Bluejay Football
Pioneers Take Down the Bluejays
By Zane McKeown
On Friday, September 20, the Pierce High Bluejays took on the Fort Calhoun High Pioneers, and Pierce fell 47-14.
The Pioneers came out with an early 13-0 lead in the first quarter. The game did not get much better from here.
In the second quarter, Pierce was able to put some points on the board and bring the game to a one score difference, trailing 13-7. After that promising touchdown pass to Ryder Theisen, from Brock Collison though, Fort Calhoun went on to score 14 more points in the first half.
Going into the third quarter, the team's morale was low, but they kept fighting. Hayden Bauer was able to bring in an impressive catch for a touchdown to start off the second half. The Jays would end up not scoring for the remainder of the game and their defense let up three more touchdowns, ending the game 47-14, Fort Calhoun.
Even though the game did not go how any of the Pierce boys wanted, there were quite a few recognizable defensive stats as well. Bryce Lindstrom led the team with six tackles and 11 assisted tackles, Wyatt Asmus had five solo and seven assisted tackles, Brenden Bolling brought in four solo tackles and five assisted tackles while Keaton Frazier had three solo and two assisted tackles.
After the game Coach Suckstorf had a few positive things to say, despite the loss. He saw effort, and he could tell that these players would do anything and everything to get that win and get better. When asked on how to keep the team motivated, he states, “You show them the film and show them that if we can fix the fixable we can compete with anyone on our schedule.”
Suckstorf is obviously disappointed with the loss, but he feels the team is still really good and is capable of being a winning team. “The key factor in the loss came down to not playing complimentary football and execution.” Suckstorf saw many things that will need to be improved for the next game, but he is looking at it one week at a time.
When asked about what the team could have done differently on defense, Lindstrom says, “I think we could have read our reads better and then fly to the football and make the tackles.” He believes this and the whole team’s mentalities could have been a game-changer. “Yes, I think the loss had to do with mentality, together as a team I feel like we weren't mentally in the game.”
JV Football Battles Tough Loss
By Brayden Suckstorf
On Monday, September 16, the Pierce JV football team suffered a tough loss against Hartington Cedar Catholic on Pierce’s home field with a final score of 33-12.
Scoring for the Bluejays was Ethan Nordby for six points on a touchdown run, and Ethan Claussen with an interception, taking it in for a Bluejay touchdown. Unfortunately, both 2-point conversion attempts failed.
"We performed significantly better in the second half of the game, especially considering that Hartington had a very strong team that challenged us throughout the game," coach Grant Doerr says.
”We need to work on open field tackling and not wasting our plays throwing interceptions,” defensive back Skyler Stern states.
