BROOKINGS – Dominant!
That best described Pierre’s performance in a 28-0 win over the Bobcats in their Homecoming game on Friday at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
The Governors put up a touchdown in each quarter as they held a huge advantage in time of possession by grinding out 314 rushing yards on 56 carries and picking up 16 first downs on the ground.
Garrett Stout hooked up with Jack Maher on a 3-yard scoring toss with 2:10 to play in the first quarter; and then the junior quarterback broke off a 62-yard run to paydirt with 3:52 left in the half to give the Govs a two-touchdown advantage.
Maguire Raske ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-0 at the intermission.
Pierre added to its lead in the third quarter with 2:14 on the clock when Raske bulled in from 2 yards out. Carston Miller kicked the PAT for the 21-0 edge.
After Alec Miller recovered a muffed punt on the Bobcat 2-yard line, Stout dove in with a quarterback sneak on the next play to make it 27-0 with 6:47 remaining. Miller’s PAT provided for the final margin.
“They were just so much more physical than we were – that was the bottom line,” said BHS head coach Lee Schmidt. “They were physical and we didn’t execute very well – we made mistakes – and at this point (of the season) we can’t.
“They were the much better football team out there tonight – offensively; defensively; the whole works. They brought it to us and it’s a good lesson for us to learn about what the level of football is that we’re going to be playing (against) – we go to Washington next week.
“Maybe this is a great game for us to understand what it’s going to take mentally to play. I don’t think it had anything to do with Homecoming; I just think that team was better than we were tonight.”
The Bobcats did have some highlights on the night, including Tyler Kreutner’s season long 63-yard punt that was downed at the Pierre 2-yard line with 1:18 left in the third quarter.
But Pierre used up nearly 6 1/2 minutes of clock with a 47-yard drive, before being forced to punt – which then led to the ‘Cats muffing the catch and recovering the ball on the 2.
Brookings fell to 3-2 on the season and 1-2 in the Class 11AA Eastern South Dakota Conference standings. The ‘Cats take on Washington at Howard Wood on Friday, with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m.
The Governors improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the 11AA ESD standings. Pierre travels to Sturgis next week.
PIERRE 28, BROOKINGS 0
Pierre 6 8 7 7 – 28
Brookings 0 0 0 0 – 0
First Quarter
Pierre – Jack Maher 3 pass from Garrett Stout (PAT kick failed), 2:10.
Second Quarter
Pierre – Stout 62 run (Maguire Raske run), 3:52.
Third Quarter
Pierre – Raske 2 run (Carston Miller kick), 2:14.
Fourth Quarter
Pierre – Stout 2 run (Miller kick), 6:00.
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Pierre – Garrett Stout 18-130, Gage Gehring 20-112, Maguire Raske 18-70. Brookings – Parker Beers 11-44; Justin Devine 3-14, Jacob Schoon 8-8.
PASSING: Pierre – Garrett Stout 4-10-1 21 yards; Brookings – Jacob Schoon 6-17-0, 99 yards.
Register photo: Brookings’ Justin Devine breaks off a big gain during the first quarter of the Bobcats’ 28-0 Homecoming loss to Pierre on Friday night at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
