VERMILLION — Pierre’s Jerren Deal stepped up when the Govs needed him most.

After an injury to starting quarterback Kaleb Lounsbury, Deal was thrusted into the starting role during the back half of the regular season in a 45-28 win over Spearfish on Oct. 17.

The 6-foot, 160-pound sophomore was the starting JV quarterback up until then, getting his first varsity reps all season.

“He played every snap of JV quarterback this season and then as soon as the JV season gets done, our starter gets hurt and he gets to play varsity quarterback,” Pierre head coach Steve Steele said. “I think he got to play 12 games at quarterback this year, but only four and three quarters at the varsity level.”

Regardless of his experience, Deal was dealing in his increased role, leading the Govs to five straight wins, capping it off with a 56-35 state championship victory Friday at the DakotaDome.

“After the Spearfish game I kind of stepped in and did my role,” Deal said. “Steele just wanted me to step up, he said no one needed to be heroes, we all just had to do our part. I just did my part.”

Steele noted postgame that Deal was forced into a tough situation with a midgame injury, leaving the Pierre offense limited for the game against Spearfish but quickly opened up the playbook in the weeks following.

“If you go back to our Spearfish game when Kaleb got hurt, we kind of were limited at that point,” Steele said. “We had two formations and four plays. But then we get the news that Kaleb is done and all of a sudden, we’re able to build around that.”

It also helps to have standout playmakers all around your young quarterback and it showed in the Class 11AA state championship.

Jerren Deal (1) hands off to Pierre's Porter Hunsley (14) against Yankton during the Class 11AA state championship game on Friday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion. (Matt Gade / 605 Sports)

Sophomore running back Porter Hunsley rushed 23 times for 171 yards and four touchdowns, catching a 19-yard touchdown, junior Carter Schiefelbein netted seven catches for 172 yards and a touchdown while junior tight end Cooper Terwilliger ended the day with five catches for 79 yards and a score as well.

“It really makes it that more possible to do that and build around when you have a Carter and when you have a Cooper, and then Porter we kind of put back there in the playoffs,” Steele said. “That definitely gives him more confidence to just trust his  teammates and that was kind of the thought process we had with him ever since he went in. We don’t need superman, we just need Jerren.”

Deal ended the championship completing 14-of-20 pass attempts for 287 yards and three touchdowns, adding 44 yards on 13 carries as well. For a quarterback just getting his first taste of varsity football, he showed out on the biggest stage.

“He’s just impressive,” Steele said of Deal. “He’s a quick study, he works so hard and I think just mentally he does a great job back there.”

Deal’s best throw of the night came late in the first half of the highest scoring 11-man championship in state history. At the Pierre 49-yard line, Deal fired a prayer to the 6-foot-6 tight end Terwilliger, bringing it down and powering his way into the end zone giving Pierre a huge momentum boost going into the halftime break.

“We’ve been practicing that during this week if we had to and Coop made a great catch and went in and scored.

“That gave us a lot of confidence, we were really feeling it after that one.”

Deal said Friday’s championship was a little nerve-wracking, but just trusted the guys around him to get the job done and bring home the 11th state championship for Pierre.

“A little bit, but not too much,” said Deal of the nerves going into the championship game. “I’ve got a great group of guys around me, I just had to find a way to get them the ball.”