Sports News - August 30-September 4
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBluejays Defeat Eagles by Laura Huff
The varsity Pierce Bluejays football team traveled to O’Neill on Friday, September 3, where the Bluejays defeated the O’Neill Eagles 41-0. The offense played an aggressive and effective game, relying on multiple weapons, while the defense was able to hold out the Eagles in spite of some lapses.
The first quarter was a successful one for the Jays with great passes and tackles. The Eagles won the toss and chose to kick off. Katlin Ruppert received the kickoff for the Bluejays and made a first down. Brady Bretschneider and Cody Hilkemann made first downs on passes from quarterback Brock Schroder before Shelton Dvorak received the hand-off from Schroder and scored the first touchdown for the Bluejays. Tyler Lindsay’s kick was good for the extra point, and Pierce led 7-0.
The Eagles’ Connor Iverson received the kickoff from Lindsay, and Bronson Stonacek made the tackle. The Bluejay defense made it three-and-out; then Ruppert received the punt for the Bluejays and ran for a first down. Ruppert had the ball again on third down and ran for a first down. Ruppert was carrying the ball for the Jays on third down in this series when he was tackled by O’Neill’s Brock Schueth and injured. After that Bronson Stonacek received a pass from Brandon Freeman for a first down. Nate Meier received the pass for the Jays’ second touchdown. Tyler Lindsay’s extra point was good, making the score 14-0.
The second quarter was also a good one for the Jays. They scored three touchdowns and made many good plays. Shelton Dvorak took the handoff and scored the third touchdown for the Jays. Tyler Lindsay’s kick was good for the extra point, making the score 21-0.
The Eagles received the kick off and got close to a first down, but fell short and punted the ball on fourth down. Brock Schroder received the punt and was tackled for a first down. Nate Emerson received the hand off and ran sixty-five yards before being tackled at the Eagles’ twenty-yard line. Brady Bretschneider received the pass from Schroder and scored the fourth touchdown for the Bluejays. Lindsay’s extra point kick was good, making the score 28-0.
The Eagles received the kick and ran to the end zone, but the touchdown was ruled no good. Pierce got the ball back, and Emerson received a pass from Schroder for a first down. Schroder threw a complete pass to Nate Meier for another first down. A pass intended for Cody Hilkemann was thrown incomplete, making it a second down for the Jays. Meier received the handoff from Schroder and scored the Jays’ fifth touchdown. The extra point kick was deflected, leaving the score 34-0.
Pierce kicked off after the half, but the Eagles didn’t have the ball for long as the Jays didn’t let them gain much before they were forced to punt. The next series found Pierce short of a first down and having to punt. Lucas Osborn was Pierce’s punter.
The Eagles received the kick but again did not have the ball long before being forced to punt. Schroder received the punt and scored the Bluejays’ sixth touchdown. Lindsay’s extra point was good, making the score 41-0.
The Eagles received the kick and got a first down but then fumbled the ball on their next play, and Trent Spieker recovered the ball for the Jays.
In the fourth quarter some of the younger players stepped up to seal the victory. O’Neill was trying passes for a quick score but the young Jays stopped them.
Pierce amassed 354 yards on offense to O’Neill’s 187. The Jays rushed for 228 yards and passed for 126. O’Neill had 100 yards on the ground and 87 through the air. Pierce had a fine night for passing with Freeman connecting on all ten of his attempts and the Jays hitting ten of eleven for the night. O’Neill completed eight of twelve, with one interception by Pierce’s Thomas Tucker. Pierce had no fumbles; O’Neill had two turnovers on fumbles, with Alek Flesner and Bronson Stonacek each scoring a fumble recovery. Pierce was penalized five times for 45 yards; O’Neill, six times for 34 yards.
Shelton Dvorak was the workhorse on offense, carrying the ball nine times for 53 yards. Nate Emerson rambled for sixty-five yards on one carry and five on another to be the night’s biggest ground gainer. Nate Meier had five carries for 22 yards; Brock Schroder, three carries for 27 yards. Katlin Ruppert had four carries for 19 yards before being injured in the second quarter.
Brady Bretschneider was the primary passing target for the Jays; he had three receptions for 49 yards. Cody Hilkemann and Connor Schultz each caught two passes for 19 and 17 yards, respectively. Tyler Lindsay did kick off duties: seven kicks for 356 yards, a 51-yard average. Ruppert had a kick off return of 18 yards. Schroder had a punt return of 65 yards for a touchdown.
On defense Dvorak led in tackle points with 17 on four unassisted and nine assisted tackles. Nate Meier had twelve points on three unassisted and six assisted tackles. Nate Emerson had two unassisted and six assisted tackles for ten points.
Coach Mark Brahmer said, “We felt good about the first victory. I was pleased with the way our offense moved the ball down the field. The defense needs to improve their tackling, and we’ll work on that this week.” One statistic that bothered Brahmer was the 145 yards Pierce allowed on kickoff returns.
The Bluejays will play Logan View at Pierce this Friday, September 10, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
Lady Jays Break Even in Tourney by Zachery W. Halsey
It was a long first contest for the Lady Jays as they faced off against Schulyer and Norfolk Catholic at the Pierce Triangular on September 2. They split their record on the night, defeating Schuyler in three and losing to Norfolk Catholic in two sets.
Launch the media gallery 2 playerAgainst the Lady Warriors, Pierce traded the lead back and forth and battled it out until Schuyler inched ahead and won the first set 24-26.
During the second set Pierce struck back, taking an early lead and never looking back. The Lady Jays won the second set 25-15.
The final set of the game Schuyler got a 7-1 lead right away. Later on though Pierce picked up the skills to tie the game 18-18. From there on, it was anybody’s game, both teams having a chance to put the game away. Tied at 25-all, the teams played fun and furious volleyball, Pierce went ahead by one, and then, after a long volley, the Lady Jays spiked down a 27-25 victory.
“We made stupid errors, but we came back as a team and played spectacularly,” said number seven Ellie Pytleski.
Later in the evening Pierce Lady Jays met the Norfolk Catholic Lady Knights. The Knights took the lead mid-set and went on to the 17-25 win over Pierce.
The second set didn’t see much improvement for the Lady Jays. Pierce and the Knights went back and forth until the Knights once again had a lead, 11-5. The battle continued, but the Knights held the lead and added three points to it to take the second set 14-25 and win the game.
“There were times we did well and times we didn’t. It was the first match with the new girls,” commented head coach Rick Adams on the games.
Girls Tee Off at West Holt by Kira Arnold
Pierce High’s girls’ golf team scored a 547 at the West Holt Invite in Atkinson on Thursday, September 2. This was the second invitational they have been to this year. The Pierce team finished eighth out of eleven teams. Hartington High won the meet with a 451.
Coach Treva Dostal said that the course was difficult and the weather was a challenge with the wind being so strong.
Ali Johnson, a freshman golfer, said, “The course was way harder than Wakefield.” Coach Dostal found things the team needs to improve on, but said that overall it was a good meet.
The girls individually golfed fairly well. Ali Johnson golfed an impressive 111, placing 12th at the invitational. Nicole Carstens had a very good second round and finished with a score of 124, placing her at 23. Sarah Krohn placed 38th with a score of 140. Kristen Albrecht, another freshman, placed 46th with a score of 172.
JV Ladies Play Two by Matt Lukens
The JV volleyball team started off the year with a toughly fought loss. The Lady Jays faced Schuyler in their first game. Jacy Bretschneider started the game with the first serve and three more before Schuyler was able to get possession. Schuyler quickly scored once, and then it went back for Alisha White of Pierce to serve. Her serve gave the Bluejays a 5 to 1 lead. After two serves from the Jays, the Schuyler defense made a stop and served it over to the Jays. Schuyler then slowly took over the game and finished the set with a 12-point lead. The final score was 13 to 25. The second set was a closer match between the two teams. The Jays stayed fairly even with Schuyler until the final serves. Once again the Jays fell short with the final score Schuyler 25 and Pierce 23.
Coach Angie Schroeder said, “Things that we (the coaches) pointed out earlier just needed to be cleaned up, and they (Pierce) missed more serves.”
The Jays then played a second game against the Norfolk Catholic Knights. According to Coach Schroeder, the Pierce girls played the second game better than the first game against Schuyler.
The game started with the Knights serving. The Jays then took their first serve and earned a point. Throughout the set, the Knights had a slight lead and then finished the set 21 to 25 with Norfolk on top. The second set was started off with a Bluejay serve. The Lady Jays slowly fell behind but managed to keep it a close score. The Jays were defeated 22 to 25 to end the game.
Coach Schroeder said, “We made more mistakes on defense and offense than we should have, but we had a lot of young players. Inexperience was a major key in the two games.”
Lady Jays in Scotus Tournament by Matthew Lukens
The Lady Jays played in the annual Columbus Scotus volleyball tournament on Saturday, September 3. The Lady Jays won one game and lost two to place fifth in the tournament. They beat Arlington in three sets. They lost to Bishop Neumann in two sets and Norfolk Catholic in three sets in the game for fourth and fifth place.
For the first game against Bishop Neumann, the Lady Jays stayed with the Cavs through half of the first set, pulled ahead 23 to 18, and then suffered a cold streak. Neumann served the rest of the way to their 23-25 win, including three ace serves. In the second set the Lady Jays started off well but faded. They were unable to earn any points except side-out points after the eighth point. They lost 19-25 to end the game. Pierce’s leading attacker against Neumann was Rachel Wiedenfeld with eight kills. Payton Wragge was the setter, with 18 assists. Ellie Pytleski had 12 digs to put the ball into play.
In the Arlington game, the Lady Jays started cold as Arlington scored on three ace serves. But Pierce came back to score seven with Payton Wragge serving and six with Wiedenfeld serving. From there on, the Lady Jays scored two or three points with each serve and held the opponent to small gains to win 25 to 16. For the second set, the Lady Jays started with a pair of ace serves by Wragge. They let Arlington take a seven to ten lead, then slowly came back to finally tie the score at 20. After a stutter at 21, Morgan Buckendahl closed the game with an ace serve and two more points for the Pierce win. Wiedenfeld led attacking with seven kills. Pytleski had 9 digs. Wragge had 14 assists, and Krystina Koepke had four blocks.
The Lady Jays competed against Norfolk Catholic for their final game. Pierce won the first set 25 to 20. After an even first few points, Ellie Pytleski came up to serve and the team added eight points to lead 10 to 4. After that, scoring was even except that the Lady Knights ran five points at 16-19, Pierce leading by three. Pierce was still leading by three, 21 to 18 when Emily Ronspies stepped to the line and served an ace, followed by three Pierce points to win the set.
In the second set The Lady Knights began with a lead that they built steadily to the 19-25 win.
In the third set, the Lady Knights powered out to an early lead. They gained 13 points on their second service and never looked back. The Lady Jays couldn’t get the offense going and lost 10 to 25.
Timaree Reed and Wiedenfeld led the attacking game against the Knights with eight kills apiece. Wragge finished with 32 assists; Wiedenfeld, Reed, and Pytleski had eight digs apiece.
Cross-Country Athletes at Albion by Sierra Ronspies
Friday, September 3 was a perfect day to run in the Albion cross-country meet. In fact, “We couldn’t have asked for a better day to run,” said Coach Gary Shada. Although this meet had a few hills, it was one of the slightly easier courses of the year to run. As with all of the meets the runners will compete in this year, the meet had tough competition.
The Pierce High boys’ team got sixth place in the meet with 94 points while the high school girls placed sixth with 107 points, and the junior high boys placed seventh while the junior high girls placed fourth with 59 points.
Individual placers up to twentieth place for the high school teams were Matt Koeppe, fourth with a time of 16:21, and Briana Adams, first with 16:00. Placing up to twentieth for the junior high were Matt Penne in eighth place with a time of 9:52; Shannah Unseld in ninth place with a time of 10:03, Briana Polt right behind in tenth place with a time of 10:04, and Samantha Acklie in twentieth place with a time of 11:11.
Coach Shada said the strategy was “to put ourselves in competitive positions early on, and then keep improving.” The goal for this first meet was for the runners to compete at their best and see what all the training has done so far. Coach Shada also said he was “very pleased with some of the runners’ performances, but some of the runners could’ve done better.” Briana Adams thought the team did very well in the first meet, and that, “It was a great kickoff to the season.”
The Albion meet determined which of the high school boys are on the junior varsity team. Those boys are Aydan Ronspies, Zach Ruppert, and Shane White.
