Pierce Overthrows Ashland-Greenwood in the Quarterfinals
Launch the media gallery 1 playerby Autumn Lambrecht
On Friday, November 5, the Pierce Bluejays took down the Ashland-Greenwood Bluejays on Pierce’s home turf, taking Ashland-Greenwood out of the running for the state championship, by stealing the victory against Ashland-Greenwood 35-28.
Starting off the first quarter strong, Michael Kruntorad scored a touchdown, with a PAT from Keenan Valverde. For the second touchdown, Abram Scholting threw a solid pass to Benjamin Brahmer, along with another kick from Valverde. Even with tough efforts, Ashland-Greenwood was also able to score two touchdowns and tie the first quarter 14-14.
The second quarter again ended in another tie score wise. Matthew Christensen was the second quarter touchdown scorer with the good PAT from Valverde. Ashland-Greenwood was able to score again as well and the first half ended 21-21.
Christensen comments, “[I’m] really proud [of] how we handled adversity during the game. We could’ve given up easily at any point in the game, but we kept fighting and ultimately that’s what helped us pull through at the end.”
Coming out of the half, both the teams pulled out the stops, and neither team of Bluejays were able to score any points in the third.
For the fourth quarter, the Pierce Bluejays ended the game strong scoring two touchdowns. Christensen scored the first of the fourth with Valverde securing the seventh point with a good PAT. Kruntorad scored the last touchdown of the game, with Valverde backing up the points kicking another great PAT. The Ashland-Greenwood Bluejays were only able to score one touchdown, and the game ended 35-28, advancing the Pierce Bluejays to the C1 state playoff semifinals.
Head coach Mark Brahmer remarked, “We were quite proud of the boys’ effort and resilience. Because of their preparation throughout the week and hard work during the game, Pierce was treated to another exciting victory. I just can’t say enough good things about this group and the progress they’ve made in the past month.”
Tristan Kuehler led the Bluejays in tackles with 16, followed by Brahmer with 9, and Christensen with 8.
Kruntorad led the team in all purpose yards with 154. Brahmer added 135 all purpose yards, while Christensen contributed 103 total yards.
The next game for the Pierce Bluejays will be against the Battle Creek Braves at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 12, needing one more win to go to the state championships.
