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ORD — A heartbreaking play in the final minutes sent Cedar Catholic to the sidelines of the 2023 Class C2 Football Playoffs here Oct. 27 as the Trojans fell to the Chanticleers, 18-13.
Ord used a 20-yard pass from Dylan Hurlburt to Talan Bruha to set the Chanticleers up at the Trojan 3-yard line late in the game.
Brady Hochstein hit Hurlburt as he threw the ball and Breiton Whitmire slipped as Bruha went by him to put Bruha in the position to go up for a one-handed grab between a couple of Cedar Catholic defenders and Hurlburt took it in from there to send the Trojans home in the opening round after a state title appearance last season.
“That was one of the best catches I have ever seen a high school player make,” Cedar Catholic coach, Chad Cattau said of the later-game Chanticleers heroics. “I have to give him credit for that, but it was gut-wrenching to see from our perspective.”
The Cedar Catholic “perspective” was the fact the lead belonged to the Trojans in a typical C-2 playoff football game.
The teams knocked heads for three quarters and the lion’s share of the final 12 minutes until someone made a huge play.
Ord did that and the Trojans were sent home. “We had a great week of preparation leading up to the game and we carried that over to the field in the game,” Cattau said. “Our young men played their hearts out and played four really good quarters of football, right up until that catch.”
And the catch had more to do with the Chanticleers making a play rather than an inadequate defensive play.
“It happens,” Cattau said. “When you get to this time of year, the line between winning and losing is very fine. They made a play at the end and we didn’t have time to answer.”
Prior to that play, it was a defensive showdown and the Trojans had done everything in their power to get the lead and cling to it.
Ord scored first in the second quarter as the two defenses kept the offenses at arm’s length until Hurlburt hit Blake Hinrichs from 33 yards away for the first touchdown of the game in the second frame.
The Trojans answered with an 11-yard strike from Braeden Reifenrath to Jaymison Cattau to temporarily tie the score. Bodie Hochstein booted the extra point, and Cedar Catholic was in front 7-6 at the break.
Hurlburt scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter, but the Trojan defense held on the conversion try and the score was 12-7 in favor of the Chanticleers.
Reifenrath and Cattau hooked up again late in the third frame, this one from seven yards out to grab the lead back. Cedar then held the lead until the last-minute play.
“We were kind of hit by the injury bug over the past week,” said Cattau. “Not an excuse just the way it is, but we had kids learning and playing new positions in the game and each one stepped up and contributed in a positive manner. I believe Ord is one of the top teams in the state this year and we went toe-to-toe with them all night long.”
Cedar had a balanced offensive attack in the game. Reifenrath completed 12-of-23 passes for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Cattau.
Cattau wound up with 102 yards receiving on his seven catches. Ty Thoene had two catches for nine yards while Grayden Hochstein had one for 18 and Mattew Loecker snared one for nine.
Brady Hochstein was the leading rusher with 42 yards on 15 carries, Whitmire ran for 32 on nine carries, Reifenrath went for 28 on eight carries and Thoene had 22 yards on eight totes.
Whitmire also accumulated 45 yards on a couple of kickoff returns, Thoene had one return for 27 yards.
Cattau led the Cedar Catholic defense with 9.5 tackle points and returned an intercepted pass 12 yards.
Karsan Albers anchored the interior defense with nine tackle points, Hunter Bensen had 6.5, Ryan Pick had 4.5, Keyton Arens had four and Brady Hochstein had 3.5.
“I think this really provides a springboard for our offseason and this should give us a really positive feeling going into next season,” Cattau said. “I can’t say enough about our seniors on this team and their development as both people and football players this past year.
“They have really grown up and matured a lot and their positive outlook on things each and every day has been something this entire team can learn from. This group was a very team-first class and that showed up throughout the season at various times - those are things that will carry over during their entire lives.”
Ord will move along to take on take on 8-2 Mitchell in the C2 quarterfinals Nov. 3 back in Ord. The Chanticleers are also 8-2 while the Trojans fell to 5-4.
Cedar Catholic 0 7 6 0 - 13 Ord 0 6 6 6 - 18 SECOND QUARTER
O: Blake Hinrichs 33 pass from Dylan Hurlburt, conversion failed. 0-6. Cedar: Jaymison Cattau 11 pass from Braeden Reifenrath, Bosie Hochstein kick. 7-6.
THIRD QUARTER
O: Hurlburt 10 run, conversion failed. 7-12. Cedar: Cattau 7 pass from Reifenrath, conversion failed. 13-12.
FOURTH QUARTER
O: Hurlburt 2 run, conversion failed. 13-18. Cedar Catholic Ord First Downs: 16 20 Rushing 40-124 46-221 PassinG 12-23-138 10-17-187
RUSHING
Cedar - Brady Hochstein 15-42; Breiton Whitmire 9-32; Braeden Reifenrath 8-28; Ty Thoene 8-22. PASSING
Cedar - Braeden Reifenrath, 12-23-138 RECEIVING
Cedar - Jaymison Cattau 7-102 2TD’s; Grayden Hochstein 1-18; Matthew Loecker 1-9; Ty Thoene 1-9. TACKLES
Cedar -Jaymison Cattau 9.5 1INT; Hunter Bensen 6.5; Breiton Whitmire 2.0; Hunter Kuchta 1.0; Brady Hochstein 3.5; Keyton Arens 4.0; Matthew Loecker 1.5; Ty Thoene 3.5; Karsan Albers 9.0; Ryan Pick 4.5; Jacob Steffen 0.5; Andrew Heimes 0.5; Bodie Hochstein 1.0.
