Published: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 12:13 AM CDT

HURLEY — Missed opportunities.That was the phrase that Marion Bears’ head coach Todd Obele had to say about his team coming up short Tuesday night against the Viborg-Hurley Cougars.

On the first drive of the game, the Bears methodically moved the ball into scoring position, but ended up coming up just short on a 4th down inside the Cougars’ five yard line and came up with no points on a drive that lasted for nearly half of the first quarter.

After that, it was all Viborg-Hurley who went on to defeat Marion 64-14.

“Sometimes things like that happen, and football is a game of inches,”  Obele said. “Punching it in there would have given us a boost, but we came back and scored on the next drive.”

Viborg-Hurley head coach Erik Sommervold said that stop gave the team momentum they used to carry them the rest of the game.

“That stop there right at the beginning set the tone for us for the rest of the game,” he said. “They drove the ball on us and ate up a lot of time but we were able to stop them and score relatively quickly after that.”Sommervold added that the win is bittersweet for him.

“It’s step one in the process that hopefully continues, but it’s still a big deal,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve been a head coach and been in the playoffs, so it’s my first playoff win as a head coach.”

The Cougars were paced by senior Tyler Gerdes who had nine carries for 142 yards and a touchdown. Junior Jack Huether was 6 for 9 passing the ball for 254 yards and three touchdowns, and added a pair of rushing touchdowns and recorded a team high 15 tackles for the Cougars on defense. Trevor Jacobsen caught two passes for the Cougars for 134 yards — both went for touchdowns. He also added four carries for 43 yards and another touchdown.

“We knew coming into the game that we had to be physical and that we were going up against a big team that was going to try to run it down our throats, and they did a pretty good job of that,” Sommervold said. “However, when push came to shove we made enough plays and we made some big plays as well.”

Obele knew his team had to be aggressive coming into the game in order to stay with the Cougars.

“Our game plan coming in was to be aggressive, and we had to be to stay with them. I thought we moved the ball well but had too many mistakes and turnovers,” he said. “Defensively we made some mistakes on the outside, where we had to keep them inside.”

After Viborg-Hurley led 8-0 after the first quarter, Marion came back to tie it, but after that it was all Viborg-Hurley. They would lead the Bears 28-8 at halftime and only poured it on after the intermission. The Cougars led 50-14 after three before they ended up mercy ruling Marion to end the game early in the 4th with a final score of 64-14.

“When push came to shove, we made enough plays and we made some big plays,” Sommervold said. “For the next round we need to continue to improve our toughness and defense; they moved the ball a bit too much on us tonight. We need to create some more turnovers and continue to take care of the football.”

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