Beemer-A week after losing 64-50 to GACC in the regular season finale, The No. 14 seed in Class D-1, the Pender Pendragons, upset the 3rd seeded and previously unbeaten Bluejays, 52-50, in the 1st round of the High School Football playoffs in Beemer Thursday night.
The Bluejays got the scoring started at the 4:58 mark of the 1st quarter as Jared Minnick broke free for 70 yards to give GACC an 8-0 advantage.
Minnick scored his 2nd rushing touchdown from 35 yards out with 3:24 left to go in the opening period, and the Bluejays led 14-0.
Pender got on the board 16 seconds later when Brady Oliver connected with Jared Tyrell on a 62-yard TD pass to make it a 14-6 ball game.
The Pendragons scored on the final play of the 1st quarter when Sam Mailoux hauled in an 11-yard TD pass from Oliver, and Pender trailed 14-12 at the end of one.
GACC started the scoring in the 2nd quarter as Derek Petz connected with Jaden Rahn for 45 yards on a touchdown to put the Bluejays up 20-12 at the 11:06 mark of the 2nd quarter.
Pender tied the game at 20 with 9:34 left to go until halftime as Oliver rumbled into the end zone from 14 yards away.
GACC regained the lead with 8:22 remaining in the 2nd quarter as Petz scored from 2 yards out to give the Bluejays a 28-20 cushion.
Tyrell scored on a 57-yard play with 2:18 left until halftime to trim the GACC lead to 2 at 28-26, which was the halftime score.
No one scored in the 3rd quarter.
In the 4th, Oliver ran in a 5-yard TD to put the Pendragons on top, 32-28, 46 seconds into the quarter.
The Bluejays regained the lead at 34-32 when Cash Meier plunged in from 3 yards away at the 8:57 mark of the final quarter.
Tyrell then hit Tyler Nelson for a 61-yard TD 21 seconds later, and Pender went back up 38-34.
GACC's Noah Hass scored on a 41-yard TD run with 7:52 left to go in the game, and the Bluejays regained the advantage at 42-38.
The Pendragons responded again though as Oliver found Tyrell on a 36-yard TD pass that put Pender ahead again 46-42.
GACC took their final lead of the game with 3:34 remaining when Petz found Rahn from 31 yards away to give the Bluejays a 50-46 lead.
The Pendragons scored the game winning touchdown with 2:47 left to go when Tyrell hit pay dirt on a 28-yard TD pass from Oliver.
Oliver was 18-35 passing for 292 yards and four touchdowns for Pender (4-5) while Tyrell was 1-1 with a 61-yard TD pass.
The Bluejays racked up 453 yards of offense, including 317 rushing, while the Pendragons amassed 442 yards of total offense, including 353 through the air.
Head Coach Andy Welsh credits the o-line and skill position guys. "Yeah we have kids that if we get them in space they can do big things. I mean we saw that tonight. Our linemen coming from last week to this week that was our other big focus is give those guys time. Seal off the blocks. And they played hard today. They blocked well. And good things happen when we get the ball out to those speedy guys out in space."
Welsh says all heck broke loose in the 4th quarter. "Yeah it got pretty crazy there in the 4th quarter. It kind of seemed like whoever had the ball last was going to win. And fortunately for us our defense was able to come up with a stop there. Our defense, we've given up a few points throughout the year to the good teams, and again we did tonight, but when it mattered they came up and they made a couple plays at the end to win the game for us."
The Class D-1 football playoffs continue Wednesday on 107.9 the Bull with a pair of teams that scored upset victories in the first round, as Pender travels to Johnson-Brock.
The 4-5 Pendragons upset then unbeaten GACC 52-50 in a wild shootout, while 5-4 Johnson-Brock handled then 7-1 Heartland 24-6.
Eagles head coach Mitch Roberts says turnovers were a big factor in that game, and he expects them to be a key against Pender, along with limiting big plays from the Pendragons. “Turnovers. We take care of the football and force them into some difficult situations, and then shut down big plays” Roberts said. “That’s a huge part of eight-man football, who has more big plays, we shut theirs down and get a few of our own.”
Welsh says he sees a lot of similarities between the two teams. “We haven’t seen a whole lot of teams this year that spread it out like we do, and that’s exactly what they do,” Welsh said. “Both teams have speed and athleticism on the outside. And obviously record-wise we’re pretty similar. They are extremely fast. Their entire team speed is fast and I just hope we can match up with that.”
Welsh adds the Pendragons are making the most of their playoff opportunity. "We're taking it one game at time. We were happy to get in as a 3-5 team. I feel like maybe we were a bad draw for CC being a 3-5. We played not very good football in the middle of the year when we were missing some players. So we thought we were better than a 3-5 team, and I guess now that we're in the playoffs it's anybody's game."
The two teams have one common opponent in Winnebago, who Johnson-Brock downed 64-28, and Pender lost to 60-42.
I think this will be a great game. Pender really has nothing to lose, and neither do the Eagles really.
This should be a dandy of a game, and if the Pendragons win it, they could host Howells-Dodge in the quarterfinals.
I'm excited for this one. I feel things can go either way.
I would expect nothing less than another barn burner and shootout of a game like the Pender/GACC game.
The Pendragons have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by going down there and picking up a victory.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 Wednesday afternoon with pregame set for 3:40 on 107.9 The Bull.
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