Beating the number three ranked team in the state on their home field in constant rain proved to be too many obstacles to overcome for the Pioneers in the second round of the sectional tournament. Boonville fell to Jasper, 28-0, Friday night.

Time of possession was a huge factor in the Pioneers' demise. The Wildcats (11-0) opened the game with a five-minute drive of 68 yards, followed with a successful on-side kick that resulted in a second Jasper score. That move took up another two minutes and left Boonville (8-3) with a 12-0 deficit before the offense even stepped on the field.

The only bright spot for the Pioneers in the first half came on special teams, as David Underhill blocked the Wildcats' first extra point attempt and Kyle Whitten recovered a fumble on Jasper's two-point conversion attempt after their second score.

"We wanted to try and take advantage of the weather and poor field conditions at the beginning of the game and receive the ball to start the second half," said James Blankenship, Boonville's head coach. "But, they came up with two key third down conversions on the opening drive and went up. Even after the score, we got a little bit of a lift from Underhill's block. The kids were fired up and we looked to be in pretty good position. But they got the on-side kick and that's definitely not how we wanted to start the game."

The Pioneers' first - and only - possession of the first quarter was a three-and-out. That was followed up by another Wildcat drive and touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter, putting the home team ahead, 20-0.

Boonville's first drive of the second quarter was stopped short on a fourth down attempt, which gave Jasper a short field. But, the Pioneer defense held tough on a fourth-and-eight to get the ball back.

The next Boonville possession looked like it was going to return to seasonal form as Cameron Morris hit Ridge Green on a 24-yard pass play. But again, time of possession was working against Boonville with just over four minutes left on the clock. The drive stalled at the 30 yard line on a fourth down attempt with 2:14 left on the clock.

"Jasper changed up a few things defensively from the previous game, but they just took it to us up front, especially in the first half," Blankenship said.

The second half was almost a repeat of the first, with Boonville unable to get any ground game or aerial assault established.

The third quarter saw Jasper use up over nine minutes of the clock to put one more score on the board and close out the scoring for the night.

"We tried to do some things differently in the second half, but we just couldn't get any speed up field, which forced us to rely more on the pass," Blankenship said. "With the conditions, passing was anybody's guess, so we were really in a tough spot."

The Pioneers ended their 2009 season with the most wins in a campaign since 2003, while playing in a conference that saw five of its seven schools finish the year with winning records. Seventeen seniors finished their football careers Friday night, having been a part of a program that went from one win two years ago to five wins last year and an 8-3 record this year.