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HARTINGTON - Cedar Catholic “book ended” two losses in the regular season when it dropped its regular season finale to Norfolk Catholic here at Russ Hochstein Field, 34-10 on Oct. 26.
The Trojans lost their opening game of the season 14-0 to 2023 C1 state champion Boone Central and dropped the final game here to 2023 C2 state champ Norfolk Catholic before embarking on the C2 Playoffs Nov. 1.
Cedar’s game plan seemed to be working well in the early going of Friday’s game.
“We got off to a good start and played a really solid fi rst quarter which was great for our confidence,” Cedar Catholic coach Chad Cattau said.
The Trojans scored first when Bodie Hochstein split the uprights from 27 yards out after the Cedar Catholic drive ended around the Knights 10.
Norfolk Catholic got on the board late in the first frame on their first touchdown of the evening from 8 yards out and after booting the extra point, the Knights had the lead 7-3 with 1:08 left in the first.
The Knights added a touchdown early in the second on another run, but Braeden Reifenrath had an answer for the Trojans.
Reifenrath wheeled to his right and took off on an op tion play at the Norfolk Catholic 20.
He motored around and through the Knight defense on his way to an 80-yard dash to pay dirt.
“In the second quarter we started well, but we made a couple of key mistakes and they capitalized on them,” Cattau said. “These are some things we will need to work on and clean up moving forward.”
Reifenrath finished with a fine night under center. The senior completed 19-of-28 passes for just under 200 yards on the night and rushed for another 104 yards on just seven carries including the touchdown.
The Knights would score 10 points before the intermission to take a 24-10 advantage into halftime huddle.
Hammond nailed a 48-yard field goal for the lone score in the third quarter then Trevin Sukup ran one in from midfield early in the final 12 minutes and the final score was set.
“I thought we did a lot of good things throughout the game but we just didn’t make enough plays in the end,” the coach said. “We will definitely learn from our mistakes and get better for week.”
Jaymison Cattau hauled in seven Reifenrath aerials for 63 yards, Nolan Becker caught one pass for 45 yards. Micha Cattau grabbed four for 29 yards, Keyton Arens had one for 20, Hunter Bensen had two for 15, Matthew Loecker two for 10 and Whitmire caught two for nine yards.
Whitmire paced the Cedar defense with 12 tackles.
Jaymison Cattau and Brady Hochstein each had 10, Bodie Hochstein and Easton Hochstein each had eight and Keyton Arens and Ryan Pick each had seven total stops.
Brady Hochstein and Jared Rutar each had a tackle behind the line of scrimmage while Rutar recorded a sack.
Cedar Catholic ended up with the 7th-seed in the Class C2 Football Playoffs which get underway Nov. 1 across the state.
The Trojans will be right back here at Russ Hochstein Field where they meet Oakland-Craig, a team they beat Oct. 18 in Oakland, 28-23.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
NC (9-0) 7 17 3 7 - 34 CC (7-2) 3 7 0 0 - 10 FIRST QUARTER CC: Bodie Hochstein 27 field goal, 8:39. 3-0.
NC: Max Hammond 8 run, Hammond kick, 1:08. 3-7.
SECOND QUARTER: NC: Trevin Sukup 13 run, Hammond kick, 9:23. 3-14.
CC: Braeden Reifenrath 80 run, Hochstein kick, 9:10. 10-14.
NC: Hammond 8 pass from Callen Marshall, Hammond kick, 2:09. 10-21.
NC: Hammond 22 field goal, :01. 10-24.
THIRD QUARTER NC: Hammond 48 field goal, 4:04. 10-27.
FOURTH QUARTER NC: Sukup 50 run, Hammond kick, 10:55. 10-34.
Cedar Catholic Individual Passing: Braeden Reifenrath 19-28 193 Cedar Catholic Individual Rushing: Braeden Reifenrath 7-104 1TD; Breiton Whitmire 9-34; Micah Cattau 5-31, Brady Hochstein 1-2.
Cedar Catholic Individual Receiving: Matthew Loecker 2-10; Keyton Arens 1-20; Jaymison Cattau 7-63; Nolan Becker 1-45; Breiton Whitmire 2-9; Micah Cattau 4-29; Hunter Bensen 2-15.
Cedar Catholic Individual Tackles: Matthew Loecker 5; Keyton Arens 7; Jaymison Cattau 10; Braeden Reifenrath 1; Breiton Whitmire 12; Micah Cattau 2; Bodie Hochstein 8; Micah Cattau 2; Hunter Benson 4; Brady Hochstein 10 1TFL; Easton Hochstein 8; Jacob Steffen 3; Will Steffen 3; Jared Rutar 4 1TFL; Ryan Pick 7 1SAC;
