SK PIONEER SPORTS: PIONEERS WIN!! PIONEERS WIN!!!

SK faced the Ryle Raiders at Menefee Stadium tonight on the SK Campus. There may not have been a whole lot of people outside of Independence who gave SK much of a chance. After all, the only common opponent for both teams was New Cath which beat SK 43-6 in the first game of the season while Ryle beat the same New Cath team 23-18 in week 3 of the season. Ryle was coming off of a 33-7 trouncing of Campbell County. SK was coming off an impressive 43-14 win against Conner although there was some discounting applied to that victory by some of the so called football experts.

The Kentucky Enquirer had a preview of the game that gave the Pioneers about as much chance for the win as we have had for rain lately- none. Here’s what was written:

BOTTOM LINE: Ryle and Boone County appear to be the class of Northern Kentucky's Class 6A field, followed by a fairly sizable gap. Simon Kenton and Campbell County are on the other side of that gap. This game could show how big the gap between second and third is.

Apparently someone forgot to tell the Pioneers that they didn’t belong on the field as SK, unranked in the Enquirer poll, upset Number 4 Ryle by a final score of 18-10.

SK came out on defense first. Ryle moved the ball down field in fairly easy fashion during their first drive. Once they got deep into Pioneer territory, the SK defense dug in and held Ryle to a field goal.

The Pioneer offense struggled in the field position game during the half. However, Ryle’s offensive was putting the ball on the ground thanks to the hard hitting Pioneer defense that came out inspired. Highlight of the half had to be Craig Schadler picking off the Ryle fumble and taking off down field to take the ball deep into Ryle territory. Although SK had good field position, they couldn’t capitalize on the turnovers. SK went into half-time down by a 3-0 score. The feeling that there was a real game at hand started to set in.

Craig Schadler rumblin down the field.

The Pioneers got on the board first in the second half after a Pat Bustle to Nathan Ponzer pass took SK deep into Ryle territory. SK didn’t move the ball much from there and Senior kicker Bryan King came in for a 44 yard field goal attempt. GOOD! SK ties the score at 3.

Ryle countered the SK field goal with a long sustained drive and the kicked extra point for a 10-3 lead.

Ryle seemed to get frustrated as the game wore on while SK kept composed and played like they belonged in the game. A costly unsportsmanlike penalty against the Raiders allowed the Pioneers to gain some momentum and keep their first real sustained drive of the night alive. On a third and long play, Bustle called up Junior Grant Schneider’s number and the wide-out pulled in a pass off his finger tips and took it to the house. SK ran a quick strike two point conversion as Nate Ponzer lined up under center and completed the pass for the deuce conversion. The play made the statement that the Pioneers were not just playing for pride but were trying to put the win on the board. SK goes up 11-10.

SK scored again in the 4th quarter as Ponzer ran an out pattern to the pylon after the Ryle defenders turned inside. Ponzer ended up wide open for the TD. King booted the extra point for an 18-10 lead.

The game at this point fell squarely on the shoulders of the SK defense. The Pioneer D stopped Ryle on 4 downs with about 5 minutes to go. SK got the ball back in Ryle territory but failed to advance. King took another long range field goal but the southerly wind caused the kick to fall short.

Ryle takes over on downs and takes the ball down to the SK 15 with less than two minutes to go. Ryle chose to throw the ball on 4th down and the pass was broken up by two SK defenders.

The Pioneer offense takes the field and runs the clock out. Pioneers win!!!

SK simply played with pure heart and determination. Ryle might have been a heavy favorite but they somewhat came unglued as a result of their miscue fumbles and penalties. That doesn’t take anything away from the SK kids as the offense took advantage of three big plays and the defense rose to every 4th down challenge they were presented.

The last play of Ryle’s final drive summed up the game for me. On third down, Tyler Hopperton picked himself off the field after getting a pretty good bell ringer. He stumbled to the huddle and fastened his chin strap. It looked as if a sub was coming in for him but he waived the substitute off. The Senior captain’s defense dug in and knocked down the pass to seal the win.

After the game, the fans just kind of hung out and relished the win. Parents hugged players, former players hugged coaches, coaches hugged coaches and high fives were thrown about everywhere. Nobody wanted to leave!

Congratulations to Coach Marksberry, the coaching staff and the entire team for believing in yourselves even when others thought the gap was too big to cross and you didn’t have a chance. A victory in true Pioneer spirit.

Tons of pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/figsfotos/

HERE COME THE PIONEERS!!!!!!!!!