Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye United’s Kam Kosak (21) fights through a tackle by Wabasso’s Nolan Leopold (30) during a South District, West-South Subdistrict football game Friday at Sleepy Eye High School.

SLEEPY EYE — Despite a strong effort from Wabasso, Sleepy Eye United held on for a 24-19 win Friday in a South District, West-South Subdistrict football game at Sleepy Eye High School.

SEU was able to earn the win on Sleepy Eye Public’s Homecoming, and it was the seniors that held the team together through the ups and downs.

“We just got to lead the team and make the big plays,” SEU senior wideout Talan Helget said. “That’s just my job, and the coaches were just telling me to make the big plays.”

Helget ended the day with six receptions for 124 yards and a score to go along with two rushes for 14 yards on the game. He credits his play to his connection with quarterback Carson Uecker, as the two have hooked up for multiple big plays so far this season.

“Just the work I put in in practice,” Helget said. “Me and Carson have a good connection right now, and I think that’s what it is.”

Uecker had 216 yards passing yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions, while Gavin Fischer had nine rushes for 36 yards and a score. Wyatt Pollard had two catches for 43 yards, and Kameron Kosak and Adam Steffensmeier each had a touchdown reception.

Defensively for SEU, Cody Schultz had eight tackles, while Nick Tauer had seven tackles. Caleb Suess had three tackles and a sack, while Kosak had an interception. Pollard had a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Despite taking the loss, Wabasso head coach Joe Kemp was proud of how his team had played against a tough opponent.

“This was the best game we’ve played all year,” he said. “Probably the best game we’ve played in a few years to be honest. Being competitive against a really good, well-coached team. Our young kids didn’t back down. I think today was maybe the first time all year that we really believed that we were going to win and compete. That was, as a coach, I couldn’t be more proud of what we did today. Just our heart, we did all the little things really well today, and we haven’t done that this year yet. We’re going in the right direction.”

Coach Kemp’s son, Drew Kemp, had his first start of the season at quarterback after Jack Burns, who started the season behind center, went down with a broken hand last week. Drew Kemp had a solid first outing, completing 67% of his passes for 213 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

“A proud dad moment,” coach Kemp said. “He made some mistakes, but he made the simple reads, got rid of the ball, and that was the game plan. He knew what the plan was, he was making his reads, and I trust that he’s going to get rid of the ball in a timely fashion. When he did that, we made plays. I think he put us in a great position to win the game today.”

Nolan Leopold was the leading receiver for Wabasso, catching eight passes for 83 yards while also taking two carries for 8 yards and a score, while Kaysen Harms had six receptions for 58 yards, while Calvin Hanna had nine rushes for 12 yards with three receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively for Wabasso, Zach Skoblik had seven tackles and an interception, while Leopold had four tackles and an interception. Sam Zeug added seven total tackles.

SEU started with a sloppy first drive, with an early holding penalty and a bad snap that was jumped on by Wabasso’s Caden Frericks for a turnover. Wabasso was unable to capitalize, however, with a pass deflection by Kosak leading to a punt.

SEU didn’t fare any better on its next drive, with Skoblick intercepting a pass intended for Helget and taking it 12 yards for a touchdown to give Wabasso 6 points, made 7 by an extra point. United stalled out again on its next drive, getting stuffed on fourth down for a turnover on downs.

Wabasso returned the favor by turning it over on downs itself, giving SEU another opportunity. This time, SEU capitalized, marching 90 yards don the field and finishing the drive on a 7-yard connection from Uecker to Kosak. United was unable to earn the 2-point conversion, however, and remained down 7-6.

Wabasso went on its own long drive on the next possession, getting all the way into the red zone before a pass to the end zone was intercepted by Kosak. Kosak was injured on the return, however, ending what had been a promising start to the game for him.

SEU followed the turnover with a long drive, but it ended with another turnover on downs as time expired in the half. Wabasso took the knee for a 7-6 lead at halftime.

The United defense stood tall on the opening possession of the second half, forcing a three-and-out. The offense woke up for SEU, capitalizing on a 20-yard run by Schultz that had a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty tacked onto it and converting it into a touchdown, with Uecker’s short pass to Steffensmeier going 19 yards for the score. Again the 2-point conversion failed, and SEU had to settle for a 12-7 lead.

Wabasso’s offense saw more success on its second drive, going 70 yards down the field and scoring on a 7-yard connection from Drew Kemp to Leopold where Leopold’s outstretched arms just crossed the end zone for the touchdown to give them the 13-12 lead. Leopold took his momentum to the defensive side, coming away with an interception in SEU territory.

Wabasso was unable to keep the good coming, however, as Pollard had a strip sack and recovered the ball himself to swing the momentum SEU’s way. Uecker and Helget connected five plays later on a 26-yard corner route for a touchdown to give SEU an 18-13 lead.

After another three-and-out from Wabasso, SEU grew its lead with a 3-yard touchdown run from Fischer to extend the lead to 24-13. After scoreless possessions from both teams, Wabasso was able to get on the board again with a 10-yard strike down the middle from Drew Kemp to Harms to cut the lead to 24-19 with 1:47 left on the clock.

Wabasso was unable to recover the onside kick, however, and Uecker and SEU were able to kneel out the rest of the clock for the win.

Despite the victory, SEU head coach Brent Kucera thought there was a lot the team could improve before its next game.

“We weren’t in it mentally,” he said. “We weren’t playing sharp the whole game. We had to claw back into it and just fight for everything we needed. Too many mistakes, too many turnovers.”

SEU (2-1, 1-1) plays at St. James on Friday, while Wabasso (1-2, 0-2) hosts Springfield on Friday.