PIONEER POWER

Just like it had done all season, the Big Sandy Six-Man football team made it look easy in the state championship game against Broadview-Lavina. Throughout their undefeated season, the Pioneers rolled over the competition and they did that at home once again Saturday when they defeated the Pirates, 67-27, to win their first state title in school history.

"To win by that many points and play such a good game as a team, it's amazing and unreal," senior Rusty Gasvoda said about winning a state championship. "All the hard work we put in, it paid off huge."

"We finally did it," senior Lance Rutledge said. "It's only taken us four years but we've finally gotten here and we did it as a team. It's just amazing."

This group of seniors including Gasvoda, Rutledge, Braydon Cline, Kody Strutz and Tannin Baumann had led the Pioneers to four straight semifinal appearances in the playoffs over the past four years. After so much heartbreak over the years, Big Sandy head coach Larry Jappe was proud to see his seniors finally break through and win it all.

"They worked hard. They did what they needed to win the state championship," Jappe said. "They did it in the offseason and the preseason and I hope the rest of our boys can see what it takes to win a state championship."

Just like they have done all season, the Pioneers dominated. On offense, the Pioneers rolled as they had 456 total yards and averaged 9.9 yards a play. In his final game as a Pioneer, Cline had an excellent game as he went 11-for-16 through the air for 231 yards and six touchdowns. The Pioneers had 225 rushing yards with Cooper Taylor leading the way with 168 yards and three scores on 10.5 yards a carry.

The Pioneers also played well on defense to limit the offense of a Broadview-Lavina team that was undefeated coming into this game. The Pirates finished the game with 237 yards of offense and six turnovers. Through the air, the Pirates completed 48.4 percent of their passes for 191 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. The Pirates also only had 46 rushing yards on 2.6 yards a carry.

"We just played the defense we've been playing all season and we really didn't change things up," Jappe said. "They just basically did what they'd been doing all year so I was happy to see that and we got the big win."

The Pioneers got their own offense rolling from their first play of the game. On the first play after the opening kickoff, Taylor took the ball and carried it all the way for a 49-yard touchdown to give Big Sandy a 6-0 lead in the first 15 seconds of the game.

After the Pirates turned it over on downs on their opening possession, the Pioneers got right back to work. On a fourth and long, Cline completed a pass to Rutledge, who carried the ball 39 yards for a touchdown to make it 12-0 early in the game. The Pioneers knew they had a tough opponent in Broadview-Lavina, so they knew they needed to get things rolling early.

"In the locker room, we just sat down and said, 'This is just another football team that we got to beat,' and I think that gave us the edge in the first quarter," Gasvoda said. "We came out with no nerves and we were just ready to play our kind of football."

Over the next few minutes, the teams exchanged empty possessions. The Pirates had a drive to the Pioneer goal line, but they fumbled and lost the ball before scoring. But the Pirates made up for it with a strong drive to end the first quarter.

Kade Erickson started the drive with a completion to Jace Jensen deep into Big Sandy territory. Two plays later, Erickson threw a 21-yard touchdown to Connor Glennie to cut the Pirates' deficit to 12-8.

But the Pioneers quickly responded with another strong drive. The drive started with Cline completing a throw to Lane Demontiney to make it first and goal. A few plays later, Taylor ran in the ball for a two-yard touchdown to make it 18-8 to end the first quarter.

The Pirates responded with a good drive to keep pace with the Pioneers. On fourth and goal, the Pirates capped off the drive with Erickson throwing a one-yard touchdown to William Sanguins to make it 18-15.

Over the rest of the half, the Pioneers got rolling to begin pulling away. Cline continued to play well as he threw a 21-yard touchdown to Demontiney to make it 25-15. After a Pirates punt, Cline threw an eight-yard touchdown to Wylee Snapp to add onto the lead. In the final moments of the half, Cline continued to sling it as he threw a 17-yard touchdown to Rutledge to give Big Sandy a 36-15 lead at halftime. While he had a strong game through the air, Cline gave the credit to his receivers.

"Our receivers got open and I just threw it to them," Cline said. "They caught it and got some touchdowns for me that made me look good so I love my boys."

The Pioneers continued to roll in the third quarter. After the Pirates scored a touchdown to cut into the deficit, Cline completed a 39-yard pass to Snapp who took it all the way for another touchdown to make it 42-21. Just a few minutes later, Cline kept it himself for a big 30-yard touchdown run to push it to 48-21.

After a Broadview interception, Taylor added onto the lead with another touchdown run. After recovering the ball on the ensuing kickoff, Gasvoda got in on the action with a touchdown run. With the clock running, the Pioneers and Pirates exchanged touchdowns over the remainder of the third quarter and the fourth quarter before the game came to a close. When the clock struck zero, the Pioneers finally got to raise the state championship trophy that they had been working toward for four years.

"I'm so proud of the boys. They worked hard all year," Cline said. "I wouldn't play with a different team. It's awesome playing with these guys. They work hard all the time."

Big Sandy 67, Broadview 27

BL - 8 7 6 6 - 27

BS - 18 18 31 0 - 67

BS - Cooper Taylor 49 yard run (kick failed)

BS - Lance Rutledge 39 pass from Braydon Cline (kick failed)

BL - Connor Glennie 21 pass from Cade Erickson (Landen Drew kick)

BS - Taylor 2 yard run (kick failed)

BL - William Sanguins 1 pass from Erickson (Drew pass to Sanguins)

BS - Lane Demontiney 21 pass from Cline (kick failed)

BS - Wylee Snapp 8 pass from Cline (kick failed)

BS - Rutledge 17 pass from Cline (kick failed)

BL - Glennie 16 pass from Drew (kick failed)

BS - Snapp 39 pass from Cline (kick failed)

BS - Cline 30 yard run (kick failed)

BS - Taylor 49 yard run (kick failed)

BS - Rusty Gasvoda 1 yard run (Cline run)

BS - Snapp 6 pass from Cline (run failed)

BL - Ty Lippert 34 yard run (run failed)