-Mills.
“Their size was without question, probably the difference,” Hicks said about the Wildcats. “We had to pass a lot more than we wanted to.”
Tyler Walter led the Stanton rushers with 43 yards on two carries with one touchdown. Quarterback Tyler Havrum had the other touchdown for the Vikings, as he finished the night with 14 carries for 30 yards.
Glidden-Ralston rushed for 256 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Mitchell Lensch rushed for two of those scores, while Wade Hoyle led the team with 90 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown for the Wildcats.
Stanton’s Brent Hanson and Greg Focht led in receiving yards, combining for 73 yards on 10 receptions. Jeff Marshall was the leading passer for Stanton, completing four passes for 39 yards.
Walter led the Vikings in total tackles with 17, while Austin Bechtold led in solo tackles with seven.
Both teams have played each other in the past couple of seasons, in Substate and the playoffs. Stanton won both of those games at home, winning 32-6 last year and 70-14 in 2008.
The Vikings finished the season with an 8-3 record and the loss snaps a four-game winning streak.
Glidden-Ralston lost their quarterfinal match to Fremont-Mills Friday night in overtime, 20-14.
Stanton will lose several seniors from this year’s squad, including Bryce Allen, Bryton Thoren Shayne Larson, Jason Clemens, John Mainquist and Matt Straight.
“We’re going to miss the leadership, but we have a really strong junior class that’s going to have to fill in those roles,” Hicks said.