Bluejay Football
Launch the media gallery 1 playerPierce Advances to 8-0 After 60-6 Victory
by Sarah Miller
The Bluejays played their final regular season game on Friday, October 18. This night was also parents night for all the players. The seniors went before the game and the rest of the players went at halftime. Other than parents night, the band performed after the game and the players stayed to watch the performance.
In the first quarter the Bluejays were able to score twice. The first came from 8 yards out by Brett Tinker. After the score Chaden Roth made the point after kick. The second touchdown came from Carson Oestreich from 1 yard out. Again, the point after kick was good. After one quarter of playing the score was 14-0.
In the second quarter, the Jays were able to score four times. The first score was on the ground from 6 yards out by Carson Oestreich. The point after kick by Roth was good. The second score came from Tinker from the 7 yard line. The third touchdown came from Carson Oestreich this time from 10 yards out. After the score, the Bluejays failed to convert a 2-point conversion. The fourth and final touchdown of the quarter came from Michael Kruntorad on an 18 yard blocked punt return. The point after kick by Roth was good. The score going into halftime was 40-0.
After halftime, Carson Oestreich scored again from 4 yards out on the ground. The second score of the quarter came from Jeremiah Kruntorad from 3 yards out. The point after kick by Roth was good. The score going into the fourth quarter was 53-0.
In the fourth quarter the Jays scored one touchdown. The touchdown came from Zach Collison from 8 yards out on the run. The final score was 60-6.
The total yards of offense for the Bluejays was 430 with 387 of those yards rushing.
Head coach Mark Brahmer commented on the game, “Once again, our defense came up big for us creating multiple turnovers, and in turn, giving our offense the short field. Another big key to our success was Brett Tinker’s blocked punt and Michael Kruntorad’s scoop and score right before half.” Brahmer also commented on the season, “All in all, as we look at the season as a whole, we’ve been impressed with the boys’ ability to make plays in all aspects of football, offense, defense, and special teams.”
Senior, Carson Oestreich also commented on the game, “We executed the offense very well. Our linemen really did their job of opening up big holes for us backs to run in. Our team overall did great. We played very well together, but we need to remember not to be satisfied and to keep working hard every day.”
Reserve Football Team Dominate Panthers
by MacKenzie Peters
The reserve football team, made up of freshmen and sophomores, played Norfolk Public on Monday, October 14, on the Pierce High football field where they demolished the Panthers 40-12.
In the beginning of the game, quarterback Abram Scholting passed to Ritter Oestreich, who managed to put in a 65-yard run to the goalpost to get the first touchdown of the game. Isaiah Adams then ran the ball back into the endzone to put two extra points on the board. Later in the game, Abram Scholting got ahold of the ball and ran 17 yards to score the Bluejays their second touchdown. Ashton Schweitzer scored another two points with his two point conversion run. Oestreich followed by getting yet another touchdown for his team, putting six more points on the board. Adams scored two points again after Oestreich’s touchdown by running his way into the endzone for the two point conversion. Michael Kruntorad scored the fourth touchdown for the Bluejays. Scholting made a pass to Addison Croghan to get the two point conversion. The fifth and final touchdown for the Jays was from Seth Premer, who ran 10 yards into the endzone to bring their score up to 38. Keaton Weeder ended the game by scoring two more points from a two point conversion run.
Freshman quarterback Abram Scholting commented on the team’s performance by saying, “I think we need to improve on ball security and maybe defense a little, though I thought we moved the ball really well, we were energetic, and our defense played really well. There's just some little things we need to improve on, but overall I thought the whole team played very well.”
Coach Grant Doerr was also very pleased with his team’s performance during the game, saying, “I think we did a lot of good things. The boys played really well overall.”
The reserve team will have played their last game on Monday, October 21, in Pierce against Wayne.
The Junior High Bluejays Sweep the Battle Creek Braves
by Taylor Miller
In the game on Tuesday, October 15, the Braves defeated the Bluejays with the scores of 38-6 in the seventh grade game and 40-12 in the eight grade game. By halftime, both the seventh and eighth grade Bluejays were behind with the score of 14-6. In the end of the eighth grade game, the Bluejays scored two touchdowns, but fell short to the Braves 40 points.
When Zach Meier, eighth grader, was asked what he thinks the team did well he says, “We played the whole game through and didn’t give up when it was tough.” Sadly, this was the ending to the junior high football team’s season.
