Nestled in two small towns in Central Minnesota, two teams who have been battling for nearly half a century closed down their respective towns to come out and support their high school football team. This is one of those games that gives bragging rights for the entire year until the teams play again in the fall. With this particular rivalry, wins and losses have gone back and forth amongst the schools and there is no lopsided winning record at either school. Pierz were the 2015 AAA Champions and Holdingford were the 2014 AA State Champions, so this game means a lot to not only both schools, but each town.

MVP

Jalen Jansen

Pierz

SCHOLAR ATHLETES

Tyler Kunstleben

Pierz

Tyler is a 3-year letter winner and a 2-year starter at guard. Evan puts forth a lot of hard work and effort into his education and extracurricular activities.

Evan Demorett

Holdingford

Evan is a 3-sport letter winner – 2 years in football and 3 in basketball and track. Evan is also a member of P4T, National Honor Society, Peer Helpers, and the Leaders Council.

HALL OF FAME

Dan Saehr

Pierz

Dan played his sophomore, junior, and senior years at quarterback. During his senior year, Dan led his team to victory to break the 20+ game winning streak of Holdingford in their conference.

Matt Messman

Holdingford

Matt was a 4-year letter winner at running back and middle linebacker. He was a 3-time Central Minnesota and All-Conference team member. Matt was also the captain of the 2014 State Championship team. He is currently a student at St. John’s University and is currently coaching track and football.

GAME SUMMARY

The first quarter was deadlocked until junior Luke Girtz rushed into the end zone with 4:16 left to play. Holdingford answered right back when quarterback Evan Demorett connected on a 59-yard pass to Griffin Olson to make the score 7-7. Holdingford scored again after a turnover and before the end of the first quarter on an 11-yard run by Olson to make the score 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter went back and forth and was scoreless until Girtz scored with 2:16 remaining in the second half to make the score 14-14. Pierz recovered the ball after a stop in the second half that led to a score by quarterback Preston Rocheleau to make the score 21-14 before halftime. Holdingford never was able to make a run in the second half, but Pierz was able to score twice in the fourth quarter as Carson Huls and MVP Jalen Jansen scored with 6:02 and 4:57 remaining in the quarter, respectively.