Bluejays Take a Homecoming Win
By Avery Brunckhorst
The Pierce Bluejays celebrated Homecoming with a hard-fought 14-7 victory over the O’Neill Eagles on Friday night.
Coach Tyler Legate said the team stayed focused after O’Neill scored first.
“We have been in that position before, so it’s just stay the course and see what happens from there.” Legate also added, “You can’t make the game any bigger than what it is. It’s still 11 vs. 11 on a field that’s 100-yards long and 53-yards wide. As long as we focus on improving and play hard the rest of the season before the playoffs, the wins and the losses will take care of themselves.”
The three top performers for the Bluejays were sophomore Brody Scholting, who had a total of 117 passing yards and one interception; senior Gavin Lubisher had 83 all purpose yards, with 36 rushing, 40 receiving, and seven kickoff return yards; senior Cole DeBoer, who had 63 rushing yards and two touchdowns; and junior Konnar Jones had 56 rushing yards.
As the game started for the Bluejays, O’Neill scored with just 23 seconds left in the first quarter, making the score 7-0 in favor of the Eagles.
In the second quarter, DeBoer made the first touchdown of the night for the Bluejays, and senior Tate Wales followed with a successful PAT, tying the game at 7 with 6:54 remaining in the first half.
Neither team was able to score in the remaining 6:54 in the first half, so the score stayed at 7-7 going into halftime.
In the third quarter, both teams competed for the win, but with just 22 seconds left, DeBoer scored the second touchdown of the night, and the PAT by Wales was good again, putting Pierce ahead 14-7.
In the fourth quarter, O’Neill was still trying to achieve the win, but the Bluejays did not let that happen. The Bluejays secured the 14-7 victory.
“Even though I scored both touchdowns, I felt like the lineman did all the work,” DeBoer said. “We knew there was going to be adversity in the game; we talked about that in the meetings before the game, and during the game. It’s all adversity, and we just try to face it and match the energy.”
The Bluejays won their last home game; catch them at their next game against the Wayne Blue Devils starting at 7.
