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.
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.