Another classic physical matchup between Aberdeen Roncalli and Deuel took place in the home opener for the Cavaliers Friday night at Dacotah Bank Stadium.

Two big plays from Deuel couldn’t stop the Cavaliers from putting up 21 points on the way to a 21-12 Northeast Conference football victory over the Cardinals.

“Deuel’s explosive. They got some really good players on that side of the ball, probably one of the best, if not the best running back we’ll see all year.” said Cavalier head coach Billy Young referring to Gavin Kloos. “And number four (Gabe Sather) is a really good receiver. He gave us a lot of problems last year. That was our goal was to limit the damage those guys did.”

Although the Cavaliers allowed two touchdown runs of 49 and 63 yards to Kloos, the defense produced four turnovers, one blocked extra point, and another interception on a two-point conversion.

The Cavaliers were led defensively by sophomore Luke Kaiser who accounted for two forced fumbles, one of which he recovered, and an interception he returned one-yard short of being a pick six.

“It was a whole defensive effort, and everybody did their job,” Kaiser said. “That’s why we got those turnovers.”

Roncalli bounced back on the offensive side. After being shut out in their first game, the Cavaliers put up 301 yards of total offense moving the chains 13 times. A huge reason for that: a change in scheme.

“Last week, we couldn’t get out of our own way offensively,” Young said. “We finally found something that worked. You know, we played around with multiple different offenses and schemes, and tried to find something to fit our kids. And we finally found something, and it clicked.”

In the first half, the Cavaliers ran more of a Wing-T offense with a lot of misdirection. The second half, the Cavaliers stretched the field and found more success, which was actually their backup plan heading into the contest.

“It wasn’t what we went into the game planning to do. We had the spread stuff kind of as a backup plan,” Young said. “When we kind of sputtered out of the gate, we’re like let’s try it and see, and it worked.”

The catalyst behind much of the offensive success was senior quarterback Aiden Fisher, accounting for 168 yards on the ground, and 80 through the air, much of which came in the second half.

“First half, our line was doing good. I just couldn’t find any holes,” said Fisher. “Second half, the linemen really stepped up and helped me get those runs. All the credit goes to the linemen.”

The offensive linemen were giving Fisher huge gaps to run through, and Fisher’s ability to make defenders miss in open space helped him pull off some huge runs.

“My first big run I was like ‘Oh my gosh, there’s just like a big space’,” said Fisher. “I was like ‘What do I do?’ But yeah, all credit goes to the linemen.”

Fisher finished the game with two rushing touchdowns, one passing TD (to James Behan with 11 seconds left in the opening half), and three PAT kicks.

At times throughout the game, Deuel had momentum. Coming out of halftime, Deuel scored on the first play of the third quarter on a Gavin Kloos 63-yard run to put the Cardinals up 12-7. On the following kickoff, the ball ricocheted off a Cavalier on the front line and Deuel pounced on the ball.

“First play out of the box they popped that long run on us and then they drilled us with the kickoff,” said Young. “So, you couldn’t plan a worse start if you tried.”

But the Cavalier defense didn’t shy away from the challenge, showing its resilience forcing a 3-and-out on the following drive.

“But I’ve been telling people all week, and I’ve told our team, this is one of the most resilient groups of kids I’ve ever been around in 25 years. They just don’t quit, and they find a way to get back in it,” Young said. “I think they believe as long as there’s a second left on the scoreboard, they still have a chance.”

The Cavaliers eventually took control on offense, scoring the final 14 points of the game to record the victory.

Roncalli will take on Mobridge-Pollock on Friday for homecoming. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Dacotah Bank Stadium.

Deuel (1-2) 0 6 6 0 – 12

Aberdeen Roncalli (1-1) 0 7 7 7 – 21

Second Quarter

D – Gavin Kloos 49 run (kick blocked), 11:14.

AR – James Behan 2 pass from Aiden Fisher (Fisher kick), :11.

Third Quarter

D – Kloos 63 run (pass failed), 11:46.

AR – Fisher 25 run (Fisher kick), 3:16.

Fourth Quarter

AR – Fisher 2 run (Fisher kick), 6:01.

OFFENSE: Deuel, rushing 18-145 (Kloos 8-118, Aiden Sievers 6-10, Gabe Sather 1-7, Owen Haas 3-6, Carson Marko 1-4), passing 6-17-2 for 70 (Sievers 6-17-2 for 70), receiving (Sather 5-57, Marko 1-13), first downs 6; Aberdeen Roncalli, rushing 41-221 (Fisher 20-168, Zane Backous 17-53, Behan 1-6), passing 9-16-0 for 80), receiving (Behan 4-26, Noah Kramer 2-25, Luke Kaiser 1-15, Backous 1-10, Will Haskell 1-4), first downs 13.

DEFENSE: Deuel, Sather 8 tackles, Kloos 5 tackles, Reed VanWormer 4 tackles, Kaleb TeKrony 4 tackles, Josiah Swenson 4 tackles; Aberdeen Roncalli, Brad Harms 3 tackles, Kramer 3 tackles, Kaiser, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception.