Pioneers win 31-27 shootout over Braves

(Photo by Ryan Christoffel) Okoboji tailback Max Burgeson breaks a tackle and scampers 36 yards for a first down Friday, Sept. 12 during a Class 2A, District 2 opener against Cherokee. Burgeson rushed for two touchdowns en route to a 31-27 victory over the Braves.

The Okoboji football team used a heavy dose of the running game to grind out a come-from-behind, 31-27 victory over Cherokee in a Class 2A District 2 opener Friday in Milford.

Max Burgeson and Ryan Wurtz each rushed for two touchdowns apiece for the Pioneers, who tallied 278 yards on 43 carries the ground.

"Every kid, when they had the ball, ran hard and that speaks to the character of our team," said Okoboji head coach Travis Schipper. "Our line also made some nice holes for the running game."

Both teams ate up plenty of yardage in the first quarter, but failed to get on the scoreboard.

T.J. Alger gave the Pioneers possession after picking off Brave quarterback Tyler Jones at his own 21-yard line. The two-headed running combo of Burgeson and Kevin James hammered the ball deep into Brave territory, chewing up 68 yards on 10 plays to get the ball down to the 12. Blake Kliegl then redeemed himself from an earlier miss, hitting a 28-yard field goal with 7:23 left in the second quarter.

Kyle Schuett answered for Cherokee on a 2-yard scoring run with 4:36 remaining in the half. Matt Pitts nailed the PAT to make the score 7-3.

Kliegl added Okoboji's second interception of Jones late in the second. Wurtz capitalized for the Pioneers with a 46-yard scoring run that put Okoboji ahead 10-7 at the half.

On the Pioneers first possession of the third, Wurtz scored again on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Wurtz also converted the 2-point run to build the lead to 18-7.

"We scored late going into halftime and we knew that we were getting the ball back right away," said Schipper. "We had a lot of success between the 20s in the first half, but got into the end zone only one time. I told them that if we don't make mistakes and don't have any penalties that we knew we could set the tone. Between our offensive line and backs running hard, we did that."

The Braves fought back with a score to cut the lead down to 18-14, but Okoboji strung together an 82-yard drive to build the lead to back to double digits. The scoring drive was highlighted by a 55-yard reception from Kliegl and first down catch from J.B. Ellis. Burgeson found the end zone from four yards out to cap off the drive.

Trailing 24-14 early in the fourth stanza, Schuett cracked the goal line on a couple of short scoring runs that put Cherokee back on top 27-24 with less than five minutes on the clock.

Tate Hanson returned the next kickoff to the 45-yard line and, after converting a critical fourth-and-3 on the eventual game-winning drive, Burgeson sprinted four-yards to pay dirt with just 20 second left in the game. Kliegl made the extra point kick to build the lead to 31-27.

"We had one time out left, so we knew we could run," said Schipper. "We went into the huddle and Max said that he wanted the football because he was going to score. With the way he had ran the ball all night, there was no way I could take it away from him."

The Pioneer defense forced three incomplete passes on the final Cherokee drive before Wurtz forced Jones to throw his third interception of the contest as the game clock expired.

The two teams combined for over 900 yards of offense in the offensive shootout. Cherokee had 478 yards, 298 coming on the ground.

Jones surpassed Keokuk's James Vandenberg as Iowa's all-time passing leader with 189 yards. He now has 7,837 yards for his career. Jones did throw three interceptions and only completed 44 percent of his passes.

"Our defensive backs had great games tonight," he added. "Those first two interceptions were huge. Not just setting up scores, but stopping them. They didn't punt at all and we punted once, so turnovers were the difference in the game."

Okoboji tallied 443 total yards with Burgeson breaking out for 163 yards on 25 carries. James rushed 11 times for 53 yards and Wurtz toted the ball seven times for 63 yards. Wurtz was also 8-of-20 for 165 yards through the air. His favorite target was Kliegl, who caught four passes for 110 yards. James had two receptions for 28 yards and Ellis hauled in two passes for 20 yards.

Defensively, Pat Lahr led Okoboji with 11 tackles. Kelly Kaufman, Wurtz, Ellis and Alger each added five stops. Hanson had a sack, while Wurtz, Kliegl and Alger each had interceptions.

Okoboji improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the district. The Pioneers travel to Eagle Grove to take on the winless Eagles. Eagle Grove dropped its district opener to East Sac County, 21-0.