Cardinal football wins first regional title in program history, beat Marion Local
The New Bremen Cardinals (8-2) got their revenge and made history on Nov. 6 as they beat the Marion Local Flyers (9-1) in stunning fashion at Maria Stein to avenge an earlier season lost, and a loss to the Flyers in last year’s regional final, while securing the first regional title in program history, 24-17.
Both teams had grown immensely since the Flyers 21-13 win in week two of the regular season but the identities for both teams remained the same and mirrored each other. Establish the running game and play stout defense.
The difference maker on Friday evening came in the special teams department, with Cards senior Dan Homan blocking a punt and recovering it for the scoop and score with 1:30 left in the game to put the Cards up for good.
The Flyers received the opening kickoff and scored in under a minute.
After a first down run and reverse pass that fell incomplete on second down, Flyers junior quarterback Carson Griesdorn found sophomore running back Drew Seitz on a third and seven in the middle of the field.
Seitz evaded a tackle, made it to the sideline and took it 77-yards to the house as the Flyers went up 7-0 with 11:07
“Sometimes it’s almost easier to bounce back after a big play like that rather than if they march down the field,” said Cards head coach Chris Schmidt. “You can say, ‘hey, we should’ve done this or that,’ Thankfully our kids hung in there, there were times in the second half it didn’t look good but we hung in there and made some plays and got the momentum turned. “
In addition to that catch, Seitz was the leading Flyers rusher with 87 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Both teams punted after that before the Cards got the ball in good field position on the Flyer 45-yard line.
A 22-yard pass play on first down from Cards senior quarterback Mitchell Hays to Homan up the seam put the Cards in great field position but the Flyer defense would hold after the Cards made it first and goal from the 7-yard line.
Two run plays brought up a third and goal from the four that saw Hays get sacked by Seitz.
Cards junior Owen Gabel nailed a 27-yard field goal with 1:14 in the first to get the Cards on the board, 7-3.
Both teams would punt again before the next score.
It was the Flyers driving with good starting field position and the Cards defense coming up with a stop. A pass from Flyers junior Peyton Otte found senior wide receiver Charles Huelsman, who was crossing the face of the formation and got it down to the Cards 13yard line for a first down.
A hold, however, would stall the drive and put them in second and long. That led to a 30-yard field goal from Flyer junior Kevin Partington with 2:36 left in the first half to put the Flyers up 10-3.
A big return on the ensuing drive gave the Cards great field position at the Flyers 45yard line with 2:24 in the first half.
After an incomplete first down pass, a Hays pass to senior running back Zach Bertke on the flats went for 15 yards
down to the Flyer 30yard line. Two Hays runs later, he scored from 11-yards out with 1:29 left to tie the game as he weaved through traffic before putting his head down and driving into the end zone.
Hays went 11-18 for 118 yards and was the leading Cards rusher with 90 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.
“Thought our offensive line did a really good job tonight, we knew we weren’t going to try and ram it down their throat and run it at them,” said Schmidt. “They’re so good defensively. I thought when we ran the ball we did it effectively enough.” “There were a couple big plays that happened on special teams that changed (the game),” said Flyers head coach Tim Goodwin. “They had that kickoff return before half that got them great field position (before half). This game came down to big plays and a lot of them were on special teams.”
At halftime, the message from the Cards was that it was essentially a 0-0 game and that had two quarters to lay it on line.
For the Flyers, Goodwin said that they made some adjustments on defense but those saw little success in the second half.
The Cards received the ball to start the second half but on their third play, Bertke fumbled the ball fighting for extra yardage and Huelsman pounced on it for the Flyers at the Cards 46-yard line.
Facing a third and long, Otte scrambled for a 19-yard run down to the Cards 30-yard line and two plays later Seitz would punch it in from 5-yards out to put the Cards up 17-10 with 7:45 to go in the third quarter.
Otte went 6-13 for 119 yards, a touchdown and an interception while adding 72 yards on the ground.
On the next Cards drive, a sack by Flyer senior Robbie Buschur on third and long forced the punt and got the Flyers the ball back at their own 25-yard line with 4:02 in the third.
They continued to pound the rock, running it seven straight times and getting it down to the Cards 30yard line.
A pass and two runs later gave the Flyers a first and goal from the Cards 9-yard line.
Homan sacked Otte on first down, a pass fell incomplete on second down and a third down pass went out of bounds as the Flyers drive stalled and they had to go for the field goal.
Cards sophomore Dave Homan would block that field goal attempt from the 11-yard line as the Cards defense not only held but prevented the Flyers from putting more points on the board. “They’d been running it at us and we had a tough time slowing it down,” said Schmidt. “If we can’t stop it and they run it in, its over pretty much. Our defense found a way to get the stop to force the field goal try.”
The Flyers would force a punt on that next Cards drive, a penalty moved the Cards back and Huelsman had a nice pass breakup downfield on third down to bring up fourth,
After the punt put the Flyers at their own 13yard line with 7:10 remaining in the game, the Flyers went back to the ground game with two runs before attempting to go deep on an up and out route to Huelsman.
Dave Homan was there in coverage as the ball bounced off his body and ended in a pick by Cards senior Kyle Tenkman at the Flyers 46-yard line.
Tenkman finished second on the team with 8.5 tackles and the interception.
The Flyers thought they got the ball back on a confusing sequence of events that saw them pick off the ball, but have it canceled out by a misconduct penalty with a shot to the head.
That penalty put the Cards on the Flyers 26yard line and four plays later, Bertke punched it in from 2-yards out to tie the game at 17 with 3:14 left.
Bertke had 12 yards on the ground, was the leading Cards receiver with five catches for 39 yards and led the defense with nine total tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss.
A good return on the kickoff gave the Flyers good field position at their own 35-yard line but the Flyers went three and out after a second down sack from Cards senior Hunter Williams put the Flyers behind the sticks facing a third and long at their own 37-yard line.
An incomplete pass brought up the punt and that’s when Homan raced up field to not only block the punt but scoop it and scamper across the goal line to put the Cards up 24-17 with 1:30 left in the game.
“The whole game I had been setting my man up to go outside,” said Homan. “Once he did that, I pushed him out, came up the middle and the ball hit me in the side. When the ball came loose, I tried to box the guy out, scooped it and scored.”
“I’m just watching back there,” said Schmidt. “You see him coming off the edge and it’s like, ‘is he going to get there?! Is he going to get there? He got there and blocked it and the next thing is, where it going? I’m thinking were going to get great field position then he scoops it and goes”
With 1:23 left and starting at their own 25yard line, the Flyers would turn it over on downs as a fourth down pass to Otte near the sticks fell short.
Receiving the ball with 1:01 left in the game, the Cards forced the Flyers to use their last timeout on first and second downs.
Hays would run back and fall on third down to run more clock as the Cards used a timeout with nine seconds left in the game.
On fourth down, Hays ran right and fell down to run more clock but it gave the Flyers the ball at their own 41yard line with four seconds left.
A heave downfield ended in an interception as Dave Homan clinched the first regional title in program history for the Cards and ended the Flyers bid for a tenth consecutive regional title.
“I told (Dave) the whole game, be ready, its going to go to him,” said Homan. “He made a great play. I’m so proud of him.”
“It means everything,” added Homan when asked what it meant to capture the programs first regional title. “I can’t even describe how I’m feeling right now, I’m sure everyone else feels that way too. We just have to take it to the next level and win that ‘chip.”
“It’s huge,” said Schmidt on what it means for the program. “We’re proud to be members of the MAC, we want to be considered on the level with our brethren. It’s special because you’re beating a program like Marion Local. As tough as it was, it makes it a little extra special to do that. We’ll let some of it sink in and enjoy it tonight. The great thing is, we still got opportunities to move forward.”
“It was a strange year,” said Goodwin when asked what he’ll remember about this team. “The seniors did a great job providing leadership back in July and August when we weren’t sure what kind of season we would be able to have. They just came out and worked hard, had a great attitude. They were great.”