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The Grantsburg Pirates had a few offensive highlights last Friday against Stratford, including this reception for a first down by junior wideout Trenton Johnson from quarterback Aaron Burkman.
Pirate junior Zach Rombach pulled in a nice catch for a first down in the second quarter, but the Pirates could not convert that success into a score, and ended up not scoring until the fourth quarter against the Stratford defense, which proved to be stingy with scoring.
The Grantsburg secondary had their hands full with the Stratford offense and receiver Gavin Leonhardt, such as this second quarter pass for a touchdown that put the game out of reach in the end. The Tigers would go on to score again just before halftime.
The Grantsburg Pirates had a few offensive highlights last Friday against Stratford, including this reception for a first down by junior wideout Trenton Johnson from quarterback Aaron Burkman.
Pirate junior Zach Rombach pulled in a nice catch for a first down in the second quarter, but the Pirates could not convert that success into a score, and ended up not scoring until the fourth quarter against the Stratford defense, which proved to be stingy with scoring.
The Grantsburg secondary had their hands full with the Stratford offense and receiver Gavin Leonhardt, such as this second quarter pass for a touchdown that put the game out of reach in the end. The Tigers would go on to score again just before halftime.
After a spectacular regular season that put them atop their conference, followed by two huge playoff wins at home, the Grantsburg Pirates football squad finally ended their 2022 campaign last Friday in Level 3 of the WIAA Division 6 playoffs, where they fell to Stratford by a final score of 27-7.
The contest was quite close until the waning moments of the first half, when Stratford exploded for three scores in just a few minutes, including off the interception of a Pirate pass for paydirt.
The Pirates would not recover, and while they held them somewhat at bay on the second half and were able to score once, the damage was done, and the Pirates season ended with the closing seconds of the game.
“Stratford is a very good football team and we needed to play a much cleaner game Friday night,” Pirate head coach Adam Hale said. “We didn't execute well enough on offense and struggled converting on fourth (down) and shorts to keep drives alive.”
The Pirates had a hard time getting their offense in gear, and managed just 23 yards rushing, with quarterback Aaron Burkman having slightly better luck in the air, going 13 of 20 for 97 yards and a score, as well as one interception. Trenton Johnson also threw four passes and completed two, for a total of 25 yards.
“Credit to Stratford's defense, who filled fast and tackled well,” Coach Hale added. “The mistakes we made in the last few minutes of the second quarter really cost us as it should have been 0-7 going into halftime. I thought we played good defense in the third quarter and our guys definitely didn't quit. I'm proud of their efforts all season.”
Pirate junior Zach Rombach had the lone Grantsburg score, which came late in the game on a Burkman pass, to get the squad on the scoreboard. But it proved too little, too late.
“It really was a good season for us as I think we came out of nowhere to win the conference and make it to Level 3,” Coach Hale added proudly. “No one had predicted that prior to the season start as Unity and Hurley were the favorites. After a 1-2 start, the team kept believing we could make a run and we did. We ended up playing our best football the second half of the season, especially improving on defense throughout the year.”
The Pirates finished with an overall record of 6-0 in conference play, and 10-3 overall. The Pirates graduate seven of their players, but they have a deep bench of undergrads to help fill the voids in 2023.
“We are really going to miss our senior class as they provided energy, leadership and unselfishness throughout their four years,” Coach Hale said in closing.
Stratford goes on to play St. Mary’s Spring at Stratford next Friday, with the winner going to the State Finals.
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