Pioneers Overcome Turnovers to Win Going Away

By Jim Walsh [May 17, 2025]

The St. Paul Pioneers opened their 24 th season of amateur football with a convincing 34-8 victory over the Dubuque Miners.

Opening the scoring at Burnsville High School, quarterback Matthew Thayer hit Joshua Castro on a go route down the right sideline. The 50-plus-yard play made it 6-0 Pioneers, a score that stuck after the team in cardinal and black missed the point-after.

The Pioneers doubled up the score a few minutes later, as Zayin Smith rumbled into the end zone. Another missed PAT made the score 12-0, Pioneers.

At that point, the game became a defensive slugfest, with both the home team and the visitors snagging interceptions. A Dubuque touchdown pass put them on the scoreboard and their 2-point conversion left the Miners down 4 as the teams went into halftime.

While it was the first game of the season and mistakes were expected, nobody was satisfied with the team’s execution in the first half, players and coaches said.

“We had a real conversation at halftime about composure and team ball. It was our first game and guys are still getting a feel for the game. Coaches are still working on finding the right pairings,” said Jesse Luft, a senior assistant coach. “But I think the adjustments and focus we had coming from both the coaches and players showed up the second half.”

Well, not right away. For most of the third quarter, the teams traded turnovers, and momentum was hard to find

Until, that is, St. Paul found it.

At the beginning of the 4 th quarter, Thayer’s arm would launch another TD pass, this one to Anthony Baggett into the back corner of the endzone. The PAT, again, was unsuccessful. But the Pioneers would soon add to their 18-8 lead with another Zayin Smith rushing TD. This time, the Pioneers’ 2-point conversion, on another scamper by Smith, put St. Paul up 26-8.

The P-Unit was not yet finished. An interception by Henrich Ezin near midfield would lead to another TD pass, this one to Nathan Raggs. Another 2-point conversion finished the scoring on a cloudy and cool day.

Pioneers Head Coach Damien Rochon Washington praised his young squad for correcting what it needed to correct by the time the 4th quarter rolled around. “I think we’re a team heading in the right direction,” said Washington, a Pioneers Hall-of-Famer. “The turnovers were hiccups for a team learning how to win, learning how to finish things. Dubuque was a solid team. They played wonderfully and they travelled well. My hat’s off to them.”