Pioneers’ dramatic comeback tops Rough Riders with seconds to play

By Jim Walsh

Some games define a team. Some games save a season.

The St. Paul Pioneers’ dramatic victory over the River City Rough Riders Saturday in Burnsville may have done both.

Thanks to Tre Cunningham’s fourth-quarter interception and touchdown, St. Paul topped the Rough Riders 20-14. But it was the entire team’s full-game effort and late-game resilience that stood out to longtime coaches and staff members of the storied Pioneers franchise.

“These men never gave up, never stopped working,” said Pioneers Head Coach Damien Rochon-Washington, who has three National Championships as a player and a league championship as coach.

The result of this game puts the Pioneers in the playoffs. The way they won gives them a chance to do real damage.

“A pressure-packed win tonight… one we had to have and one we got in front of so many of my Pioneer alumni brothers,” Rochon-Washington said on social media immediately after the game. “Unit 25 is holding the standard and building a legacy of their own.”

For much of the game, the Pioneers were unable to move the ball. Thankfully, the Pioneers’ defense held a powerful Rough Riders offense at bay. The game was 14-0 entering the fourth quarter.

That’s when Matt Thayer and the rest of the St. Paul offense found its rhythm. Thayer hit Anthony Baggett, then Josh Castro, with touchdown passes. A two-point conversion by St. Paul tied the game at 14 with two minutes remaining.

The Rough Riders were able to move the ball downfield as the game clock ticked down but Cunnigham’’s pick-six gave St. Paul its only lead of the game. The Pioneers defense kept the Rough Riders from scoring late and St. Paul topped the team that had beaten an undermanned team weeks earlier.

The game was alumni night and several of the team’s former players, many of whom have won multiple league and regional crowns as well as three national championships, were in attendance.

That’s fitting. Their coach said the team has the foundation to achieve those heights as well.

“This game was the biggest win of my career,” he told his players. “And it shifted momentum of the season.”

J. Alfred Potter and Texal Belz contributed.