by Dave Schroeder
The Irish headed north on a beautiful fall Friday to do battle with the Pierz Pioneers. Both teams had identical 5-1 records and each needed a big win to help their playoff pushes. What was billed as a close call, the game was just that, a well-played, tight football game that ended with the Irish on the wrong side of the score, 7-14.
The game was marked by defense as the Irish and Pioneers beat on each other and neither offense really hit the big plays when needed. The Irish scored first on their second series of downs set up by a nice 56-yard run by Cam Knudsen off the option fake down to the Pioneers’ two-yard line. Jordan Goelz then scored on a two-yard plunge, Forrest Coughlin hit the XP kick and the Irish jumped out to a 7-0 lead as the first quarter came to an end.
The Pioneers then mounted one of their only big drives of the game to start the second quarter as they put together an 11-play drive to pay dirt. Their XP was missed and the Irish still held the lead, 7-6.
The offenses of both teams then took a run at each other’s defenses only to have decent drives stuffed as the Pioneer and Irish defenses bent but neither would break. The half came to an end with the Irish holding the slim one-point lead.
“We played very well defensively other than the one Pierz drive,” said Head Coach Tim Knudsen. “We had our chances moving the ball deep into Pioneer territory twice inside the 20-yard line only to be stopped as a couple of plays went awry and assignments were not carried out properly. We held Pierz to only 93 first-half yards but the one drive they put together hurt us.”
The second half almost duplicated the first as again both teams’ defenses controlled the show. The Pioneers received the opening kick-off and a big 45-yard return set them up in great field possession. Only needing 39 yards to score, the Pioneer offense ground out a 10-play drive as the Irish defense broke and Pierz pulled out to an early second-half lead as they hit the two-point conversion and led 14-7.
The Irish offense started putting together a couple nice drives and had their chances in Pioneer territory, but could not find that one big play to get to the end zone. The Irish defense stymied the Pioneers also for the rest of the game and set up the offense in decent field position, but to no avail. The Pioneer defense came up big when they had to and tossed a second-half shutout.
The Irish offense held the ball for a great portion of the second half and overall out-rushed Pierz by 80 yards, but could not hit the big one. The Irish defense held the Pioneers to a game total 176 yards, over 150 yards less than Pierz’s offensive average, but it was for naught on this night. The game was a well-played high school football game and it was too bad someone had to come out on the short end of the deal.
The Pioneers prevailed 14-7 and helped their playoff cause with the win. The Irish were hurt a bit by the loss and fell to the number-two seed in playoff points going into the season finale on Wednesday (MEA game) vs. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted.
“We had our chances,” said Coach Knudsen. “Mayer Lutheran upset Norwood-Young America and we dropped to the number two spot in the section going into the HL-W-W game. We can still get the number one seed with a win and a little help from Belle Plain as they play Mayer on Wednesday. We were hurt by a few breakdowns and were missing Brian Redemske, out with a torn ACL, that didn’t help, but we will adjust and come back battling Wednesday night.”
Knudsen also had nothing but praise for the boys as they left it all out on the field Friday night.
The playoffs start Tuesday, Oct. 26, and Maple Lake will host a quarter-final game unless they get the number-one seed; then they would get a bye until Oct. 30. The Irish close their regular season with rival and nemesis, the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Lakers, on Oct. 20, 7 p.m., at Irish Country Stadium.
1 2 3 4 F
Pierz 0 6 8 0 14
Maple Lake 7 0 0 0 7
Offensive stats:
Rushing att yds TD
Goelz 16 82 1
Puncochar 12 50 –
Knudsen 12 67 –
Couette 4 10 –
Wurm 1 4 –
Totals 45 213 1
Passing att c yds
Knudsen 9 1 12
Receiving c yds TD
Wurm 1 12 –
Defensive leaders: Puncochar, 11 tackles; Wurm, 10 tackles; Rachel, 6 tackles, 1 sack; Bidwell, 7 tackles; Couette, 7 tackles; Goelz, 4 tackles; Treptau, 4 tackles; Kelm, 4 tackles; Coughlin, 2 tackles; Gagnon, 4 tackles.
The Irish headed north on a beautiful fall Friday to do battle with the Pierz Pioneers. Both teams had identical 5-1 records and each needed a big win to help their playoff pushes. What was billed as a close call, the game was just that, a well-played, tight football game that ended with the Irish on the wrong side of the score, 7-14.
The game was marked by defense as the Irish and Pioneers beat on each other and neither offense really hit the big plays when needed. The Irish scored first on their second series of downs set up by a nice 56-yard run by Cam Knudsen off the option fake down to the Pioneers’ two-yard line. Jordan Goelz then scored on a two-yard plunge, Forrest Coughlin hit the XP kick and the Irish jumped out to a 7-0 lead as the first quarter came to an end.
The Pioneers then mounted one of their only big drives of the game to start the second quarter as they put together an 11-play drive to pay dirt. Their XP was missed and the Irish still held the lead, 7-6.
The offenses of both teams then took a run at each other’s defenses only to have decent drives stuffed as the Pioneer and Irish defenses bent but neither would break. The half came to an end with the Irish holding the slim one-point lead.
“We played very well defensively other than the one Pierz drive,” said Head Coach Tim Knudsen. “We had our chances moving the ball deep into Pioneer territory twice inside the 20-yard line only to be stopped as a couple of plays went awry and assignments were not carried out properly. We held Pierz to only 93 first-half yards but the one drive they put together hurt us.”
The second half almost duplicated the first as again both teams’ defenses controlled the show. The Pioneers received the opening kick-off and a big 45-yard return set them up in great field possession. Only needing 39 yards to score, the Pioneer offense ground out a 10-play drive as the Irish defense broke and Pierz pulled out to an early second-half lead as they hit the two-point conversion and led 14-7.
The Irish offense started putting together a couple nice drives and had their chances in Pioneer territory, but could not find that one big play to get to the end zone. The Irish defense stymied the Pioneers also for the rest of the game and set up the offense in decent field position, but to no avail. The Pioneer defense came up big when they had to and tossed a second-half shutout.
The Irish offense held the ball for a great portion of the second half and overall out-rushed Pierz by 80 yards, but could not hit the big one. The Irish defense held the Pioneers to a game total 176 yards, over 150 yards less than Pierz’s offensive average, but it was for naught on this night. The game was a well-played high school football game and it was too bad someone had to come out on the short end of the deal.
The Pioneers prevailed 14-7 and helped their playoff cause with the win. The Irish were hurt a bit by the loss and fell to the number-two seed in playoff points going into the season finale on Wednesday (MEA game) vs. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted.
“We had our chances,” said Coach Knudsen. “Mayer Lutheran upset Norwood-Young America and we dropped to the number two spot in the section going into the HL-W-W game.
More information and stats appear in this week’s Messenger.
More information and stats appear in this week’s Messenger.
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