Kobler’s 104 rushing yards and 2 TDs, Sanders scoop-and-score lift Forreston past Dakota in Class 1A quarterfinal

FORRESTON – The Forreston Cardinals didn’t break an explosive play in their 20-8 Class 1A quarterfinal win over the Dakota Indians on Saturday afternoon – their longest gain was 12 yards – but they stuck to the same formula that’s worked for them all season long: pounding the football again and again.

The ground-and-pound approach spearheaded by senior running back Johnny Kobler, combined with stingy defense, allowed the Cardinals to avenge a 34-28 Week 5 loss to Dakota. Making the win even sweeter is the subsequent trip to the state semifinals.

“It feels great,” Kobler said. “Growing up, seeing ‘14, ‘16, ‘18 go all the way [to state titles], and now we’re sitting here right within reach of where they were and trying to put Forreston back on the map as the best team in the state. It’s amazing.”

The Indians (7-5) drew first blood midway through the second quarter, capitalizing on a Forreston fumble with a 42-yard touchdown drive. Dakota running back Adrian Arellano took an end-around to the right sideline, and got the edge for the 13-yard score. After a Reid Wales run for the two-point conversion, the Indians had an 8-0 lead with 6:12 to play in the half.

Forreston (8-4) answered on the next possession with a touchdown of its own. Starting from their own 45, the Cardinals marched 55 yards down the field, capping the drive with a 5-yard Kobler touchdown run.

After a Brock Smith quarterback keeper came up short on the two-point conversion attempt, Forreston trailed 8-6 with 1:10 left in the half.

“I feel like it was very needed because that brought all of our momentum back,” Forreston junior running back Kaleb Sanders said of the Kobler touchdown run. “We came out in the second half with that fumble recovery for a touchdown, and if it wasn’t for that, all of us would’ve had our heads down and we would’ve not been where we were at.”

Dakota maintained its 8-6 lead until halftime.

A massive miscue by the Indians early in the third quarter proved to be the turning point of the game. An errant pitch to the left floated too far behind the running back and fell to the grass. From there, it was an easy path to the end zone, as Sanders scooped the fumble in the Dakota backfield, then ran about 35 yards down the right sideline for a Forreston touchdown. It gave the Cardinals a 14-8 lead with 10:34 left in the third, and with the wind in their sails, they never looked back.

“That one right there is something that we definitely needed because we were a little down, but once that happened, we were like, ‘Let’s go. We’re going,’” Kobler said of Sanders’ fumble return touchdown. “And we were set to go.”

“That kept everyone’s energy up, and it wouldn’t let us stop,” Sanders said. “Then we came back out on defense and shut them down again like we were trying to do the whole game.”

Dakota threatened to take back the lead late in the third quarter, driving 53 yards to move into scoring position. But a pair of Forreston defenders stopped an Arellano fly sweep for no gain on fourth-and-goal from the 9, preserving the one-score lead.

“I think it was huge, because if they scored that, they could’ve taken the lead from us and ended up winning the game,” Sanders said of the fourth-down stop.

The Cardinals defense came up big yet again midway through the fourth quarter, forcing a turnover on downs at its own 39.

After starting the game with a run-heavy script, Forreston felt no need to deviate from its approach, turning once more to its 6-foot-3, 240-pound senior running back to salt the game away. Kobler ran for gains of 7, 10 and 11 yards on the second-to-last Cardinals’ possession before punching in a 1-yard touchdown to put his team up 20-8 with 3:44 left to play.

“It felt amazing. At that point it was basically sealed and done,” Kobler said. “We just had to make sure that they didn’t score again and didn’t let them take a kickoff from us, because special teams have been our weakness all year.”

“I was so happy. I was jumping up and down, looking for him,” Sanders said. “And it was just exciting to see me come behind him and just push him into the end zone.”

With its chances of winning fading fast, Dakota went to the air frequently and managed to make things interesting in the final minutes. A holding penalty wiped out what would have been about a 40-yard completion from Kaidyn Niedermeier to Tug Dornink, but to make up for it, Niedermeier hit Arellano on a throwback screen for a gain of 33 yards on fourth-and-28, moving the ball to the Forreston 35.

The Indians reached the 10-yard line on a defensive pass interference a couple plays later – with less than two minutes remaining – but that’s all the yardage Forreston’s defense would concede.

On fourth-and-goal from the 11, Niedermeier heaved a desperation throw into double coverage near the front left pylon, but senior defensive back Payton Encheff had a bead on it, jumping the lane with arm extended and sealing the game with a huge pass breakup.

Kobler rushed 21 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Sanders rushed for 20 yards to go with the scoop-and-score touchdown.

Arellano rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown, and caught two passes for 41 yards. Niedermeier passed for 55 yards and rushed for 50 more for Dakota.