Sports News - September 26-October 1
Launch the media gallery 1 playerPierce Teams Take First, Second at Frosh Tourney
The Pierce freshman and sophomore volleyball girls played in the annual Pierce Freshman Volleyball Tournament at Pierce on Saturday, September 1. The girls divided into two teams: PHS Blue was eight freshmen, and PHS White was six sophomores and one freshman. The teams played in opposite pools and tournament courts, and both won their divisions. So the championship game came down to Pierce vs. Pierce. The girls did not play the game but, according to Coach Angie Schroeder, “accepted the championship trophy and the second place trophy with honor, pride, and excitement.”
The Blue team played Crofton, Plainview, and Randolph in pool play, winning all three games. Then in tournament play they placed Laurel and Wayne and won both of those games. Pool play scores were 21-8, 21-8 vs. Crofton with Sydney Silhacek serving for 17 points; Kierstyn Wragge serving for 8. With Plainview PHS Blue won 21-16, 21-7. Rachel McGill served for 11 points; Wragge served for 9. In the Randolph game, the Blue team won 21-10, 21-12, and McGill served for 12 points, Silhacek for 11. In the tournament PHS Blue beat Laurel 25-22, 25-11 first, with Allison Koehlmoos serving for 13 points and McGill serving for 11. The Wayne game saw the young Lady Jays winning 25-23, 25-12. Wragge served for 13 points; Koehlmoos for 11.
The White team split with Wayne and beat Laurel-Concord and Hartington CC in pool play. Then they beat Crofton and Randolph in the tournament. Scores with Wayne were 12-21, 21-17. Alisha White served for seven points with two aces; Callie Kolterman served for five points with two aces.
Against Laurel-Concord, scores were 21-16, 21-16 with Martina Wickett serving for seven points with four aces. Emily Willard served for six points with an ace, and Tristen Sell served for five points with two aces.
The Pierce girls beat Hartington CC in both sets 21-18. Kolterman served for four points with three aces; Sell for four points as well.
In the tournament game vs. Crofton, the Pierce girls won two of three sets for the victory. Scores were 25-27, 25-20, 16-14. Wickett served for nine points with three aces, Kolterman for seven points with two aces, Autumn Baumann for five points, and White for six points.
And in the Randolph game, the white team won 26-24, 25-23 with Baumann and Kolterman serving for eight and four points, respectively, each with two aces.
Bluejays Defeat Cardinals by Bailey Sherman
The Pierce High Bluejay football team traveled to Albion on Friday, September 30, where they defeated the Cardinals 35-7.
Shortly after the Cardinal kickoff, Nate Meier ran the ball back 58 yards for the first Bluejay touchdown of the game. Tyler Lindsay’s kick for the PAT was blocked, and the score remained at 6-0. Lindsay then kicked off for a touchback to start the Cards on their own 20, a drive that the Pierce defense stopped. Then early in the second quarter Austin Koehlmoos ended a Bluejay drive with a two-yard run for a touchdown. A Brandon Freeman to Bronson Stonacek pass for a two-point conversion brought the score to 14-0. On the defensive side Trent Spieker and Mason Rohrich had big tackles for the Jays. Rohrich got a QB sack when the Cards were in the Pierce red zone and spoiled what looked like a promising drive for Albion. Koehlmoos added another touchdown, with a successful PAT by Lindsay, to make the score 21-0. Despite the strong Bluejay defense, Boone Central’s big passing game led to a Cardinal touchdown and PAT. The first half wrapped up in a 21-7 Bluejay lead.
The third quarter opened with a Bluejay kickoff, followed by a Bluejay face mask penalty, advancing the Cards an extra 15 yards. The Jays quickly got back into the game, stopping Boone Central and then, on a quarterback keeper by Freeman, scoring an 82-yard touchdown. Lindsay added the PAT. The next Bluejay drive contained a long run by Koehlmoos and ended with a touchdown by Meier and PAT by Lindsay. The third quarter ended with a 35-7 Pierce lead.
The fourth quarter started with an interception by Connor Reed, giving the Bluejays possession on the Pierce five-yard line. The Jays’ drive ended in a punt, but Lane Rohrich dashed the Cardinals’ hopes again when Rohrich intercepted the Cardinal pass on the Pierce 37. The Jays were on the march again with Colby Huff running for a first down at the last play of the game.
The Bluejays rushed for 500 yards to the Cardinals’ 66. Pierce had no passing yards, except for the two-point conversion, while Boone Central had 214 passing yards. Pierce came out ahead in total offense with 500 yards to the Cardinals’ 280. The Bluejays lost 45 yards in penalties, with the Cards giving up only 20 penalty yards. Freeman led the offense with 138 yards rushing. Koehlmoos had 107, Meier had 101, and Shelton Dvorak had 73 yards. Freeman went zero for three in passing. Meier led the defense with five assisted and eight unassisted tackles. Thomas Tucker had three unassisted and four assisted tackles. Dvorak had three unassisted, two assisted; and Freeman, Koehlmoos, Lindsay, and Katlin Ruppert each had two unassisted and four assisted tackles.
This Friday the number two ranked 5-0 Bluejays play the number one ranked 5-0 Knights, at home, in the biggest rivalry game of C-1 football.
Eighth Grade VB Beats Randolph
The Pierce eighth grade volleyball team beat Randolph in a three-set game played at the Pierce auditorium on Monday, October 3. Scores of the sets were 25-20, 9-25, and 25-15.
Olivia Steffensen served while the team made 20 points. Tatym Rowley served for 12 points; Jaci Brahmer served for six, and Brandi Sporleder and Casey Sutherland for five. Alexis Behmer served for three points, Emily Rossmeier for two, and Jasmine Elsberry, Desirea Druyor, Kaylee Dankert, Alexa Douglass, Annie Houska, and Jessica DeGroff for a point apiece.
Cross Country Teams Second at Stanton by Bailey Sherman
The Pierce cross country boys’ and girls’ teams both took second place among five teams at the Stanton invitational on Thursday, September 29.
The Lady Jays earned 40 points for their second place. Oakland-Craig won the meet with 36 points. The Pierce boys took second with 36 points. Stanton blazed to first with 17 points.
Coach Gary Shada said each runner had a goal for himself or herself. Two of the girls met very tough goals, and three were very close. Individually, Briana Polt took second for the girls with a time of 16:45.2. Shannah Unseld came in fifth, running in 17:03.1. Taking 15th was Samantha Acklie with a time of 18:31.5. Rachel Tweedy took 18th with a time of 18:53.6.
On the boys’ side, Myles Sudbeck took fourth in a time of 18:23.6. Taking ninth, with a time of 18:58.3, was Caleb Lohrberg. Austin Unseld ran in 19:03.5 for 11th place. Taking 12th place, with a time of 19:12, was Ayden Ronspies.
Running for the junior high boys were Levi Sudbeck and Chance White, and for the junior high girls was Ryanne Lueders.
Lady Jays Softball Mid-State by Daneesa Harvey
The Lady Jays softball team played in the Mid-State Conference tournament at Albion on Monday, September 19 and lost to the O’Neill Lady Eagles 4-12 and the Boone Central Lady Cardinals 2-5.
In the first inning with O’Neill, Pierce got one run on two hits. Jacy Bretschneider hit a single and Ellie Pyletski hit a single. O’Neill took the lead in the first with four runs.
In the second inning Pierce had no runs, nor did O’Neill. In inning three Pierce had three runs on one hit by Branigan Stonacek. Five girls got on base by virtue of a walk and three errors along with Stonacek’s hit, and two were left on base. O’Neill had 8 runs on 4 hits and 1 error with 2 left on base in the third inning.
In innings four and five, Pierce had no runs, just 3 ups and 3 downs each inning. Although the Lady Jays held O’Neill to no runs in the fourth, it was too late to save the game for Pierce.
In the Boone Central game the Lady Jays were unable to get anything going in the first two innings. They held the Lady Cards to nothing in the first inning and one run in the second while stranding four on base over the two innings.
In inning three Boone Central got four runs in on one hit, one error, and three walks. The Lady Jays brought in two runs on hits by Pytleski, Wragge, and Stonacek, and two errors. The teams played six innings, but neither was able to score again and the outcome remained a 2-5 win for Boone Central.
Junior High Football Drops Two by Devin Gnat
The Pierce seventh and eighth grade boys’ football teams traveled to Petersburg on Tuesday, September 27 to face the Boone Central Cardinals. The seventh grade team lost 14 to 40 and the eithth grade team lost 12 to 40.
The seventh grade Jays started off scoreless in the first quarter. The Jays finally got on the board late in the second quarter by a Caleb Sullivan rushing touchdown. Bryce Bierman followed with a two-point conversion. The Cardinals racked up 32 points to have an 8-32 advantage at the half.
The young Jays were stopped in the third quarter while the Cardinals took advantage of their possessions and scored another touchdown to make the score 8 to 40. In the fourth quarter the Jays’ offense was sparked by a fifty-two yard rushing touchdown by Sullivan. The two-point conversion was no good, neither team scored again, and the final score remained 14-40.
In the eighth grade game the Boone Central boys dominated the first half, which ended 0 to 24, Cardinals.
The Jays started the second half with a touchdown by Noah Zimmerer. The two-point conversion was no good. Albion scored again, and the score was 6-30 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter the young Jays got on the board again with a Taggart Bailey forty-six yard rushing touchdown. The two-point conversion failed. Throughout the second half the Cardinals scored four more times to make the final score 12-46.
Knights Defeat Bluejays by Devin Gnat
The Pierce Bluejays sophomore-freshman football team traveled to Norfolk on Thursday, September 29 to face the Norfolk Catholic Knights. The young Jays lost the game 14 to 31.
To start the game the Jays kicked off. There was no return on the play because the ball was kicked out of bounds, and the Knights started their drive on their own forty-yard line. The drive ended with a touchdown to make the score 0 to 6 early in the first quarter.
The Jays’ opening drive included a few runs by Dillon Dickey and Collin Freeman but eventually ended in a punt. The next NC drive ended in a turnover that was recovered by Pierce on the NC twenty-two yard line. The Bluejays couldn’t take advantage of the great field position, turning the ball over on downs. The score at the end of the first quarter was 0 to 6.
To start the second quarter the Knights had a long drive consisting of a few runs and passes that ended with a ten-yard pass for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good to make the score 12 to 0. On the next kickoff the Jays got a spark from Johnny Huff with a sixty-yard kickoff return to the Knights’ five-yard line. On the next play the Jays took advantage of the good field position with a five-yard rushing touchdown by Chance Larsen. The extra point was no good to make the score 12 to 6. The next NC drive contained numerous different runs and ended in a ten-yard rushing touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good and the score was 6 to 18.
The next Pierce drive looked promising, but ended in a punt. After the punt the Knights took possession and started driving down the field, only to be stopped by Huff when he stripped the ball from a Knight receiver and Freeman recovered. The Jays couldn’t take advantage of the turnover before the half, and the score remained 6 to 18 going into the third quarter.
The Knights kicked off to start the second half and the Jays’ opening possession ended in a punt. On the next NC drive the Knights drove down the field to increase their lead another six points after a three-yard rushing touchdown. The extra point was no good; the Knights led 6-25. The next Pierce drive was a long one but still ended in a punt. The score at the end of the third quarter was 6 to 25.
To start the fourth quarter the Knights had a long drive of runs that ended in a five-yard rushing touchdown. The extra point was no good to make the score 6 to 31. On the next Pierce drive the Jays got on the board again with a rushing touchdown by Freeman. Freeman also got the two-point conversion to make the score 31 to 14.
Neither team scored again, and the final score remained 14 to 31.
Coach Kyle Simmons said that he thought the Jays ran the ball well on offense but also that the Knights’ defense was able to get through the Jays’ offensive line.
Lady Jays Slay Dragons by Ashley Race
The Lady Jays softball team outplayed the Madison Lady Dragons on Tuesday, September 27 in a double-header in Pierce. The Lady Jays won the first game in 4 innings, 11-0; and the second game in 3 innings, 13-1.
The evening started with a game played by the junior varsity. The Madison Lady Dragons struggled getting on base through the entire game. The Lady Jays were quick to get 3 outs and fired up their bats. Jaci Bretschneider and Payton Wragge were first to get on base in the first inning. Ali Johnson batted, while Maddie Jenkins subbed in for her and brought in another run. The girls entered the second inning ahead, 3-0. The girls held Madison to another scoreless inning. Ellie Pytleski, Wragge, Jenkins and Alyssa Blair crossed home plate for another 4 points, ending the second inning 7-0. Still playing with strong defense, the Lady Jays held Madison at zero in the third inning. On offense Pytleski, Wragge, Haley Hoffman, and Blair ran in for 4 points, upping the score to 11-0. After the third inning, the teams played a fourth inning for practice. Nicole Eddy and Haley Hoffman ran across home plate for an additional two points. The fourth inning didn’t count, and the score ended 11-0.
The varsity team then came out on the field. Starting strong on defense, Pierce allowed only one Lady Dragon to cross home plate in the first inning. The Lady Jays really fired up the bats in the first inning. Wragge, Rachelle Tucker, Hoffman, Laurel Bailey, Hannah Higgins, Jenkins, and Eddy all put points on the board. The first inning ended with Pierce ahead 7-1. In the second inning, the Lady Jays continued their intense defense and got three outs immediately. Madison showed a little more pressure on defense, allowing only Tucker to cross home plate to add another point. The second inning ended with a score of 8-0. The Lady Jays and Lady Dragons went one more inning. Pierce yet again continued to fight and show aggressive defense, getting three outs right away. Bretschneider, Pytleski, Tucker, Jenkins, and Eddy all fought their way across home plate. This ended the game with a score of 13-1.
Varsity Volleyball Plays Ranked Laurel by Ashley Race
The Pierce Lady Jays volleyball team played number-two ranked Laurel on Tuesday, September 27, and the Lady Jays gave Laurel all they could handle. However, Laurel won in three nail-biting sets, 21-25, 16-21, and 28-30.
The Lady Jays started the first set with a small lead of three points with Emily Ronspies serving first. The first set was a close rallied set, with both teams giving up side-out points. Laurel pulled ahead towards the end of the set and won 21-25.
Pierce allowed Laurel to get ahead 4 points to begin the second set. During the second set, the Lady Jays were struggling to get their serves over the net. Laurel had strong serving from over the net, and the Lady Jays rallied with them. The set ended 16-25.
The third set was filled with exciting rallies the entire time. Lady Jays had some outstanding plays during the third set. Pierce improved their serving and played tough defense in this set that ended 28-30.
Emily Steffensen was outstanding with her 14 kills, Rachel Wiedenfeld had 8, Krystina Koepke had 6, Morgan Buckendahl had 5, and Timaree Reed had 4. Buckendahl and Wiedenfeld each had 5 solo blocks throughout the game. Allison Koehlmoos, Reed, and Steffensen helped in the back row with six digs each; Ronspies had 5. Koehlmoos stood out in her serving with four ace serves.
Volleyball Tournament in Wisner by Ashley Race
The varsity volleyball team traveled to Wisner on Saturday, September 24. The Lady Jays played Chambers, Homer, and Laurel in the tournament. The girls went 2-1 in Wisner. They beat Chambers in two sets, 25-22 and 25-15. They also won against Homer in two, 25-19 and 25-19. The girls ended the tournament with a loss to Laurel in two sets, 16-25 and 22-25 for second place in the tournament.
In the Chambers game Pierce built a small lead but Chambers tied the game at 11. Pierce went ahead by a few points and at 24-22 Pierce was able to outlast Chambers with side-out points. In set two, Pierce held Chambers to mostly side-out points. Morgan Buckendahl and Timaree Reed served for 4-point scoring runs in the set. Emily Steffensen contributed to the win with her 9 kills. Krystina Koepke had 5, Buckendahl and Rachel Wiedenfeld had 4, and Emily Ronspies had 2.
In the game against Homer the teams were even through the first 16 points, Pierce took a small lead, but Buckendahl came to serve at 21-19 and got two ace serves followed by two points from her teammates to win the set. Pierce built a lead in the middle of set two and advanced to 21-13, then coasted out on side-out points. Steffensen showed her power with 12 kills. Reed had 8, Wiedenfeld had 7, Koepke had 3, and Buckendahl and Ronspies both had 1. On defense, Reed and Steffensen both had ten digs to recover the ball. Allison Koehlmoos had six, and Ronspies had four.
Playing against Laurel, Pierce allowed scoring runs of 5 points each for the first two rotations and could not mount an offense after that. In set two the Lady Jays were ahead through point 9, let Laurel ahead, tied the game at 16 all with a 4-point scoring run with Steffensen serving, but then managed only one point other than side-out points for the loss. Steffensen led once again with seven kills, Wiedenfeld had six, Koepke and Reed had four each. On defense Ronspies had 21 set assists.
Cross Country at UNK by Maddie Jenkins
The Pierce High boys and girls cross country teams participated in a meet at the University of Nebraska in Kearney on Monday, September 26. Pierce’s boys took fifteenth out of 19 teams, and the Lady Jays took twefth out of 17 teams. The boys had a score of 223, and the girls had a score of 202.
There were 17 teams in the girls’ class C division. First to cross the line for the Lady Jays was Briana Polt at 33rd with a time of 17:39. Shannah Unseld came in second for Pierce at 35th with a time of 17:47. Coming in next for the Jays was Sierra Ronspies at 78th place with a time of 19:29. Samantha Acklie came in at 85th with a time of 19:47. Next for the Lady Jays was Elaina Tucker in 103rd place with a time of 20:47. Rachel Tweedy came in at 125th with a time of 22:49.
There were 19 teams competing in the boys’ class C division. Myles Sudbeck was the first to cross the finish line for the Bluejays at 14th place with a time of 17:57. Coming in next for the Jays was Austin Unseld at 71st with a time of 19:39. Aydan Ronspies came in at 76th with a time of 19:48. Next for the Jays was Zach Kremlacek at 89th with a time of 20:08. Caleb Lohrberg came in at 95th with a time of 20:14. Zach Ruppert came in at 117th in 21:01, and Shane White came in at 140th with a time of 21:37.
Eighth Grade Volleyball Plays Norfolk
Pierce Junior High’s eighth grade volleyball team played Norfolk Junior High’s team on Monday, September 26 for three sets. Norfolk won the first two sets 17-25 and 5-25; Pierce won the third set 25-18.
Jaci Brahmer and Casey Sutherland served while their team earned eleven points. Brandi Sporleder served for seven points, Olivia Steffensen served for six, Tatym Rowley served for four, Emily Rossmeier served for three, and Emily Bjorklund, Jessica DeGroff, Annie Houska, Alexa Douglass, and Kaylee Dankert each served for one point.
Pierce Hosts Junior High Cross Country
Pierce was among nine schools attending a junior high cross country race at the Pierce Community Golf Course on Tuesday, September 27. Having only two junior high runners, Pierce received no team score, but individually the Bluejay runners did well. Ryanne Lueders placed sixteenth in the girls’ race, and Chance White placed 32nd in the boys’ race. Levi Sudbeck, also on the junior high boys’ team, was unable to participate because there was a football game on the same day.
Coach Gary Shada said that the junior high runners are making improvement. One challenge for them is that other schools have junior high meets; the Pierce runners have individual training programs with which to develop their skills, but not the level of competition to speed their progress. Shada added that it’s good for the junior high runners to experience the competition.
Norfolk Public Junior High won the boys’ team category; the Norfolk Catholic girls won their team race.
Freshman Volleyball Second at Norfolk
Two dates that the freshman volleyball team has had lately include the Norfolk Freshman Tournament on Saturday, September 17, where the Pierce girls took second place, and a game with Laurel on September 27 that the freshmen won in two sets.
In the Norfolk Tournament, the freshmen played four games of two sets each in pool play for a record of seven sets won and one set lost. Then they played in the championship game vs. Norfolk Catholic and lost in two sets 25-27 and 23-25.
In pool play against Millard North the Lady Jays won 20-10 and 20-11 with Sydney Silhaced serving for 13 points, Allison Koehlmoos and Kierstyn Wragge serving for eight each.
Next the Pierce girls played Hartington CC and won 20-7, 20-14. Silhacek, Koehlmoos, and Wragge served for eight points apiece in that game.
In the third game the Lady Jays split with Norfolk, 20-12, 12-20. Shalene Richart served for ten points, Wragge served for seven, Silhacek for six, and Koehlmoos for five.
The last pool game was with Fremont, and Pierce won 20-10, 20-5 with Koehlmoos serving for eleven points, Richart for eight, Silhacek and Wragge for seven, and Synthia Schuett for six.
In the championship game Schuett and Wragge served for twelve points each, Koehlmoos served for eight, Silhacek served for seven, Richart served for five, and Rachel McGill served for four.
Freshman VB Beats Laurel
The freshman volleyball team played Laurel on Tuesday, September 27 and beat the young Lady Bears in two sets, 25-10 and 25-22.
Leading server was Kierstyn Wragge. The team made fourteen points as she served. Tirsten Sell served for twelve points, Caitlyn Skuodas served for nine points, Shalene Richart served for seven, Synthia Schuett for five, and Rachel McGill for three.
Eighth Grade Volleyball Plays HCC
Pierce’s eighth grade volleyball team played three sets against Hartington CC on Monday, September 19. The Pierce girls won one set and lost two to the Lady Trojans. Scores were 8-25, 12-25, and 28-26.
Casey Sutherland served while the team made nine points; Olivia Steffensen served for eight points. Jacy Brahmer served for seven, Tatym Rowley for five, Brandi Sporleder and Alexis Behmer for four each, Emily Rossmeier and Annie Houska for three, Emily Bjorklund for two, and Jessica DeGroff, Alexa Douglass, and Kaylee Dankert for one point apiece.
