The Sigourney-Keota Cobras (5-4, 4-1) made a statement in their first game of the postseason, slithering past the Interstate 35 Roadrunners (5-4, 4-1)  45-0 on Friday.

An early tackle for loss quickly halted the Roadrunners’ first drive of the game, and Sigourney-Keota’s offense showed its dominance immediately.

The running back tandem of Blake Baker, Brayden Wood and Landon Conrad marched the ball down the field behind the Snakes’ offensive line, picking up chunk run after chunk run, overcoming an early sack by I-35 star defensive tackle Mavrick Hutton to score the game’s first touchdown and make the score 7-0 early.

The Roadrunners looked to respond on their next drive, taking advantage of their two longest runs of the night to push the ball into the Cobra red zone, but a game-changing play came from an unexpected source. 

Playing in place of the injured Ike Molyneux, sophomore cornerback Landon Fisch jumped a route and came up with an interception, ending the only promising drive I-35 generated all night and firmly giving the Cobras the momentum. 

Cobras head coach Jared Jensen discussed the play and what he saw out of the young corner, “He’s been dominating on JV, and we knew he was a ball player. Jumping in and playing corner for us, he did a fantastic job, probably the biggest play of the game there, stopping them there, getting the interception right around the five yard line.”

The Snakes once again built a methodical drive, going 90 yards as six different Cobras touched the ball, finishing the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run for Carson O’Rourke.

With both teams’ run-dominant offenses allowing time to drain off the clock, one stop apiece for the Cobras and the Roadrunners was enough to send the game to halftime with a two-score S-K lead.

Cobra kicker Owen Clark booted a field goal home on the Cobras’ first drive of the second half. From there, Baker took over.

Following a Roadrunner three-and-out, the sophomore took a punt return well into I-35 territory to set up a touchdown pass from Wood to John Berg. He then intercepted a pass along the sideline to give S-K another drive with excellent field position, on which he ran for 34 yards and a touchdown.

With a 31-point lead now established, the Cobras cruised the rest of the way, as the young second-team defense came on and continued to dominate the line of scrimmage, draining the rest of the clock as O’Rourke and Conrad punched in touchdowns for a final score of 45-0.

Baker dominated on both sides of the ball throughout the night, ending the game with 117 rushing yards, two touchdowns, two tackles for loss, a sack and an interception while also handling return duties.

The Cobras advanced to the second round of the playoffs next Friday, when they’ll travel to Beckman Catholic to take on the Trailblazers at 7 p.m.