New Bremen faces Tri-Village in second playoff game
NEW BREMEN — The Cardinals will travel on Saturday to take on one of the hottest teams in maybe all of Division VII.
The No. 2 Tri-Village Patriots will play host to the No. 7 Cardinals on Saturday in the Region 28 quarterfinals.
The Patriots are winners of nine straight, with their lone loss coming in Week 2 to Division V school Preble Shawnee, who currently sit as the only undefeated team in Region 20.
New Bremen has a win streak going of its own, winners of three straight, including last week’s 51-0 drubbing of Lockland.
“I thought we came out ready to play and set a good tone in a sense of getting an early lead and playing defense really well and not letting get them any momentum,” Cardinals coach Chris Schmidt said about his team’s performance last weekend. “Setting that tone was good for us. I was pleased with how we continued to play. There didn’t seem to be a lapse. Sometimes you get up on a team early and you can kind of lose your focus. I felt, for the most part, we kept our focus.”
While New Bremen has never faced Tri-Village in the regular season, with the school only adding football to its list of varsity sports in 2016, the two did meet prior to the regular season in a scrimmage held in New Bremen.
Focus will be an important part of Saturday’s game, as the Cardinals defense has to prepare for the Patriots’ Reed Wehr, who has rushed for 1,647 yards this season.
“He’s not a big kid, but he’s got quickness and he’s hard-nosed. You can just tell that from watching the film,” said Schmidt. “We saw them in the scrimmage earlier in the year and I’ve been just as impressed with his progression as a linebacker compared to being a running back. Certainly with their injury to their starting quarterback early in the season, he had to take on more responsibility and you still had a fantastic year. A quick, shifty kid, but hard-nosed and someone you make sure you wrap up to get him down to the ground. He’s a good football player, no doubt about it.”
Schmidt said he walked away impressed with the Patriots following the scrimmage in August.
“I think scrimmaging them definitely was good for us now because our kids saw that those kids could compete with us and obviously TriVillage believes they can compete with us,” he said. “Sometimes when you face teams outside of the MAC, they’re questioning whether they can really play with a MAC team, and this team knows that they can. That’s what makes it a dangerous game, too.”
Schmidt noted the size of both their offensive and defensive lines as one of their big strengths.
“On the lines, they’ve got size. Sometimes you get kids on the line that have size but don’t move very well; these kids move fairly well for their size,” he said. “They really have a lot of good pieces. They’ve got some good looking athletes that have some height and some speed. They’ve got other pieces they can get the ball to as well. I think they’re well-coached. It’s not a big roster, but most Division VII schools don’t have a big roster, but what they have — they’re a good football team.”
Schmidt said keeping Wehr in check and making the offense drive down the field rather than rip off big plays will be vital for the Cardinals.
On the offensive end, he hopes they can play their game and establish the run game early.
“Both teams can pass but both teams want to run the football, and I think who can do that more effectively will be a big key,” he said. “Certainly, turnovers and penalties are always going to be a big key this time of year.”
The Cardinals and Patriots are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. on Saturday in New Madison.
The winner will take on either Troy Christian or St. Henry in a regional semifinal next week at a neutral site.
Also in Region 28, Marion Local hosts Fort Loramie with the winner facing Riverside or Cincinnati College Prep.
In Region 24, Coldwater hosts Cincinnati Country Day and Fort Recovery is at Anna.
Versailles, playing in Region 20 of Divison V will host Carlisle.