VERMILLION – A blocked extra point had put Cole Peterson a little down. But his teammates never believed that he couldn’t make a clutch kick.
Peterson made the clutch kick of his life and maybe the football history of T.F. Riggs High School Friday, a 40-yard field goal as time expired to complete a 20-point second half comeback and give the Pierre Governors a 30-27 win over Tea Area for the 11AA championship at the DakotaDome, the fifth straight title for Pierre. It is the second program since playoffs began in South Dakota in 1981 to win at least five championships in a row.
Behind two touchdown passes and two scoring runs by Cael Lundin, Tea Area (11-1) built a 27-7 lead early in the third quarter. Then, Pierre’s rally began.
Lincoln Kienholz hit Jett Zabel with a 48-yard touchdown pass with 6:18 left in the third to cut the Tea lead to 27-14.
After a Tea punt, Pierre (10-2) scored again only 1:59 later. Zabel’s second stunning catch on a three-play drive was a 35-yard touchdown, tying Kienholz with Garrett Stout for the Governors’ all-time touchdown pass record with 58 and his 37th in 2021. Tea Area now led just 27-21.
That score remained until a Governor drive just over midway through the fourth quarter where every one of the nine plays was a Kienholz carry, culminating in a two-yard touchdown run with 3:27 left to tie the game at 27-27. But Peterson couldn’t put Pierre in the lead for the first time, as the Titans’ Klayton Sattler blocked the extra point.
On what proved to be Tea Area’s final possession, a 31-yard pass from Lundin to Nathan Babb set the Titans up at the Governor 40. Two plays later on third down & five, Lundin tried to pass to Jaxon Weber on the right sideline immediately in front of the Tea Area bench. Jacob Mayer made a sprawling interception on a play originally ruled to have been incomplete, but later reversed after a replay review.
Kienholz started Pierre’s final drive with a 12-yard carry. He then hit Cade Kaiser with an 18-yard pass, then carried for 21 yards to the Tea 23 with 12 seconds left. A spike stopped the clock, then Peterson calmly hit his fourth field goal of the season, a career-long 40-yarder, to give Pierre the championship.
Kienholz was named the Joe Robbie MVP and Most Outstanding Back of the game. He was 11-of-23 passing for 347 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a career-high 190 yards on 26 carries and two scores, ending his junior season with 1,165 yards rushing. He completed four passes of at least 41 yards. Jack Merkwan had 121 yards receiving on four catches. Zabel caught three passes, including the two touchdowns, for 113 yards.
For Tea Area, the 2020 11A champions whose 22-game winning streak ended, Lundin was 11-of-25 for 262 yards and touchdown passes to Jaxon Weber and Gabe Grant, along with two touchdown runs. Chase Van Tol had 18 carries for 116 yards and three receptions for 76 yards.
Deegan Houska led the Pierre defense with 10 tackles, including 1/2 for loss. Chase Carda had nine stops, one for loss. The Governors had two sacks, one and a half by Joshua Rydberg and a half by Austin Foley.
The Governors’ Christian Busch was named as the Most Outstanding Lineman of the game.
Tea Area scored on their first two possessions on a Lundin touchdown run and touchdown pass to Grant. Lundin scored again on a 12-yard keeper with 3:18 left in the first half to make the Titans’ lead 21-0. Pierre then broke through, ending a 75-yard drive with his first rushing touchdown of the game with 41 seconds left in the first half. Lundin’s 50-yard scoring pass to Weber on Tea Area’s first possession of the second half gave the Titans a 27-7 lead.
Head Coach Steve Steele, who has led all five title teams, expressed his pride in Pierre’s resiliency.
Kienholz was glad to take over the offense almost solely late in the game.
Mayer was asked why the Governors’ defense seems to play so well at the most important times of postseason games.
Pierre middle linebacker Gavin Stotts has now been a part of three consecutive championship teams.
In 2022, Pierre will attempt to match the record of West Central, which won six straight state championships in 11A from 2000 to 2005.
There will be a “welcome home” celebration for the Governors on Monday at 6:00 PM at the Riggs High Gym. Everyone is welcome.
Pierre | Tea Area | |
First Downs | 19 | 19 |
Rushing Yds | 207 | 172 |
Passing Yds | 347 | 262 |
Total Yds | 554 | 434 |
Att/Comp/Int | 11/25/0 | 11/27/1 |
Punts/avg | 3/35.3 | 6/32.0 |
Fumbles/lost | 2/2 | 0/0 |
Penalties/Yds | 6/56 | 10/89 |
Pierre | 0 | 7 | 14 | 9 | – | 30 |
Tea Area | 14 | 7 | 6 | 0 | – | 27 |
FIRST QUARTER
Tea Area – Lundin 1-yard TD run (Van Tol XP) 9:24 – 7-0 Tea Area – 9 plays, 29 yds, 2:36
Tea Area – Lundin 32-yard TD pass to Grant (Van Tol XP) 4:27 – 14-0 Tea Area – 6 plays, 72 yds, 3:24
SECOND QUARTER
Tea Area – Lundin 12-yard TD run (Van Tol XP) 3:18 – 21-0 Tea Area – 6 plays, 72 yds, 1:10
Pierre – Kienholz 3-yard TD run (Peterson XP) 0:41 – 21-7 Tea Area – 7 plays, 75 yds, 2:37
THIRD QUARTER
Tea Area – Lundin 50-yard TD pass to Weber (XP missed) 10:26 – 27-7 Tea Area – 3 plays, 58 yds, 1:34
Pierre – Kienholz 48-yard TD pass to Zabel (Peterson XP) 5:54 – 27-14 Tea Area – 2 plays, 61 yds, 0:24
Pierre – Kienholz 35-yard TD pass to Zabel (Peterson XP) 3:45 – 27-21 Tea Area – 3 plays, 60 yds, 0:34
FOURTH QUARTER
Pierre – Kienholz 2-yard TD run (XP blocked) 3:27 – 27-27 – 9 plays, 66 yds, 3:04
Pierre – Peterson 40-yard FG 0:00 – 30-27 Pierre – 6 plays, 51 yds, 0:36
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
Pierre – Kienholz 26-190-2 TD, Trey Lewis 2-18, Jayden Wiebe 1-(-1)
Tea Area – Van Tol 18-116, Weber 11-31, Nathan Babb 5-30, Lundin 7-(-5)
PASSING
Pierre – Kienholz 11-23-347-2 TD
Tea Area – Lundin 11-25-262-2 TD-INT, Van Tol 0-2
RECEIVING
Pierre – Merkwan 4-121, Zabel 3-113-2 TD, Cade Kaiser 3-72, Matthew Hanson 1-41
Tea Area – Van Tol 3-76, Sattler 3-78, Babb 2-60, Weber 2-56-TD, Grant 1-32-TD
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