Rushmore Bowl enters a new era

By Jim Holland, Journal Sports Writer | Friday, September 08, 2006

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RAPID CITY -- A new era in Rapid City and Black Hills sports begins at this Saturday's 14th-annual Rushmore Bowl.

O'Harra Stadium's speedy new synthetic Dunham Field turf and new multi-media scoreboard will be christened by the three local football teams that call the unique drive-in sports venue home.

And this year, for the first time, a Rushmore Bowl ticket is a three-fer deal for football fans.

The action starts with a High Noon showdown between the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers and Haskell Indian Nations University Indians of Lawrence, Kan., in a non-conference college football tilt.

Prep teams from the Greater Dakota Conference take over at 4 p.m., when Rapid City Stevens faces Spearfish, followed by the Rapid City Central-Sturgis clash at 7 p.m.

Both Mines and Haskell are coming off tough season-opening road outings. Mines suffered a 63-6 shellacking at the hands of Southwest Minnesota State on Aug. 31, and Haskell bowed to Peru State of Nebraska 27-6 on Aug. 26.

Mines head coach Dan Kratzer said his young freshmen- and sophomore-laden team should be on equal footing with Haskell, which downed Mines 12-6 last year.

"They've got a young football team with some good skill people, and we're a young team with some pretty good skill people, so it should be a good match-up," he said.

"It's good to open up in front of the home crowd in a new facility," said Kratzer, starting his second year at the helm for the Hardrockers.

Kratzer said the recently completed all-weather field turf is still a little soft. The Hardrockers have been practicing on the new surface this week.

"It's going to take awhile for the rubber particles to settle down into the grass, so it'll take some getting used to. But this is going to be a great thing for our program," he said.

"We've got a first class field and facility, and now we're going to try to install a first-class football program on that field."

Rapid City Stevens, also retooling under new head coach Paul Miller, hopes to shrug off losses to Watertown and Sturgis.

"I thought our kids made a vast improvement from week 1 to week 2," said Miller after the Sturgis game last week. "We've got to make sure we continue to make the same improvements week to week."

Junior tailback Cole Benne sparked the Raider offense with 92 yards, all but 13 in the second half, and two rushing touchdowns against the Scoopers.

Spearfish is also looking for its first win after opening with losses to Brookings and Central.

Spartan coach Chuck Syverson will be experiencing his first Rushmore Bowl atmosphere.

"I haven't been there before so I really don't know what to expect," he said. "We'll need to overlook the hype and hoopla and prepare for it like it was a regular game.

"It's a game we need to win to get back on track to where we want to be," he said.

Central used a tenacious defensive effort to hold Spearfish to 140 yards of total offense, prevailing 21-0 in spite of being without starting quarterback Brandon Gorsuch and running back Dustin McCabe. Gorsuch, a senior, is lost for the year with a torn ACL, and McCabe is day-to-day also with a leg injury.

New starting quarterback Zach Wald, receiver Allan Schmaltz and a host of running backs filled the offensive bill nicely for the Cobblers.

"I thought offensively we moved the football quite well. We had the football inside the red zone three or four times and didn't score. We've got to take care of business and get some points on the board," said Svendsen.

"We need to cut down on turnovers and work on our consistency," Syverson said. "We'd get five- or six-yards on a first down, then we'd fall back into a third and long situation and that's what we need to avoid."

"Our running game didn't actually look too bad, but our passing game isn't where we'd like it to be yet," he said.

Sturgis coach Adolph Shepardson's biggest challenge may be to reel in his sky-high Scoopers after their emotional win last Friday night at Woodle Field.

Shepardson said after the 22-20 victory that he would give his team just a little time to savor the win, and then it would be back to business to prepare for Central.

"It's going to be another hard-nosed football game with Central. They've got a good team this year. We've got to be ready to go," Shepardson said.

Ben Wardell keyed the Scoopers, scoring on a six-yard plunge and also running back an interception for a TD. Sturgis also dipped into the razzle-dazzle playbook a bit, scoring on their first play from scrimmage.

Quarterback Tyler Jensen pitched back to Clint Duprel, who tossed to a wide-open Ryan Russell for a 73-yard touchdown.

"There's no doubting that they (Scoopers) are big up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage. We've got to be able to neutralize that line to win this game," Svendsen said.

"They've got the momentum and the belief," he said.

Proceeds from the annual event are split among all student activities at Central and Stevens High Schools. Midcontinent Communications, premier Rushmore Bowl sponsor for the second consecutive year, announced that 1976 Heisman Trophy winner and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett will participate, meeting the teams in their locker rooms, officiating the coin toss at the two high school games and presenting awards.

And Kratzer isn't about to overlook an opportunity for the Mines football program to benefit as well.

"It's a fun thing and a great atmosphere," he said. "It gives us a chance as coaches to see the local talent from Rapid City Central, Stevens, Spearfish and Sturgis and do a little recruiting right after our football game."

Svendsen said the hoopla and the new surface should be a plus for his team, not a distraction.

"It's a fast surface and it suits our football team," he said.

"Rapid City does a great job of promoting these games. There should be 8,000 people there and it's a great, festive atmosphere for football. Our kids love to play in it," he said.