A wild ending sent the Pierre Governor faithful into a frenzy as Jett Zabel sacked Aberdeen Central Quarterback Sam Rohlfs and the Golden Eagles, with no timeouts, could not get back to the line before time expired and the Governors advanced to the state title with a 28-21 win.
The Golden Eagles did not trail the entire first half as they took a six plus minute drive, 78 yards for a score as Rohlfs hit Alec Vogele for a 21 yard score, his first of two touchdown receptions. Pierre was able to answer as Trey Lewis scored his first of three rushing touchdowns. Aberdeen took a 21-7 lead with 3:23 left in the second quarter, but it was Lewis’ second five yard rushing touchdown pulled the Governors to a 21-14 deficit at halftime. Pierre would shutout the Golden Eagle offense in the second half as Jayden Wiebe scored on an eight yard touchdown run and Lewis, with 5:07 left in the game, scored his third touchdown giving the Governors their one and only lead.
Lewis finished with 97 yards on 16 carries while Lincoln Kienholz was 12-20 passing for 124 yards and 83 yards on the ground on 15 attempts. The Governors were outgained by Aberdeen 392-317. Karson Carda ran for 161 yards on 28 carries. Rohlfs, who was 7-7 for 118 yards in the first half, finished 10-22 for 156 yards, two touchdowns, but threw two picks as Jacob Mayer intercepted both.
The Governors will meet the Tea Area Titans in the state championship game next Friday at the Dakotadome. The two teams met back in the 2019 season with Pierre winning their only matchup. Coverage will start at 7:00 on KCCR and kccrradio.com with kickoff at 7:30 as Jon Winkler and Greg Dean will have the call.
