Little Wound’s Tyrone Pourier (10) gets ready to wrap up Red Cloud's Jesse Jensen (11).

Little Wound Mustangs dominate second half to defeat Red Cloud Crusaders
Yellow flags fly against both teams
By James Giago Davies
Native Sun News Correspondent

PINE RIDGE — “We knew it was going to be an ugly game,” Little Wound Head Coach Russell Childree said after his visiting Mustangs stormed from behind, to defeat Pine Ridge rival the Red Cloud Crusaders, 34-14, Friday afternoon at Bob Clifford Athletic Field. “We came out playing ugly, but we knew we were going to fight and grind it out, and that’s what we did.”

Penalty flags flew on almost every play, so many that the coaching staffs from the sideline were yelling, “Throw it! Throw it!” because they could see the violation before the ball was even snapped. Despite the penalties, the game was exciting, and when flags didn’t fly, well played in the trenches and on big plays.

A moderate breeze under blue skies made for ideal football conditions but the start of the game was far from ideal for the Mustangs. Returning from a six week hiatus due to a severe concussion, quarterback Jeremiah Hopkins was heads up enough to recover his own fumble after a 2 yard keeper, but on third and eight from his 39 yard line, the 6-4, 200 lbs senior threw an interception to Red Cloud’s dependable Jesse Jensen, and the 5-9, 150 lbs freshman gave Red Cloud 1-and-10 from their own 33.

Then came 5 penalties in 6 plays with the end result being a Crusader punt which was touched by the Mustangs, and recovered by Red Cloud on their own 45. Putting together a drive marred by only one false start, the Crusaders scored the first points of the afternoon on a 2 yard keeper from senior QB Terrell Pulliam. Freshman Garret Clifford ran the 2 point conversion in, and Red Cloud led 8-0, with 1:59 left in the opening quarter.

The Mustangs would answer back just 14 seconds later. Tight coverage forced senior Shilo Tallman to run the kickoff back down along the left sideline. Seemingly boxed in and stopped several times, Tallman somehow bounced off and broke through a half dozen tackles, finally scampering free to daylight, and a momentum altering touchdown. The 2 point conversion attempt failed and Red Cloud now lead 8-6, with 1:45 remaining in the first quarter.

Little Wound's Jeremiah Hopkins (2) handling the high snap from center Gabe Pulliam-Sanchez (69).

Despite extremely sloppy play, Little Wound had served notice this was going to be the close fought contest everybody was expecting.

The second quarter opened with Pulliam getting sacked on 3-and-20 by the Mustangs’ rough and tumble sophomore linebacker, Buzz Phelps. Intense Crusader gang tackling forced Little Wound into a 3-and-17 where Hopkins was promptly sacked by Deveon Provost and Manuel Yellow Horse.

Penalty flags returned for Red Cloud’s next possession, forcing Pulliam to pass from a 3-and-20 situation, which predictably ended badly, Tallman intercepting the pass on an explosive dead run in the opposite direction, allowing him to be 15 yards up field before he broke the first of several Crusader tackles, and romped over sixty yards for the go-ahead TD.

Workhorse back William Flying Earth ran the ball in for 2 points and the Mustangs were on top 12-8, with 5:59 remaining in the half.

On the next possession, Tallman’s return of Justin Mesteth’s punt ended with a late hit penalty. This gave the Mustangs 1-and-10 on the Red Cloud 39 yard line. Six plays later, half of them penalty flagged, sophomore lineman Kobe Morrisette recovered a Mustang fumble for Red Cloud at the Mustang yard line. Pulliam then completed a first down pass to Mesteth and the wrecking ball fullback rumbled down to the Mustang 27. Five plays later, senior Ale Rama broke free from the defensive coverage of Tyrone Pourier, and caught a wide open lob pass from Pulliam in the end zone. The 2 point conversion failed, and Red Cloud went into the halftime locker room leading 14-12.

The second half would prove to be an entirely different football game.

Jensen fumbled the kickoff, and Little Wound took over deep in Crusader territory. The Mustangs could do nothing with the ball, and turned it over on downs after five plays.

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Following two incompletions by the Crusaders, Childree yelled at his charges: “Linebackers get ready for the slant!” They must have heard him because they broke the pass up and the dangerous Tallman brought the punt back, which ended in a personal foul penalty for a late hit. This gave Little Wound 1-and-10 exactly at midfield, which they turned into 3-and-8 from the 48, forcing Childree to call a time out. The result was an incomplete pass on fourth down and the Red Cloud took over on downs.

Red Cloud Head Coach Tama I’atala decided to keep the ball on the ground, letting the size and strength of Mesteth and Provost pound it up the middle, this eventually left Yellow Horse open for a 12 yard pass from Pulliam, for 1-and-10 at the Mustang 26. Four plays later, facing a 3-and-17, the crusaders got a roughing the passer penalty and an automatic first down at the Mustang 17 yard line.

The Crusaders immediately turned it into 1-and-15 with a false start penalty.

“Damn it! Listen in the huddle!”— came the rebuke from the Crusader bench.

Things were starting to fall apart for Red Cloud. Provost lost 2 yards. The Crusaders were called for delay of game, and Tallman ended the ill-fated possession with a spectacular leaping interception at the 14 yard line.

With 8:35 remaining in the game, Hopkins took the snap at 4-and-12 from his 22, and connected with Pourier for what seemed a touchdown, but Pourier fumbled the ball away, but recovered it for the go-ahead score. Flying earth scored the 2 point conversion, and Little Wound finally led 20-14.

The kickoff was a touchback which gave Red Cloud 1-and-10 from their 20. Pulliam promptly though an interception to Flying Earth. Jensen just as promptly snatched the ball away from Old Horse getting the ball back for Red Cloud. But the Crusaders fumbled the ball away to Mustang linebacker Dave McBride three plays later, and on the next play Tallman bolted for 18 yards down to the 6 yard line. He scored on the next play, Flying Earth also scored on the 2 point conversion, and the Mustangs led 28-14, with 6:17 left to play.

Fired up, Hopkins drilled the kickoff deep into the Crusader end zone. The Mustangs stayed fired up, forcing a 4-and-6 from the Crusaders at their 15 yard line. This ended in a Pourier interception. Tallman swept right on the next play, carrying tacklers into the endzone. The 2 point conversion was no good, and Little Wound was in complete control with a 34-14 lead, 4:30 left to play.

The game ended on a blocked punt, the kicker obviously roughed on the play, but no flag flew, mercifully, because they could have piled up high as a mountain at that point.

Childree said staying focused and grinding it out was “what helped the team to pull away in the second half.”

“We just started playing the kind of football we are capable of,” Childree said. “And we played as a team.”

Ironic that focus won a game so marred by lack of focus, but the Mustangs focused when it mattered most, with big interceptions, special team scoring, and hard tackling, particularly by the 5-10, 170 lbs Phelps who seemed to be at the center of every inside stoppage.

Tallman was clearly the player of the game, perhaps the best Indian ballplayer in the state, and Childree described him as “a warrior out there.”

Childree was especially praise worthy of his line play, particularly on offense, explaining why Tallman romped so dominantly in the second half: “The line opened up big holes in the second half and helped him get those yards.”

Although not overly impressive, quarterback Hopkins held together through the shaky first half and kept the momentum churning in the second half. “He was rusty,” Childress said. “But he played a gritty game, threw a huge touchdown to Tyrone (Pourier).”

Next week the Mustangs travel to Pine Ridge to take on the winless Thorpes. The Crusaders, coming off two disappointing losses to Bennett County and Little Wound, travel to winless Crow Creek.

Commenting on his playoff prospects, Childree said, “It’s still very much in the air. We have to get the win next week, and see where we go from there.”

(James Giago Davies can be reached at skindiesel@msn.com)

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