Pierz’s three quarterbacks took snaps in practice this past week, including third-stringer Noah Boser, who typically plays running back.
It was a good thing, too, as starter Aaron Weber and backup Preston Rocheleau sustained injuries in Pierz’s 29-6 Class 3A semifinal victory over Tri-City United on Friday at Park Center High School.
Weber threw touchdowns to Nick Herold and Michael Meyer, Boser rushed for a score and Lane Girtz also scored for Pierz (12-0), which is looking for its first title since 2004.
“You just got to expect the unexpected,” said Boser, a senior who completed his first pass of the season. “I knew I’d step up and play big, because I got some big shoes to fill in Aaron Weber.”
Weber, a senior who has thrown 12 touchdowns, sprained his right ankle in the Section 6 championship-game win over Annandale. He did not play in the team’s 9-0 victory against Albany last week, and his status was uncertain heading into Friday.
Weber started, however, and threw a second-quarter touchdown to Herold before re-injuring the ankle. Rocheleau started the second half and led Pierz on a field-goal drive before injuring an ankle himself. Boser took over midway through the third quarter and led a touchdown drive, capping it with a 4-yard run with 9:50 left.
He led Pierz on another drive just minutes later, but it appeared to stall at the Tri-City United 21-yard line. That’s when Weber made a surprise appearance on fourth-and-10, throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to Meyer, the team’s leading receiver.
“I don’t think he could make it any worse,” coach Leo Pohlkamp said of Weber’s injury. “It’s the time of year where everybody’s banged up, everybody's got injuries. You got to play through them. You just don’t want them all to your same position.”
It helped, however, that Pierz could run the ball and defend successfully. The team rushed for 205 yards on 51 carries with Girtz, its leading rusher on the year, accounting for 97 yards on 17 carries.
“Really it was their running game that did us in,” Tri-City United coach Ken Helland said. “We just couldn’t stop them.”
On defense, Pierz limited Tri-City United to 208 yards, including just 67 rushing yards by star running back by Aaron Chimal. It also had three interceptions.
The defensive effort came as the offensive attempts to regain its health after a rash of injuries and illness. Two-way lineman David Skiba played Friday after sustaining an ankle sprain against Albany. Second-leading rusher Jonny Kasper twisted an ankle against Annandale and missed a couple regular-season games with a sprained ankle.
“Sprained ankles, my goodness, we got enough of them,” Pohlkamp said, “(Assistant coach Rick) Sczublewski spent about an hour taping ankles just to keep us going.”
The victory avenged Pierz’s 25-24 loss to Rochester Lourdes in last year’s semifinal on an overtime two-point conversion, a game that was in the back of players’ minds, Boser said.
For Tri-City United (10-2), the loss ended the most successful season in its four-year history. The school includes kids from the southern Minnesota cities of Montgomery, Lonsdale and Le Center. It was making its first state appearance, though those three communities had made a combined five trips to state before this season.
The team had 23 seniors this year, most of whom started. Chimal rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns on the year, and quarterback Trevor Smisek threw 11 touchdowns, including a 4-yard score to Carter Rynda on Friday.
“It stings, but we have to remember that this is the state semifinals,” Rynda said. “It was a really good season. A lot of positive things to look back on.”
