Brookings took the air out of the stadium and the win out of Aberdeen Central’s grasp with an 8-7 victory Friday night at the Gene Brownell Activities Complex.

Central, coming off a Week 2 loss to Tea in which the Golden Eagles had trouble stopping the ball, was putting together a tough defensive showing against the fifth-rated Bobcats, battling through three scoreless quarters.

But on Central’s second drive of the third quarter, sophomore quarterback Brenner Waldrop took a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked him out of the game and the proverbial wind out of the facility.

“I hope he’s OK,” said an emotional Cordel Rychlik after the game. “As a team, we need to come together for him and be there for him. I know he took this loss just as hard as all of us. Just hope he’s OK.”

Waldrop was taken off the field by medics, though Central head coach Justin Briese noted that Waldrop did have feeling in his extremities.

“It’s tough,” Briese said. “The team, they understand when the cart comes on the field, that’s not a good thing. They know things aren’t in a good situation. He did have all kinds of feeling everywhere, it’s just more of a precaution to make sure everything was good.”

While that drive ended in a punt, Central was able to rally on the defensive side of the ball, as Rychlik picked off Brookings quarterback Gavin Anderson on the first play of the fourth quarter, returning the ball 30 yards for the game’s first score.

And there the score might have stayed, as the Golden Eagle defense maintained its stalwart stand for most of the remainder of the game.

Most. All but the final 25 seconds of play.

That’s when Anderson, facing a long field with time winding down, found a wide open Bergan Tetzlaff for a 67-yard touchdown with 23.7 seconds remaining. Anderson then poked a pass over the top to Tetzlaff again for the 2-point conversion, all but sealing the win.

“It’s hard,” Briese said. “When the defense plays lights out like we did minus 23 seconds or so, it just puts a little more pressure on the offense to put some more points on the board and make some more things happen. We’ve got players to do it, it’s just a matter of getting the right matchups.”

Rychlik, despite his pick-six to put the Golden Eagles on the board, was hard on himself after the game.

“Stings pretty bad,” he said. “I made the wrong call on defense on the last play when they scored a touchdown. I missed a tackle. That 2-point conversion, I was man on (Tetzlaff). I got too worried about myself and went to the running back. I’m going to take that on me.”

Still, the Golden Eagle defense made the night mostly miserable for Anderson, sacking him five times and applying pressure up the middle on multiple other plays. Anderson finished his night 5-for-19 with the interception. Three of those five completions, however, went for 20-plus yards.

“We just need to work on the small things,” Rychlik said. “The small things hurt us in the long run and cost a big play and a 2-point conversion. We just need to do our job, hit the holes, wrap up and tackle and be physical. That’s all we need to do, and we’ll be locked in the rest of the season.”

Offensively, the Golden Eagles relied heavily on Ridley Waldo, who carried the ball 24 times for 56 yards. Colby Dauwen had a 16 yard carry on a fake punt in the fourth quarter that went for a first down.

Waldrop finished his night going 5-for-18 for 39 yards. He also had three carries for 13 yards. Dauwen caught three passes for 25 yards, while Karson Borge also had three catches for 29 yards.

Central (0-3) will host Spearfish next Friday in its homecoming contest.

“Losing sucks, but it also gives us an opportunity to grow,” Briese said, “both as individuals and as a team. Find out where we need to get better and see those spots where we do have something good going on.”

Aberdeen Central 0 0 0 7 – 7

Brookings 0 0 0 8 – 8

First quarter

No scoring.

Second quarter

No scoring.

Third quarter

No scoring.

Fourth quarter

AC – Cordel Rychlik 30 interception return (Joey Dallman kick, 11:52.

BRO – Bergan Tetzlaff 67 pass from Gavin Anderson (Tetzlaff pass from Anderson), 0:23.

OFFENSE: Brookings, rushing 36-93 (Will Conrad 19-59, Mason Mathis 4-14, Gavin Anderson 10-10); passing 5-19-1 for 133 (Anderson); receiving (Tetzlaff 2-70, LaVonte Carter 2-36); Aberdeen Central, rushing 35-68 (Ridley Waldo 24-56, Brenner Waldrop 3-13); passing 7-22-0 for 57 (Waldrop 5-18-0 for 39, Brayden Bowman 2-4-0 for 18).

DEFENSE: Brookings, Jonas Huntimer fumble recovery; Aberdeen Central Cordyl Richlik 1 int., Felipe Gonzalez 1 sack, Jack Bertsch 1 sack, Jacob Weishaar 1 sack, Caden Shatto 1 sack.