Despite the early lead by the Box Elder Bears, the Pioneer football team demonstrated remarkable resilience and determination. The score may not fully capture the intensity of the Pioneers’ battle, especially when they had to fight hard for every yard after falling behind early. It’s a testament to their spirit and dedication to the game.
When I asked Coach Tucker how he felt about the game, he said, “I thought the boys played a fairly good game. We didn’t capitalize on our first few offensive drives, which didn’t help. We played well in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. We started the game a bit slow. Things got away from us in the 4th quarter. Karter Jurenka played extremely well. We Cox also provided some needed firepower on offense.”
The game saw some pivotal moments, with the Pioneers initially trailing 0-14 in the 1st quarter. However, Karter Jurenka’s touchdown on a kick return, just 24 seconds before the quarter ended, and a successful kick from Ty Terry, brought the Pioneers back into the game at 8-14. The quarter ended with a crucial tackle by Aidan Morsette, halting a Box Elder player’s advance.
The Pioneers started off with some great defense and hard tackles from Ryder Galbavy and Dolan Sunchild for a loss of yards for Box Elder. But Box Elder had a nice scramble and scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass, which put the Pioneers down 8-20. When the Pioneers got the ball back, Wes Cox had two big 10-yard runs for a first down. The Pioneers then got a holding call and backed up on yards, which led to a scramble and a thrown interception, which the Bears capitalized on and went up 8-26. The Pioneers then drove the field and got great yards with some hard runs by Wes and Karter. But the Pioneers turned the ball over on downs with just inches to go for a first down. And once again, the Bears took advantage and scored on a nice move to the end zone, putting the Pioneers down 8-33. The Pioneer’s woes continued as they missed an opportunity on kick-off, and Box Elder ended up with the ball again. The Pioneers kept up their tough defense and got some great tackles from Wes, Karter, Aidan, and Ryder. The Pioneer defense caused Box Elder to turn the ball over on downs. On offense, Karter gets a handoff and is GONE for 75 yards with no one catching him, adding another 6 points to the board for the Pioneers. With another good kick from Ty Terry, the Pioneers went down 16-34 at halftime.
The Pioneer started the second half with some great runs by Karter and Wes, but another penalty put them at a long 3rd down. Quinn threw a great pass to Karter for a 15-yard gain. The Bears also had a penalty, putting the Pioneers in a 4th and 1 situation. The Pioneers then hand the ball off to Wes, who runs to a first down. Wes and Karter just kept driving in the middle of the field, and Wes got another 1st down after a 15-yard run. Karter finished the drive with a rushing touchdown, and another good kick from Ty put the Pioneers only down 10 points with a score of 24-34. Dolan had a great tackle on defense following the touchdown, but Box Elder threw for another long touchdown pass, going up by 24-40. Then, on the kick return, Box Elder strips the ball from the Pioneers, but after a turnover on downs from the Bears, Wes, and Karter drive the field again, and Wes scores on a 35-yard touchdown run, putting the score at 32-40. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, Box Elder turned around, made some quick plays, and scored on a rushing touchdown from the quarterback, putting the score at 32-47 going into the 4th quarter.
The Bears set the standard early in the quarter, scoring another touchdown and another one with less than 2 minutes left in the game. The final score was 32-61.
