Warriors Win Back-to-Back Games
By Zach Throne
Following a 2-1 start to the 2020 football season, Waldorf faced a tough matchup in Madison, South Dakota with Dakota State and then a rubber match at home against the Comets of Mayville State.
The Warriors won with a comeback effort against the Trojans on the road 20-14 and pulled away in the second half against Mayville State 55-21.
In the first half against Dakota State, the offense struggled to get things rolling. It had just 107 yards of offense at halftime and trailed 14-3. The defense was mostly lights out, besides a busted coverage on a 4th-and-16 touchdown pass by the Trojans from the Warrior 30 yard line.
After a turnover to start the second half, the Waldorf coaching staff made a change at QB by inserting junior Tyler O’Hara into a game facing a deficit against a good Dakota State defense.
O’Hara led a charge to get the Warriors the lead after a 14-play touchdown drive that was capped off by a reversing-field run by Jatoviay Hill from 6 yards out.
After yet another stop by the Waldorf defense, the offense took advantage of a short field, Hill made another great play in the backfield to dodge a couple defenders and score from 18 yards out to take the lead 17-14.
The Warriors defense halted the Trojan offense the whole second half, which led to the second Slater Gifford field goal and then offense gaining a couple first downs to ice the game to win 20-14.
“We do not usually win those games,” said former quarterback and now wide receivers coach Hilton Joseph. “That game had us up against the wall, and we responded massively to win.”
Following the emotional comeback win, the Warriors stayed in Forest City the next week to take on Mayville State.
Coach Finley slated O’Hara to make his first college start.
The first half, although the Warriors led 28-21 at half, was not the prettiest football from Waldorf. The Comets had a great offense, but the Warriors gave up a scoop-and-score touchdown along with a couple other first half turnovers.
Aside from two huge plays from Ryan Martinez (92-yard TD catch) and Hill (60-yard TD run) the offense struggled to get out of their own way.
“I challenged the skill guys at halftime to come back and play a better second half,” said offensive coordinator Brody Rohach, “and that is exactly what they did.”
The Warriors defense clamped down even harder while the offense kept scoring points, leading to a 55-21 victory.
“It felt good to play a much more complete half of football in both of these last two games,” said O’Hara, “but we have to play a full game to win these next two weeks.”
Sitting at 4-1, the Waldorf football team faces a big game on Homecoming against the team that forced their only loss of the season: Valley City State (3-1 NSAA).