Junior High Football finishes 4-2

By Kyler Lovgren

Pomeroy Junior High Football had great numbers this year, but were very young with only three 8th grader players and twelve 7th grade players.

They started the season off as road warriors with the first 3 games being away. The first was a tough game against Waitsburg where the Pirates stayed competitive until the 4th quarter, where they finally ran out of gas. Waitsburg was an experienced team that played aggressive and Treyton Kimble and Lincoln Lovgren carried the Lion’s share of the ball as they were a better size match up with the bigger Waitsburg team. Both Kimble and Lovgren had multiple touchdowns with Kimble using his speed to the outside and Lovgren using his size on the inside. The Pirates ended up falling 50-30.

Game 2 was in Richland against Liberty Christian. The Pirates were ready to get a win and came out swinging. Defensively the front line started getting some penetration in comparison to the week before and Ruger Schaver, Corbin Nelson and Caden Hutchins started making an impact stifling the Libety Christian team in the backfield. Treyton Kimble was a scoring machine and picked up 5 Pomeroy touchdowns in the win.

Game 3 was the final road game and had been moved to DeSales to play the Irish due to Endicott-St. John- LaCrosse not having enough players for an 8 man game. The Pirates and Irish traded punches in a back and forth game, with a big play from a Lovgren scramble and pass to Kimble for 80 yards breaking the game open in the 3rd quarter. The Pirates were able to keep the lead to finish the game with their 2nd win of the season.

In Game 4 Pomeroy was able to host DeSales for a re-match, the Irish were ready and came out hard. The Pirates struggled to gain yards and against the Irish, but it was a break out game for Jovani Polanco at linebacker where he was able to step in and get multiple tackles for the Pirates. Colton Field led the offensive line in their best performance to date and Caden Hutchins caught his first for a touchdown. Ultimately the Pirates fell to the Irish in the rematch.

Game 5 was a rematch with Waitsburg at home. The Pirates came out ready to play and put together a strong team performance. Kimble was again running all over the place on offense and defense, Lovgren shook off an early interception to hit Ruger Schaver for a touchdown pass where Shaver was able to break free due to a self-less block by Tyler Taylor. Ethan Bergland and Robbie Wolf stuck it out at the cornerback positions playing great pass defense and the offensive line hit it’s stride making large holes for the pirate runners. Benjamin Knittel, Corbin Nelson, Colton Field and Sam Bagby strategically handled the Waitsburg front that had proven difficult in the first match up. Pomeroy was able to come away with a decisive win to improve to 3-2.

In the final game of the season the Pirates faced Liberty Christian at home on October 21st in front of a large home crowd and under the lights. Pomeroy put together their best overall game of the year getting contributions all the way around. Caleb Zimmerman played a great defensive game, Robbie Wolf carried the ball well for the Pirates and the entire defense swarmed to the ball carriers. The Pirates finished the season in dominating fashion with a win to improve to 4-2.