After a one-week bye, the Pierz football team is officially in Prep Bowl game week, as the Pioneers look to win their fourth-ever state title this Saturday against Dassel-Cokato. The Chargers will be trying to find a way to shut down Pierz’s run-heavy offense full of talented running backs. However, the Pioneers know they have one key player on the offensive side of the ball that is flying a bit under the radar.

Early in their state semifinal matchup against Jackson County Central, the Pioneer’s dominant running game was getting bottled up, so the Pioneers turned to Plan B, which was the arm of quarterback Peter Schommer. The senior passed for 150 yards with two long touchdown passes, but his head coach says he’s been leading the team and making plays all year long.

“Peter Schommer has had an outstanding year: first off, he commands a great huddle, he’s a leader out there, whether he’s throwing the ball two times a game or ten times a game, we know he’s going to take a lot of pride in it and he wants to win,” said Pierz Head Coach Danny Saehr. “Last Saturday he made some big-time throws in some big-time moments, and he’s a big reason we’re moving on, we had to go to the passing a few times and he came up clutch and made some big-time passes.”

“Ever since the start of the season every day we want to get better, whether it’s getting ourselves better, knowing the other team better, we want to get better every single practice that we come to and that goes for this week, too, we want to make ourselves better and play the best game we can,” said Schommer.

By — Chaz Mootz