The Pierz football team is no stranger to a big stage, as the Pioneers have reached the state AAA semifinals six years in a row. However, just making it to Minneapolis is no longer the goal for the powerhouse program. The Pioneers are on a mission to end their season just as they did in 2015 and 2017 – with a state championship.

After ending their season last year with a 3A state semi-final loss at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Pierz football team is more than ready to be back at “The Bank.”

“The last like four weeks we have been so focused, like you can tell we are in playoff mode,” said Pierz senior running back/wide receiver Matthias Algarin.

“We take a lot of pride in doing things the right way and we just don’t emphasis one side of the ball, we emphasis offense, defense, and we try to touch on special teams as much as possible, especially come playoff time,” said Pierz Head Coach Danny Saehr.

It’s no secret that the man that makes the pioneers go is senior Matthias Algarin, but no team makes it this deep into the postseason without having multiple playmakers.

“Matthias is obviously a playmaker, he’s made a lot of plays for us over the year, but sometimes you can kind of use him as a decoy,” said senior offensive lineman Zach Traut.

“Our team is full of playmakers and obviously people see the skill players and playmakers, but if you look out there and see it as plays, we have lineman pulling, knocking out the end, making big holes, we have lots and lots of playmakers on this team,” said Algarin.

The team Pierz faces in the semi-final, Jackson County Central will also have a lot of playmakers.

“I think going into the game it’s the number one scoring offenses and defenses in the class 3A and number are what they are, but they are there for a reason this time of the year, so it’s going to be a slug-fest,” said Saehr.

Pierz will be facing Jackson County Central at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis this Saturday at 4:30 PM. Both are the only two undefeated teams remaining in Class AAA.

By — Nathan Green