Bishop Garrigan 21
Remsen St. Mary’s 18
In order to defeat the defending state champions of 8-player football, Bishop Garrigan had to reach deep into their bag of tricks to clinch the game. Leading 13-12 with just over two and a half minutes left in the fourth and facing fourth and six from the Remsen St. Mary’s 30 yard line, the Golden Bears dialed up a wide receiver reverse pass, as Justin Bauer hit a wide-open Sam Plathe on a thirty yard jump pass to give Bishop Garrigan a 19-12 lead. Coach Marty Wadle elected to go for two to attempt to go up by 9 points, and the try was successful, as quarterback Tate Foertsch rolled out and hit Ethan Marso in the end zone to go up 21-12.
Prior to the trick play, it took a big effort by the defense, a strong push up front by the offensive line, and a running game that could sustain drives to upset the Hawks. After a scoreless quarter and a half, senior Caden Roethler got the scoring started for Bishop Garrigan with a 28 yard touchdown run with 5:33 to go until halftime. Fellow senior Drew Lappe put the PAT attempt between the uprights to make the score 7-0. Remsen St. Mary’s responded with a drive of their own, capped off by quarterback Landon Waldschmidtt’s seven yard touchdown run to bring the score to 7-6 at intermission.
The Hawks tried to catch Bishop Garrigan off guard, starting the second half with a surprise onside kick, however the kick was out of bounds, giving the Golden Bears possession at the Remsen St. Mary’s 35 yard line. The Golden Bears could not capitalize on the good field position, as a personal foul penalty put them behind the sticks and forced a punt back to the Hawks.
Remsen St. Mary’s took their first lead of the game with 4:33 left in the third, capping off a 65 yard drive with a four yard touchdown run by Waldschmitt to go up 12-7. The drive featured two third down conversions on passes from Waldschmitt to Keaton Harpenau.
The ensuing squib kickoff was bobbled and nearly fumbled by the Golden Bears, who managed to recover on their own 19 yard line before going three and out on offense. Bishop Garrigan’s defense responded by forcing a three and out on the final Remsen St. Mary’s drive of the third quarter, with the help of a Hawk holding penalty, plus a big tackle for a loss on a reverse by Benjy Trainer to set up third and 19. The Hawks gave themselves a chance to go for it on fourth down, as Waldschmitt hit Harpenau for 17 to set up 4th and 2, but a false start by Harpenau on 4th down forced the Hawks to reconsider and punt instead of going for it near midfield.
After starting at their own 16 yardline, the Golden Bears marched down the field quickly, and capped off the drive with 10:33 left in the 4th on a 25 yard scoring run by Roethler, his second touchdown of the night and 17th of the season. Foertsch was stopped at the goal line on the two point conversion as Bishop Garrigan settled for a 13-12 lead.
Braxton Kniep returned the ensuing Bishop Garrigan kickoff to near midfield, and the Hawks quickly got the ball to the edge of the red zone, but a dropped snap on third and two by Waldschmitt forced a fourth and five, which resulted in an incomplete pass as Ethan Marso and Keaton Helleseth broke through on the pass rush to hurry the throw.
Following the wide receiver reverse pass touchdown by Bauer, the Hawks scored quickly on Waldschmitt’s third touchdown run, this one going for 18 yards with 1:46 left, making the score 21-18, but Bauer recovered the ensuing onside kick, Bishop Garrigan picked up one first down on offense, and kneeled out the rest of the clock, snapping Remsen St. Mary’s 22 game win streak and denying the Hawks of a sixth trip to the UNI-dome in the past seven years.
Caden Roethler would finish with 21 carries for 147 yards and 2 scores against a Hawk defense that had limited its opponent to 3.5 yards per carry or less five times this season. Tate Foertsch added 11 carries for 50 yards in the win. Remsen St. Mary’s would finish the game 0/3 on 2 point conversions, and also struggled throughout the night with pre-snap penalties, as the Hawks wrap up the season at 9-1.
Garrigan will play CAM Anita at home on Thursday, November 2 with kick off at 7pm. We will have the game on KLGA, KLGZ and the Algona Radio YouTube Channel.
Sioux Center 28
Algona 21
After a quick start to the ballgame that featured a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, Algona would be held scoreless for the rest of the game due in part to five turnovers in a 28-21 loss at Sioux Center in the opening round of the class 3A playoffs.
The game started off with a bang within the first couple plays, as Algona’s first drive took just 5 plays to cover 76 yards. Alex Manske hit Landon Welp on a deep pass to set up first down and goal, and on the very next play Manske hit Porter Reffer on a run pass option to put the Bulldogs up 7-0, with Tate Slagle tacking on the PAT.
Sioux Center responded on the very first play after the ensuing kickoff, with Brodie Van Regenmorter hitting Kade Bauer on a 63 yard touchdown pass to tie the game at seven.
The fireworks continued on the very next possession as Algona called for a double handoff flea-flicker, which resulted in Manske hitting Reffer for a 59 yard touchdown on the very first play of the possession to go up 13-7 not even three minutes into the game.
A couple of possessions later, a Landon Thompson blocked punt would set up the Bulldogs third touchdown of the first quarter, as Manske would take it himself from eight yards out a couple plays later, as the two point conversion would put Algona up 21-7 at the end of one.
The only scoring of the second quarter came when Solomon Tea punched it in from a yard out to make the score 21-14 at the half.
Another touchdown run, this time by Seth Anderson tied the game at 21 in the third quarter. Sioux Center would keep the ball on the ground for their fourth score of the game and first lead, as a four yard carry by Tea put the Warriors in the end zone and up 28-21.
The 28-21 score would hold up the rest of the way. Algona had one final chance, with a fourth quarter drive starting at the Warrior 42 yard line that saw the Bulldogs march inside of the ten yard line. However, a Manske interception on 1st and goal, the fifth Algona turnover of the night, would end the Bulldog chances of a road victory. Algona ends the season at 6-4.
CAM 36
West Bend-Mallard 34
A strong start was not enough for West Bend-Mallard, as an early 22-6 lead disappeared during a 36-34 loss to CAM. Cougar quarterback Chase Spieker scored on a two yard touchdown run with 14 seconds left, and also rushed in for the two point conversion to account for the final margin.
The Wolverines scored the first two touchdowns of the game, as a goal line stop led to a 79 yard drive that was capped off by a one yard touchdown run for Landon Montag, putting the Wolverines up 6-0 early in the second quarter. Another one yard score by Montag followed by a two point conversion gave West Bend-Mallard a 14-0 lead.
CAM hit their first big play of the game on a Spieker 58 yard touchdown pass to Jack Follman, making the score 14-6 with 7:46 left in the first half. West Bend-Mallard answered right back as Cole Fehr carried the ball in from 39 yards out to put the Wolverines up 22-6.
The fireworks continued on the next offensive play for the Cougars, as Spieker hooked up with Follman again, this time from 42 yards to make the score 22-14. West Bend-Mallard did not let CAM have the momentum for long however, as Logan Grimm’s 4 yard run made the score 28-14 at intermission.
Spieker would get the second half scoring started with a seven yard touchdown run to make the score 28-22, but West Bend-Mallard got the score back up to two possessions with a 36 yard scoring run by Montag to go up 34-22.
However, it was all CAM in the fourth quarter, as two rushing touchdowns by Spieker pushed the Cougars over the top and into the quarterfinal round, as the game-winning drive covered 65 yards and took just over 3 minutes.
Landon Montag finished with 35 carries for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns while Cole Fehr carried the ball 20 times for 170 yards and a score for West Bend-Mallard. The Wolverines finished the night with 397 yards rushing. Chase Spieker completed 15/26 passes for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns, while rushing 27 times for 105 yards and 3 scores. Jack Follmann caught 7 passes for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns. West Bend-Mallard ends the season with a record of 7-3.
