The Pierre Governors, tied 28-28 with six seconds left in the first half, hit a 51 yard Hail Mary to take a 35-28 lead into the break and would dominate the second half to beat the Yankton Bucks 56-35 to win the 11AA state title Friday in Vermillion.
Both offenses and special teams could not be stopped in the first quarter as Pierre led 28-21 highlighted by two Carter Schiefelbein and two Porter Hunsley touchdowns, one with a 78 yard touchdown reception and another 97 yard kickoff return for a touchdown for Schiefelbein. After the Governors forced a fumble, Hunsley had his first touchdown run to give the Govs a 7-0 lead. Big plays for Yankton kept the Bucks close and even tied late in the second quarter. Yankton would get the ball deep in their own territory with under two minutes to go, but the Pierre defense started to clamp down to force a three and out and a punt, downed by Schiefelbein with six seconds left at the Governor 49 left time for one more play. Jerren Deal would find Cooper Terwilliger three yards in front of the end zone and the 6’6 junior powered his way to the end zone to score on the final play of the half.
Hunsley would not be stopped in the second half as he scored three more times, twice on the ground and another through the air as he finished the night with 171 yards on 23 carriers and one reception for 19 yards leading to being named the Joe Robbie MVP and the most valuable back in the game. Deal would go 14-20 for 287 yards as Schiefelbein had seven catches for 172 yards which broke Jack Merkwan’s single season yard record in Pierre history. Pierre had nearly 500 yards of offense, but the defense came up huge in the second half limiting the Bucks to seven points, which felt like no team was going to get defensive stops. Hudson Stoeser’s interception on Yankton’s final drive sealed the win as the Govs ran out the clock and finished at 9-3 to win its eighth title in nine years.
Max Bogenhagen would be named the most outstanding lineman as the Governors claim another state championship. It’s the ninth in total in Governor history.
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