Turnovers the key as Lancers oust Bremen
LAKEVILLE — It has always been a spirited rivalry. Just 10 miles separate Bremen and Laville and the schools are old Northern State Conference foes.
From the coaches to the players, they know each other.
The Lions and Lancers opened the season on a hot, humid night back in August and Laville nipped the hosts at Don J. Bunge Field.
Friday, it was Laville’s turn to host at Lancer Field. This time, the weather was in the 50s, but it rained the entire game.
Laville scored two first-half touchdowns and held off Bremen 14-6 to pick up a Class 2A Sectional 34 high school football victory. With the win, Laville will play host to the Pioneer-delphi winner on November 5. That game is scheduled to be played at Lancer Field in Lakeville.
Each possession was going to be important on Friday with rain and poor field conditions at Lancer Field.
Laville received the opening kick and was very aggressive about the way they were going to start the game.
The Lancer backs hit the holes hard and quick, while the offensive line was doing its part to open big holes for huge chunks of yardage.
It took LHS 65 yards in 12 plays to get on the board as Noah Richhart dove over the goal line from four yards out. The point-after was failed and Laville led 6-0.
After a fumbled punt attempt by Bremen put Laville just 15 yards from pay dirt, Paul Dewitt answered the challenge and took the ball four yards for a touchdown. With the field conditions being slippery, at best, Laville coach Will Hostrawser decided to go for the two-point conversion.
Lucas Plummer ran the ball into the end zone to make it a 14-0 Lancer lead.
Two Fumbles in their first three possessions set Bremen back as the Lakeville hosts took that lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Laville offense was just shy of 100 total yards in the first half, while the Laville defense held Bremen to just four total yards from scrimmage.
An interception by Laville’s Collin Czarnecki stopped a would-be drive at the Lancer 25-yard line after it seemed Bremen found some footing driving the ball seven plays before Czarnecki’s pick.
The third quarter remained scoreless as both teams struggled to get much going.
Bremen, however, seemed to find some life with the running of Lance Mosher and Austin Mckenzie. The duo helped the Lions move the ball inside five before quarterback Ethan Nunemaker looked like he was going to roll left, but did an about-face and dove into the end zone from a yard out to put BHS on the board. The Laville defense pout a brick wall to stack up the two-point conversion short of the end zone to narrow the score to 14-6 to start the fourth quarter.
Each team had the ball three more times but were unable to mount any further scoring to close out the game.
Running back Paul Dewitt finished with 111 yards on 28 carries and basically picked up the game-winning touchdown with 8:02 left in the second quarter for the Lancers for the 14-0 lead.
Sophomore Lance Moser, who came into the game with over 1,000 rushing yards, was held to under 20 yards by the Laville defense in the first half. He did finish strong with several key runs in the second half to finish with 130 yards on 22 carries.
The day started with rain in Lakeville, which put scoring at a minimum. As the day turned to late afternoon, fog rolled in for a short period of time showing there was more precipitation on the way. The already soaked field took its toll the entire game and forced Bremen to fumble six times on the wet Lancer Field, losing two in a first half.
Laville improves to 8-2, while Bremen finishes at 7-4 overall.
It was the fifth straight victory for Laville since Hostrawser took over the program nine years ago.
CLASS 2A SECTIONAL 34 LAVILLE 14, BREMEN 6
At Lakeville
Bremen 0 0 0 6 - 6
Laville 6 8 0 0 - 14
Scoring Summary
L - Noah Richhart 5 run; kick failed L - Paul Dewitt 4 run; Lucas Plummer run
B - Ethan Nunemaker 1 run; run failed