Pierre records win against Tigers

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HURON — Both teams had their moments Friday night when the Huron Tigers hosted the Pierre TF Riggs Governors in ESD football action.
Pierre just had more of them.
The Governors emerged with a 43-0 win at Tiger Field, sending Huron to its third straight defeat, while Pierre moved to 3-0 with the win.
“We just couldn’t move the ball tonight,” said Huron coach Michael Schmitz after the game. “And while we had good pressure defensively at times, we also gave the Pierre quarterback far too much time to throw the ball.”
It started on the opening drive. After the Governors earned a first down, 6-foot, 6-inch senior quarterback Peyton Zabel spread the Tiger defense, then tucked the ball and rumbled 43 yards to paydirt. A Casey Williams kick put Pierre up 7-0.
Huron had difficulty moving the ball and went three-and-out, but a good punt pinned Pierre deep in its own territory. After the Tiger defense held, Chip Shillingstad returned a Governor punt to the Pierre 38-yard line, setting up the Huron offense in great field position.
But four plays only netted six yards for Huron and Pierre took over on its own 32. Zabel came out firing, connecting with the tight end for 42 yards to get out of the hole and set the Governors up at the Huron 25. A short drive ended with Zabel connected with Maher, from eight-yards out and a 14-0 lead, with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
Huron again went three and out, and after a good return, Pierre started in Huron territory. Zabel connected with Maher for 15-yards, but a stiffening Tiger defense, a Pierre penalty and three straight incompletions turned the ball back to Huron at its own 24.
After the teams traded possessions, Pierre took over on the Huron 41. After a short drive, keyed by an 18-yard pass from Zabel to Hudson, Rohrback gave the Governors a first a goal. Zabel did the honors himself, this time from eight-yards out to make it 21-0.
Facing a deficit, Huron began to look to the air. Following a 58-yard completion, quarterback Jett McGirr took a hit as he threw a first-down pass, which was intercepted by Pierre defensive back Garrett Stout and returned to the Tiger 12.
It took three plays for Zabel to connect with Gage Gehring on an eight-yard scoring pass, and the Governors took a 28-0 cushion into the halftime locker room.

Huron opened the second half, again finding themselves stifled by the Governor defense and had to punt after three plays.
Pierre moved the ball down the field, taking four minutes and 11 plays to move 57 yards, capped by a Zabel/Maher connection of three yards. The snap on the PAT attempt was muffed, but Stout scooped it up and ran it for a 36-0 lead.
After a Huron turnover, Pierre took possession at the Tiger 22 and took advantage of the short field, as Zabel threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game, this one a two-yarder to Gehring for the final points of the game.
For Huron, McGirr ended the game 10-29 through the air for 116 yards and three interceptions. Senior Zack Siemonsma gained 20 yards on seven carries to lead the Tiger ground attack.
Zabel led the Governors on the stat sheet, rushing seven times for 76 yards and two scores, and going 18-30 through the air for 225 yards and four touchdowns.
Maher was the main beneficiary, catching eight passes for 116 yards and two scores.
Defensively, Huron was led by Shillingstad and Jackson Hoek with seven tackles each, while Will Gross accounted for four stops.
“We’ve got some guys nicked up, but other guys stepped up for us tonight at times,” Schmitz said. “We weren’t able to execute the things offensively that we worked on this week, but we have to learn from this and move on.”
Huron, now 1-3 on the season, will travel to Yankton on Friday, to battle the 0-4 Bucks.

Scoring
1st quarter
P - 10:22 - Peyton Zabel, 43-yard run. Casey Williams PAT.
P - 3:10 - Jack Maher, eight-yard pass from Zabel. Williams PAT.
2nd quarter
P - 6:10 - Zabel, eight-yard run. Williams PAT
P - 5:31 - Gage Gehring, eight-yard pass from Zabel. Williams PAT
3rd quarter
P — 6:23 - Maher, three-yard pass from Zabel. Garrett Stout conversion run.
P — 2:35 - Gehring, two-yard pass from Zabel. Williams PAT.

Photos by Mike Carroll of the Plainsman
Huron’s Chipper Shillingstad fends off a tackle by Pierre’s Garrett Stout during their Eastern South Dakota Conference football game on Friday at Tiger Stadium.