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OAKLAND - Cedar Catholic outlasted Oakland-Craig here Friday night in a battle of two Class C2 giants 28-23 to improve to 7-1 on the season while the Knights dropped to 5-3.
Cedar Catholic scored with 4:47 left in the game when Breiton Whitmire, who found the end zone four times on the night and rushed for 160 yards total, sprinted in from 22 yards out to give the Trojans some breathing room and after quarterback Braeden Reifenrath found Jaymison Cattau in the end zone for a 2-point conversion pass, the score was 28-15.
But Braylon Anderson and the Knights were far from finished.
“We were a little short-handed tonight but we sure stayed with it,” Oakland-Craig coach Joe Anderson said. “There was no quit in our guys and we were so close.”
The Knights started the ensuing drive at their own 28 after the kickoff and after no gain on first down and an incomplete pass on second down, Oakland-Craig faced a third-and-10. Braylon Anderson spotted Jeremiah Druckenmiller in the middle of the Trojan defense and after a 15-yard completion, the Knights were in business at their own 43.
On second down, Anderson took off on a 20-yard scamper into Cedar Catholic territory to set Oakland-Craig up at the Trojan 37.
“We had a couple of missed assignments and they never gave in, which we didn’t expect them to, they are a good team,” Cedar Catholic coach Chad Cattau said. “We prepared well for this game and I think it showed during the game, we got it done in the end.”
Anderson found Druckenmiller again for 11 yards to get the Knights to the 26 then handed the ball to Sylas Nelson twice, once for seven yards and once for 15 and Oakland-Craig was knocking at the door at the Cedar Catholic 9-yard line.
Nelson took two runs from their, crashing into the end zone with 1:47 left then Anderson carried in the 2-point try and things tightened up with Cedar Catholic clinging to a 28-23 advantage.
Micah Cattau gained 11 yards on a second down carry and the Trojans were able to run out the clock from there to claim the victory.
The teams played to a stalemate in the opening frame, but Cedar Catholic got going in the second quarter Whitmire scored his first touchdown back in the second quarter after Reifenrath and Jaymison Cattau hooked up on an 18-yard pass play one would normally see on Sunday.
Cattau went up with one hand and snared the Reifenrath aerial out of the air to set the Trojans up at the Knights’ 5. Whitmire took it in from there and after a Bodie Hochstein kick, Cedar Catholic was up 7-0.
“We had a nice play drawn up and I knew Braeden would get me the ball,” Jaymison Cattau said. “I just went up and made the play I needed to make for my team. It was just a really good play all the way around. ”
The teams traded possessions until the Trojans got back after it just before the intermission.
Back-to-back runs of 12 yards by Micah Cattau set Cedar Catholic up at the Oakland-Craig 22 and two plays later, Whitmire was in the end zone again, this time from 15 yards out, and the teams went to the break with the Trojans in front 14-0.
Nelson, who would finish with 103 yards on the ground, scored from the five, late in the third and Anderson and Druckenmiller hooked up on the conversion pass, and the Knights were within a score at 14-8.
“We answered every time they scored,” Coach Cattau said. “I was really happy the way we responded to what was going on in the game. We didn’t hang our heads or get worried, we just went back to work and answered.”
Early in the final 12 minutes, Whitmire scored his third touchdown, plowing in from the one and Cedar Catholic went up 20-8.
“Our line played pretty good all night,” said Trojan lineman, Ryan Pick. “We like to make holes for our backs and they run through them. We made some room for them tonight, they were a tough team, but we just kept working.” Cedar Catholic won its seventh straight game after an openingseason loss to Boone Central, 14-0. The Trojans are set for their annual showdown with Norfolk Catholic next Friday at Russ Hochstein Field in Hartington.
“That will be a tough game, but we’ll get back home and start getting ready for it,” Chad Cattau said. “We’ll be ready to go.”
Cedar 0 14 0 14 — 28 O-C 0 0 8 15 — 23 SECOND QUARTER CC: Breiton Whitmire 5 run, Bodie Hochstein kick, 10:45. 7-0.
CC: Whitmire 15 run, Bo. Hochstein kick, 1:16. 14-0.
THIRD QUARTER O-C: Sylas Nelson 6 run, Jeremiah Druckenmiller run, 3:07. 14-8.
FOURTH QUARTER CC: Whitmire 1 run, kick no good, 11:13. 20-8.
O-C: Isaak Maxwell 35 pass from Braylon Anderson, Keyton Kampa kick, 8:27. 20-15.
CC: Whitmire 22 run, Jaymison Cattau pass from Braeden Reifenrath, 4:47. 2815.
O-C: Nelson 5 run, Anderson run, 1:47. 28-23.
Cedar Catholic Individual Passing: Braeden Reifenrath 5-10 67.
Cedar Catholic Individual Receiving: Jaymison Cattau 3-44; Breiton Whitmire 1-29; Micah Cattau 1-3.
Cedar Catholic Individual Rushing: Braeden Reifenrath 5-25; Breiton Whitmire 22-160 4TD; Micah Cattau 8-68; Brady Hochstein 10-34.
Cedar Catholic Individual Tackles: Matthew Loecker 7; Keyton Arens 3; Jaymison Cattau 6 2TFL; Braeden Reifenrath 4; Breiton Whitmire 6; Micah Cattau 3; Bodie Hochstein 7; Mason Baller 4; Hunter Bensen 3 1SAC; Brady Hochstein 9 1TFL; Easton Hochstein 7 1TFL; Will Steffen 2; Jared Rutar 6 1SAC; Sam Wiebelhaus 1; Ryan Pick 2; Jack Christensen 2.
