Go Pirates!

Post from: We are Grantsburg

XC pep rally

The Pirate football team will be playing past the regular season for the first time since 2006 after winning tonight against Flambeau 32-29 in one whale of a game.

The Pirates had a couple nice leads in the game 12-0 andlater 32-14, but the Flambeau Falcons were not ready to give up and came back and had a chance to tie or win late in the game. A Trevor Thompson interception (his second of the night) saved the day with 1:30 left on the clock. Grantsburg knelt three times to expire the game clock and celebrate with each other after winning their fourth conference game thus guaranteeing themselves a place in the postseason.

It was an entertaining game to say the least. Flambeau had a kickoff return for a touchdown, the Pirate's defense was stellar, the running game couldn't be stopped (Grantsburg wasn't forced to punt until the fourth quarter), an onside kick to start the second half for Grantsburg (didn't work because of a penalty), an onside kick that did work for Flambeau at the end of the game, and on and on I could go (you can listen to the game if you want… just follow the link at the top of this post).

Grantsburg finishes the regular season at 5-4 and 4-2 in the Large Lakeland which will secure them second place. The Falcons fall to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

The Pirates scored five touchdowns on the night but missed all but one two point conversion, thus leaving the door open for Flambeau.

The Pirates outgained the Falcons 401 to 244, but some big plays and a turnover kept the score within reach for the Falcons who briefly held a 14-12 lead in the second quarter. Both Kyle Johnson and Derek Bertelsen had over 120 yards rushing. Derek had four touchdown runs (1,1,1,4) Kyle had a touchdown reception (11, from Brent Myers).

The playoff brackets will be released tomorrow. It is unknown what time, but stay tuned to this website to get a first look at who the Pirates will be playing next Tuesday night. They will more than likely be on the road, but that's better than the alternative.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Pirate football back in the playoffs

That's right… the Grantsburg football team made itself eligible for the 2010 playoffs by defeating the Cameron Comets 36-14 last night.

Grantsburg played an epic first half which saw Derek Bertelsen find the end zone four times and rush for over 230 yards. He had touchdown runs of 49, 12, 77, and 82 as Grantsburg staked themselves a 36-8 halftime lead.

Kyle Johnson also had well over 100 yards in the first half as well as a touchdown and three two point conversions.

Grantsburg's defense was also key in this victory as they forced five turnovers on downs, had two interceptions and a fumble recovery. The pass defense was outstanding all night as Cameron liked to put the ball in the air with their sophomore quarterback. Trevor Thompson did a great job in pass defense as he knocked several balls down and also had a big interception at the Grantsburg five yard line. Gavin Meyer played a terrific game as well as he had the other interception and kept Cameron from getting around the edge on running plays.

Connor and Brent Myers also had big games on defense and David Ohnstad continued to do well in the kicking game.

It was a very fun game to cover and to be a fan of the Pirates.

They now have three conference wins and assure themselves a .500 record at worst at the end of the season. That makes them eligible for the playoffs, but does not guarantee them a spot. In order for them to guarantee they make it they would have to win one of their next two games. But wait, there's more… if they win their next two games they will win conference. There's only one unbeaten team in the conference and they play them next week. It's Clear Lake, and they are the heavy favorites to win the conference, but the upstart Pirates have a chance to beat them if they put it all together like they did last night against Cameron.

Congratulations Grantsburg!

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Pirate football is playoff eligible

What a fantastic game for Pirate fans as Grantsburg upends St. Croix Falls 22-15.

It was a classic back and forth game with relatively few penalties and miscues (which marred last week's game against Webster).

The Pirates took an 8-0 lead with 2:44 left in the first half. That lead would hold til halftime.

The first drive of the second half was a short one for the Saints as they returned the kickoff to Grantsburg's 40 and drove for a touchdown and tied the score with the successful two point conversion.

The Saints scored again two possessions later, again from about forty yards out because of a partially blocked punt and an aware St. Croix player picking it up and returning it. SCF took the lead by seven after they kicked the extra point.

Grantsburg then scored on a 25 yard touchdown from Kyle Johnson. He also caught the two point conversion to take a 16-15 lead. Turns out that's all the Pirates would need, but they did add another touchdown near the end of the game to seal the deal.

Kyle Johnson had a monster game with two touchdown runs of 25 and 15 along with some giant runs that didn't go for scores. Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep stats, but you can look those up in the paper later. Brent Myers had a fantastic game, too completing some beautiful passes to several different receivers. He completed two long ones, one to Trevor Thompson and one to Jim Nelson (who also caught a two point conversion).

I think David Ohnstad deserves some props as well. He had several nice punts tonight. On the first drive, Grantsburg stalled and he boomed one inside the ten yard line. He had a couple more very nice punts as well as some nice kickoffs that were hard to field. There was one punt that was partially blocked, but that wasn't David's fault. I think this might have been one of the best kicking games I've seen from Grantsburg in a long time.

Damien Rasmussen and Gavin Meyer had outstanding days on defense as well. SCF has a very good running back named Nick Johnson but Damien and Gavin along with the rest of the defense did a very good job of keeping him in check.

Maybe the person most deserving of praise is head coach Keith Lehne. He has been through some tough seasons after having won so many years in a row. I thought tonight's game was very well coached and his decisions were outstanding. His team played hard for him and he deserves an 'atta boy for the win tonight.

Congratulations Pirates, and especially you seniors, for a great homecoming win!

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Grantsburg wins homecoming 2010

I didn't keep stats during the game tonight that saw the Webster Tigers outlast the Grantsburg Pirates 8-6, but I have a pretty good idea what story they told.

The Pirates couldn't get out of their own way tonight as they would turn promising drives and plays into negatives with penalties and miscues.

The most glaring of the miscues were the fumbled snaps. The center/quarterback exchange doomed the Pirates tonight. Yes, the field conditions were poor, but they were poor for Webster, too (I think Webster only botched the snap once). If I recall correctly, the Pirates fumbled the snap five times (recovering every one). There was one in particular that stands out above the others.

It was a third and less than a yard in Webster territory. It was a 90% chance Grantsburg converts, instead the ball bounces and Brent Myers falls on it. Loss of a yard or so and loss of down. Fourth down. Forcing the Pirates to punt.

It seemed like they would be driving then have an illegal shift penalty (which was flagged on both teams several times… it was bizarre). Once they had a big Kyle Johnson run and there was holding. A Connor Myers first down run also got negated due to holding. I had a hard time not getting frustrated just calling the game, I can't imagine being a player or coach.

Another killer was after Webster's lone touchdown (a 77 yard Mason Kriegel bit) the Pirates seemingly stopped the two point conversion, but in came a flag and a face mask penalty was assessed against the Pirates, giving Webster another shot. The Tigers converted and the Pirates ended up losing by two.

There were plenty of negative things that happened in this game from a Pirate perspective and it doesn't do much good to dwell on them. It was a frustrating game to watch because it was clear (at least to me) that the Pirates should have and could have won this game.

The Tigers struggled mightily moving the ball. The Pirate defense played very well forcing several three-and-out drives.

I'm guessing the Pirates out-gained the Tigers by a 2:1 ratio, if not more. That's not to say Grantsburg had their way with the Tigers defense, it's just that the Pirates would move the ball and then fumble or get moved back by penalty. I know you can't do this, but if you take out the negative penalty yardage and take away Kriegel's big run… it would look like a big win for Grantsburg (I'm only guessing, I didn't keep stats).

So this will be one that Grantsburg players look back on in the years to come and think of all the missed opportunities and miscues that cost them the game. If you read an earlier post about the Pirates making the playoffs you would know that I thought this was a key game for them to have a chance. The Pirates now need to win their next two games and find a way to beat Flambeau and/or Clear Lake to make the postseason.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Pirates throw themselves overboard

I made the trip to Colfax to announce the football game against the Vikings. It was one of the longest non-overtime games I've ever been to. It took over three hours to play the game.

It was never in doubt.

The Pirates staked themselves a 36-12 halftime lead. Nobody scored in the third quarter and Colfax outscored the Pirates in the fourth, but not by nearly enough to overcome the big lead the Pirates had.

The final was 49-32.

Derek Bertelsen ran for over 200 yards. Kyle Johnson had over 100. Connor Myers came close to the century mark with about 80 yards himself. Quarterback Daniel Larsen was pretty good with over 100 yards through the air and a touchdown. He was intercepted twice, one of them on a play in which his receivers ran into each other the other was a very nice play by the defensive back.

Grantsburg moves to 2-2 overall and remain 1-0 in the Large Lakeland. They take on Webster (1-3, 0-2) on Friday night and I'll be there to broadcast the game.

Team Stats

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Pirates football win two in a row

The Pirates trailed 21-8 heading to half as Unity scored with 0:02 left in the second quarter. It could've been a backbreaker. It could've been a "here we go again" moment. But it wasn't. Unity would not score another point.

The Pirates received the ball to start the second half and RAMMED it down Unity's metaphorical throat. Grantsburg scored in three plays. The Pirates had it inside the ten the next two times they had possession, but were unable to capitalize. On the first one Kyle Johnson ripped off a huge run and was caught at the five where an opportunistic Unity defender ripped the ball out of his arms and fell on it. The next possession, Grantsburg had a fourth and five from the ten and were unable to convert it to a first down.

They did score on their next drive and were able to tie it up.

Fast forward to overtime…

Grantsburg won the toss and elected to have possession of the ball second. (Click here for the overtime rules… Wisconsin high schools start the ball on the 25 yard line… it used to be the 10). Unity lost five yards and turned it over on downs.

Grantsburg picked up a first down and eventually faced a 3rd and 7 from the 12 yard line. They took a timeout. They discussed the play. It was a bread and butter pass play that is practiced over and over from seventh grade on. Quarterback Daniel Larsen has probably run the play 500 times in his life. If this was 501 it is the most memorable.

Kyle Johnson found himself wide open in the end zone. Larsen just had to get it to him. He did. Grantsburg won on a walkoff touchdown.

It was a blast calling the game… I'll post some stats at some point, but anyone who was there will be talking about that one for a long time.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Pirates win!

Grantsburg moves to 2-3 in the conference. With a win against Clear Lake next week, Grantsburg would technically be eligible for the playoffs, but would probably not be included because they would not have an overall winning record. As it is now Grantsburg is 2-3 in the conference and 3-5 overall.

The game was a breath of fresh air for Pirate fans. Big plays and turnovers have been killers in the past couple games for the guys in Purple, but tonight they limited their turnovers (thought I think they lost the turnover battle 3-1) and allowed no big plays… while turning in a few of their own.

Grantsburg’s big plays were courtesy of Kyle Johnson. He had a 52 yard run which led the Grantsburg’s third and final touchdown of the night. Then he and QB Brent Myers connected on a couple of 40 yard passes in the game as well.

I think the game can be summed up with just one word.

Solid.

The defense played great, holding Cameron to several three and out drives and stopping them on fourth down once. And obviously holding them scoreless.

The offense did what they are supposed to. They ran effectively, gained good yardage on first downs and threw only occasionally. That is a recipe that has produced success in the past.

Like the title says, the Pirates won three games (Cameron, Colfax, Unity) at home while losing only one (Webster).

They probably won’t make the playoffs this year, but I think most people would qualify this year a success as the team has turned it around after the brutal year last year (winless) and the tough start, the Pirates seem to be heading in the right direction and that is a testament to Head Coach Keith Lehne and his coaching staff.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Pirates move to 3-1 at home

The Pirates finished just two strokes behind the third place team (they were well out of range of first and second) and finished two strokes ahead of the fifth place team.

The Pirates shot a two round cumulative total of 121 over par (that sounds enormous, but it is a five player, two day total. The winning team was 71 over par).

Derek Sando shot two scores of 80 and was seventh on the individual leaderboard. If I’m not mistaken, that will qualify him as an all-state golfer. Don’t quote me on that, though.

Congratulations to Sando, Brad Berner, Tony Folk, Connar Goetz and Kyle Johnson!

Here’s a picture of the team after winning the sectional meet.

Photo courtesy of the Burnett County Sentinel

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Pirate golfers fourth at state