PINE RIDGE - The Bennett County Warriors recovered from two early fumbles to blast Red Cloud 41-0 in a high school football game at Coach Bob Clifford Field on Friday.

The Warriors fumbled away the ball on their first two possessions, before scoring on their next four, to take a 27-0 lead into the half. The Warriors' Clint Sasse racked up over 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and also turned a short pass in the right flat into a 40-yard touchdown in the first half to help the Warriors to a big halftime lead.

"Our strength and the run game really got it done for us today," Bennett County head coach Jeff Krolikowski said. "Our offensive line deserves the biggest credit, they just cleared holes for us all day long."

The Warriors used a massive size advantage to grind the Crusaders down at the point of attack and spring skill players like Sasse, D.J. Toczek, Shelby Claussen, Grant Strain, Austin Haynes and Ryan Risse throughout the day.

"I was a little surprised," Red Cloud head coach Jeremy Ferguson said. "We returned four starters on the offensive line and I thought we'd be able to meet their intensity up front a little better. We couldn't do that, though, and when you get beat up front you're going to get beat, period."

The Crusaders looked like they might be able to keep the game close early, but their offense just never could manage to get in a groove. Red Cloud was forced to punt four times in the first half and also had two passes intercepted.

"We're young everywhere but on the line," Ferguson said. "Experience is the only thing that is going to make us better. They (Bennett County) have the experience right now and it showed. I told the boys that we've got seven games left and come playoff time we'll be all right."

The Warriors scored their first touchdown on a 15-yard run by Sasse, which was set up by a great catch on a ball from Haynes to Strain. The pass play covered 34 yards and Sasse burst up the middle for the game's first score on the next play.

The Warriors came back and forced the Crusaders into a three downs and out series to set up another Sasse touchdown run, this time from 14 yards out. Bennett County nose tackle Pat Rous, who wreaked havoc on the Crusader offense all game long, blocked a Crusader punt on the next possession to set up Sasse's third score of the half on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Haynes.

The Warriors wrapped up their first-half scoring on a Toczek 5-yard run with 2:14 to play after Nick Kaltenbach picked off a Crusader pass at the 17-yard line.

"Our defense was really solid," Krolikowski said. "They showed some good hitting, they moved to the ball well and did a good job of playing their responsibilities."

The Warriors scored two more touchdowns in the second half on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Haynes to Strain and a 1-yard run by Lincoln Whirlwind Horse.

The Warriors (2-0 overall) will play St. Francis next week on the road, while Red Cloud (0-1) will take on arch-rival Pine Ridge on Friday.