The Pierre Governors began their quest for a ninth straight trip to the State 11AA Championship, passing their first test in a 41-7 win over Tea Area Thursday night at Hollister Field. Sophomore quarterback Jerren Deal passed for 323 yards and four touchdowns and added another score on the ground as the Govs were too much for the Titans. Tea Area’s run-heavy offense began the night with a 14-play drive that took over eight minutes, but it stalled on downs at the Pierre 19-yard line. Pierre’s first offensive possession began from there and ended on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Deal to Cooper Terwilliger to start the scoring. An 18-yard diving catch by Ayden Behm on the Govs’ second drive made it 14-0 halfway through the second quarter. After failing to score on their third possession which led up to halftime, the Governors hit on another big play to begin the second half when Deal hit Carter Schiefelbein in stride for a 50-yard bomb to make it 21-0. The Titans then found life with a more up-tempo offense as their first drive of the second half ended with a 19-yard scoring pass from Mitch Grant to Grifin Wiebenga to make it 21-7. After Pierre was forced to punt, the Titans drove again, poised to cut further into the Governor lead, but a Sutton Sonnenschein interception ended the threat. Any momentum Tea Area might have still had at that point was wiped out on the very next play as Deal hit Schiefelbein again for an 85-yard touchdown pass to run the lead to 28-7. The Pierre defense stayed strong the rest of the way while the offense added fourth quarter scores from Deal on a 1-yard run and freshman backup QB Brecken Fuhrman from five yards out. Schiefelbein caught seven passes for 167 yards and the two long touchdowns while Porter Hunsley paced the ground attack with 79 yards on eight carries. The Titans end their season at 5-5 while the Govs won their fourth straight to improve to 7-3. Pierre will now head to Huron to tussle with the Tigers in the semifinal round next Friday. Huron topped Brookings in a defensive battle, 7-2. Elsewhere in Class 11AA, Yankton also won a defensive struggle, 12-7 over Spearfish, while Sturgis defeated Watertown, 28-21, to set up a semifinal rematch with the Bucks in Yankton next week. The Scoopers beat the Bucks in Sturgis four weeks ago. Pierre suffered one of their three losses back in Week 2 at Huron, 13-7.
Story provided by Brian Oakland
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