Crusaders crush Eagle Butte 52-6

Scott adds 125 yards, three scores to season totals

posted: September 26,2007

PINE RIDGE – Up only 22-6 at the half, Red Cloud’s defense stepped up again Friday to seal the deal as Billy Scott intercepted a Chase Pay Pay pass and zipped 80 yards for a touchdown and Andrew Twiss grabbed another of Pay Pay’s passes and ran it back 30 yards for a touchdown, both in the third quarter, to put the icing on the cake of Red Cloud’s 52-6 homecoming win over Cheyenne Eagle Butte on Friday.

Scott, a 176 pound senior running back, added touchdown runs of eight and two yards while Jeremy Blacksmith hit Dave Giago on short passes in the end zone for two point conversions on both and helped even more with a 25 yard touchdown pass to Mike Cuny and a 44 yarder to Giago for another TD. Carl Swallow ran for three two point conversions including one zafter his own 28 yard TD run that wrapped up the scoring for both teams.

“We had a nice mix of run and pass today,” said Keith Ferguson, Red Cloud coach, “and on defense, we gave up a long pass for a TD early on after a missed assignment in the defensive backfield but after that we seemed to shut down both Eagle Butte’s running game and passing game finishing up with six interceptions, two for touchdowns, and recovering two Brave fumbles.”

Scott opened the scoring for the Crusaders with an eight yard plunge for a touchdown late in the first quarter, blacksmith hit Giago for thd two points and quickly Red Cloud was up 8-0 but Eagle Butte came right back with their only score of the game as Charlie Marshall got behind Red Cloud’s defense and Pay Pay led him with a perfect strike for an 82 yard pass for a touchdown. Red Cloud owned the end zone for the rest of the game as the contest was called with 2:54 left in the fourth quarter.

“This week, we had our best week of practice, it was a great prep week,” said Ferguson, “and it showed on the field during the game, our line is really coming together on both offense and defense.”

Scott finished with 17 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns; he added a third TD on an interception return and is one of the top scorers in the state with 56 points after four games and a ranked rusher with 53 carries for 472 yards. Swallow totaled 64 yards on seven carries with one touchdown and three two point conversions. Blacksmith was five for ten in passing for 89 yards and two touchdowns and two two point conversions; Giago caught four for 64 yards including the 44 yard TD catch and both conversions and Cuny caught one for a 25 yard TD. Twiss led the defense with 18 tackles, recovered a fumble and ran an interception back for 30 yards and a touchdown while Art Vitalis grabbed two interceptions, Scott had two and Cuny had one.

Homecoming activities included a parade in the morning, a pep rally, a talent show and the crowning of Casey Zimiga and Ida Clark as 2007 Homecoming royalty.

Red Cloud is now 3-1 and travels to Hill City on Friday while Cheyenne Eagle Butte is 2-2 and visits Belle Fourche Friday night.