Riders give up 342 passing yards, 5 TDs in loss at Van Wert.
Things could not have gone better on New Bremen’s first offensive drive of the night.
Zach Bertke carried the ball seven times for the Cardinals (2-2, 2-2 MAC), picking up three first downs along the way.
On 2nd and 12, Mitchell Hays rolled out to his left and found a wide open Kyle Tenkman, hitting him in stride as he outraced the Coldwater (4-0, 4-0 MAC) defense and took it to the house for a touchdown. An Owen Gabel PAT was good and New Bremen was out in front early, 7-0.
On their first offensive drive, Coldwater took over at the 35-yard line after New Bremen’s kick landed out of bounds.
The Cavaliers picked up three first downs of their own before New Bremen was able to force a 4th and 4.
Opting to go for it, Coldwater’s Myles Blasingame rolled to his left looking for an open receiver but Bertke wrapped him up in the backfield, making the stop and getting the ball back for the Cardinals.
Hoping to keep the momentum rolling after the fourth down stop, New Bremen couldn’t get anything going as Coldwater forced a three and out.
But on the opening play of Coldwater’s next drive, New Bremen’s David Homan intercepted Blasingame, giving the Cardinals the ball at their own 21-yard line.
Unable to do anything on offense once again, New Bremen was forced to punt from their own 25-yard line but on the play, Coldwater defenders were able to get to punter Colten Muether who was tackled at the 11-yard line, giving the Cavaliers the ball inside the redone, a turning point in Friday’s contest.
“It was just a breakdown,” said New Bremen head coach Chris Schmidt on the fourth down play. “It was a missed assignment. Those things hurt. You just can’t make a bunch of those mistakes. It’s 7-0 at that time and all of a sudden we give it to them right there. Yeah, that hurt.”
Four Blasingame runs was all it took for Coldwater to get on the board and make it a 7-7 game.
New Bremen went three and out on their next possession and Coldwater took over at their own 42-yard line.
Blasingame ran three times and Zack McKibben ran it twice on the drive, getting to New Bremen’s 4-yard line.
On 2nd and goal, Blasingame found Jay Muhlenkamp in the right side of the endzone for the touchdown. A made PAT gave the Cavaliers a 14-7 lead.
The Cardinals picked up two first downs on their next drive before facing a 4th and 1, on their own 44-yard line.
Electing to go for it, Zach
Bertke ran it up the middle. Too close to tell, officials called for a measurement. Short. The ball went back to Coldwater.
“We did a good job of battling and keeping them out and it just felt like we needed something to get us going here and maybe start to shift the momentum,” said Schmidt about electing to go for it on fourth down. “I felt pretty good at that time going for it and they stuffed us, credit to them.”
The Cardinals were flagged for roughing the passer on Coldwater’s first play on the ensuing drive.
On the fifth play, Blasingame found Jesse Meyer for a 15-yard catch to get down to the 4.
Two straight incompletions and a loss of four yards on a screen play to Marcel Blasingame forced Coldwater to take the points, kicking a 25-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in the half.
New Bremen kneeled it out and went into halftime down 17-7.
Following halftime, New Bremen forced Coldwater to turn it over on downs and the Cardinals took over at their own 24-yard line following a punt.
Three and out again went the Cardinals after three straight incomplete Hays’ passes.
New Bremen’s defense allowed one fourth down conversion on Coldwater’s following drive, but stopped them on 4th and 6 on their own 6-yard line.
The teams traded punts the next three series and Coldwater got the ball with 11:04 remaining in the fourth quarter.
A nine-play drive capped off by a three-yard Myles to Marcel Blasingame touchdown to go up 24-7 shut down any hopes for a Cardinals comeback.
Both teams put in reserves in the middle of the fourth quarter and the scoring and game was complete.
Coldwater dominated the time of possession Friday night, holding the ball for 29:08 to New Bremen’s 18:50 and Schmidt agreed that was an issue.
“That’s the area we got to grow the most,” he said. “Offensively, it’s finding some consistency and executing at a higher level. Because it’s tough when you play a team like that, to leave your defense out that long. It’s hard.”
Following the early spark that was Tenkman’s touchdown, the Cardinals offense didn’t have much success.
“Credit to their kids and their coaching staff, they kind of tightened it up on defense,” Schmidt noted about Coldwater. “We just couldn’t consistently put some things together. We had a play or two here or there but we just couldn’t follow it up.”
Bertke led the way for the Cardinals on Friday, rushing for 32 yards on 11 carries and recording 14 solo tackles and two tackles for loss on defense.