PIERRE – In his last home game, Lincoln Kienholz and his teammates proved to be better again.
Kienholz rushed for a career-high 243 yards and five touchdowns Friday and passed for two more scores as the Pierre Governors blasted past the Yankton Bucks 59-31 in an 11AA semifinal game at Hollister Field at Phil Trautner Stadium. Kienholz threw for 333 yards to become South Dakota’s all-time leader in passing yardage. His 8,736 career yards surpass the previous record-holder, Cody Thompson, who threw for 8,667 yards at Lemmon/McIntosh from 2017-19.
Up 31-17 late in a first half where Yankton stayed relatively close despite Pierre (11-0) scoring on every one of their drives, the Governors forced an interception by Buck quarterback Rugby Ryken with 32 seconds remaining. Jayden Wiebe picked off the pass at the Pierre 3 yard line. On the very next play, Kienholz found Cade Kaiser for a 97-yard touchdown pass to increase the Pierre lead to 38-17. Yankton (6-5) came no closer than 14 points again.
Ryken had three touchdowns passing and one rushing for Yankton.
Kienholz ran for a 90-yard touchdown in the first quarter and gave Pierre a 14-0 lead.
Pierre Head Coach Steve Steele credited Yankton’s effort.
Yankton displayed their spread offense, which the program hadn’t shown in a few years, and Steele said that was clever.
Steele said that the Governors’ defense was well-prepared for the pace of the Bucks’ offense.
Steele discussed the big touchdown pass for the Governors near the end of the first half.
Steele said that the Governors are lucky to have Kienholz.
Steele expects another great game with Tea Area for the state championship.
Steele talked of what he said is a unique and great quality of this Pierre team.
While the Governors have a lot of fun playing, Steele said that they also know very well what to do.
Kienholz said that it took a lot of work to win this game.
Kienholz discussed how the Governors took time running the ball, then hit Yankton with big pass plays.
Kienholz talked about his big first-half TD pass to Kaiser.
Tea, said Kienholz, is very tough.
For Kienholz, there’s something more important than him holding the South Dakota high school passing yardage record.
Pierre will again meet Tea Area for the 11AA championship at the DakotaDome in Vermillion on November 12. Tea Area defeated Aberdeen Central in the other 11AA semifinal Friday, 44-7. This game will be a rematch of last year’s championship, where Pierre rallied from 20 points down in the second half to win 30-27. Pierre defeated Tea Area on October 14 in the Capital City, 35-30. Coverage will begin on November 12 at 12:25 PM on The Official Voice of the Pierre Governors, River 92.7, the River 92.7 page at the DRG News app and drgnews.com/river.
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