The Pierre Governors would score on the second play of the game and the second to final play of the game to beat the Yankton Bucks 14-9 Friday night in Yankton.
The Governors would open up the scoring just 49 seconds into the game as Kaleb Lounsbury would hit Carter Schiefelbein for a 58 yard pass and the Govs jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Yankton’s first drive with a red zone interception as George Stalley would intercept a pass in the end zone. The Govs defense would also stop the Bucks on the two yard line with a turnover on downs. However, Evan Serck would score from four yards out and with a missed extra point, the game remained 7-6 with just a little over a minute remaining in the half. Yankton would recover a fumble and Kevin Ortiz would hit a 38 yard field goal to end the half and give Yankton a 9-7 advantage. Both teams would trade punts the entire second half, but Pierre would force Yankton to punt one more time from near their end zone. Stalley would take the punt back to the 19 yard line and Elijah Boutchee would run four times and score with just eight seconds remaining to give Pierre the win 14-9 and advance to its eighth straight 11AA state championship.
The Govs were outgained 323-244 as Lounsbury finished with 157 yards pass with 106 yards going to Schiefelbein. Boutchee had 31 yards on the ground and Carter Merrill finished 75 as the Govs pick up its fifth straight win of the season.
Pierre will face the two seed, Watertown, who beat Brookings 20-7. Watertown beat Pierre 28-14 back on Friday September 13. Coverage will start at 6:30 and kickoff at 7:00 on KCCR and on YouTube at KCCR Sports.
