Pioneer ends dream

ROYAL CENTER — The Panthers’ high-powered offense was too much for the Starfires.
Pioneer senior Justin Mersch rushed for 273 yards and four touchdowns as the fifth-ranked host Panthers steamrolled South Adams 62-7 Friday in the Class 1A semi-state championship game.
The Panthers advance to the state title game against North Vermillion, which beat Indianapolis Lutheran 37-19 in the other semi-state battle. Pioneer is making its first appearance in the state finals since it won the title in 1997.
“That’s a whale of a football team there.” said SAHS coach Rick Burkhalter, whose Starfire squad reached the semi-state for just the second time in program history. “They’re going to be a tough team to beat next weekend.”
After the Starfires (7-7) chewed almost six minutes off the clock as they drove down the field on 14 plays, but failed to score, Pioneer (13-1) matched the effort with a 14-play drive of its own. Quarterback Sam Kiser finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown run with 35 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
The Panthers struck again four plays later, when SAHS signal-caller Derek Wanner was hit as he attempted to hand off the ball to Drew LeFever, and Pioneer’s Tyler Shaw scooped up the fumble at the Starfire 20 and went untouched to the end zone just 51 seconds into the second stanza.
Then, Mersch took over.
The 5-foot-9-inch, 180-pound speedster scored the first of his four touchdowns on a 59-yard scamper. He broke through the South Adams defense, cut to the right sideline, evaded a tackle attempt from Kyle Cox at the Starfire 30 and tiptoed in to give the host Panthers a 21-0 advantage.
It appeared as if the South Adams offense had finally got things going on the ensuing drive during which Wanner found a wide open Isaiah Amstutz over the middle for a 72-yard score, cutting the deficit to 21-7 with 5:58 remaining in the half.

But Mersch scored three more times on runs of 3, 1 and 78 yards before he was yanked in the fourth quarter to give the second team some playing time.
“He’s a great senior,” Pioneer coach Mike Johnson said of Mersch, who has ran for more than 1,700 this season. “He was a kid that really wasn’t a running back coming up through the program. He was more of a tight end and played some offensive line. About his sophomore year we moved him to the backfield, he went out for track and got faster and look at him now.”
On both of his long scores, the shifty back was untouchable after getting into the open field.
“They have speed,” Burkhalter said. “What they do, they do well, and they did it a lot better than we did anything tonight.”
In addition to Pioneer’s offense winning the footraces, the defensive line of the Panthers wreaked havoc on the Starfires.
South Adams had 10 offensive plays go for negative yardage, and it only crossed midfield once in the second half. It was rewarded with good field position midway through the third quarter, but managed only one yard on four plays before turning it over on downs.
“We were a little worried in the beginning (of the game) when they came out with the option and moved the ball,” Johnson said. “Our guys finally got accustomed and adjusted to it and played really well after that.”
Already leading 49-7, Pioneer tacked on two more scores — runs of 14 and 28 yards by Mersch’s younger brother Austin — to reach the 60-point plateau for the sixth time this season.
But despite the loss, Burkhalter was pleased the Starfires were able to advance this far.
“I’m proud of our kids and what they accomplished,” he said. “They’ve been the underdog all through this tournament run. They stepped up and played. I cannot say enough about our seniors.
“I knew this was a special group. I’m not surprised of where we’re at right now. It took them four years to win two sectional championships and a regional and I’m proud of that. Going forward, these young kids have learned a lot and they got to play another five weeks and that’s huge in the game of football.”