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FREMONT — Cedar Catholic remained unbeaten by the slimmest of margins Sept. 12, edging Archbishop Bergan 21-20 to move to 3-0 while handing the Knights their first loss of the season. “We showed a lot of resilience and guts in this game,” Trojans coach Chad Cattau said. “We had multiple injuries and kids cramping because of the heat, but our kids kept battling and fighting. Our depth really played a big part because of the players we lost during the game. Some returned and kept playing, but even when they were out, others stepped in and played big roles. It was truly a great team effort.”
The Trojans trailed midway through the fourth quarter after Bergan scored with 9:37 left and converted a two-point attempt following two earlier missed kicks.
Cedar Catholic, which relied on a groundand- pound attack in its first two games, turned to the passing game — and it paid off.
“We hadn’t thrown the ball a lot in our first two games, but we knew we had the ability to do so when needed — and we really needed it in this game,” Cattau said. “Our receivers and quarterback made some huge plays for us throughout the game. If we can move forward with that balance, it will make us even more dangerous on offense when teams take the run away from us.”
Quarterback Grady Haberer delivered in crunch time, tossing three touchdown passes. His final strike — a 21-yard connection with Hunter Bensen — tied the game, and kicker Jared Rutar’s third extra point gave the Trojans the lead with 5:13 to play.
The Cedar Catholic defense took it from there, holding Bergan scoreless the rest of the way.
Haberer’s first two touchdown passes went to Mason Baller, from 16 yards in the first quarter and from 20 yards early in the second. The Knights opened the game with a 95-yard touchdown pass less than three minutes in.
Baller’s second score gave the Trojans a 14-6 lead after Rutar’s kick, but Bergan added a 15-yard touchdown pass late in the first half to trim the margin to 14-12 at the break.
“We knew their offense was going to give us a lot of different looks we hadn’t seen, and our kids kept accepting those challenges,” Cattau said. “We really stressed taking away their run game, and we did a really good job of that. We tried to make them work for everything through the air. They have some great athletes, and they were on display in this game.”
The Trojans held the Knights to just 63 rushing yards.
Brady Hochstein, Sam Wiebelhaus and Easton Hochstein led the Cedar Catholic defense with 10, nine and nine tackles, respectively. Brady Hochstein also tallied 1.5 sacks, Wiebelhaus added a sack, and Easton Hochstein notched two tackles for loss.
Will Steffen recorded seven stops, including one for loss, while Bensen added four tackles with one behind the line of scrimmage. Micah Cattau had eight tackles, five of them solo.
“We made just enough plays to win the game,” Cattau said. “I really need to commend our coaches for the plan they put together and then adjusting it on the fly based on what Bergan was doing to us.”
Cedar Catholic will host Tekamah-Herman on Sept. 19 at Russ Hochstein Field. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
Cedar Catholic 7 7 0 7 — 21 Archbishop Bergan 6 6 0 8 — 20
First Quarter
AB: 95-yard pass, PAT failed, 9:13. 0-6 CC: Mason Baller 16 pass from Haberer (Rutar kick), 7:02. 7-6
Second Quarter
CC: Baller 20 pass from Haberer (Rutar kick), 11:55. 14-6 AB: 15-yard pass, PAT failed, 2:10. 14-12
Fourth Quarter
AB: 16-yard pass (conversion good), 9:37. 14-20 CC: Bensen 21 pass from Haberer (Rutar kick), 5:13. 21-20 Cedar Catholic Passing 9-15-110 Rushing 36-136 Total yards 246
Passing — Haberer 9-15, 110 yards, 3 TD.
Rushing — Bensen 5-35; Breiton Whitmire 7-24; Micah Cattau 13-31; Brady Hochstein 11-46.
Receiving — Bensen 4-59, TD; Bodie Hochstein 2-28; Baller 2-36, 2 TD.
Tackles — Brady Hochstein 10 (0.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks); Wiebelhaus 9 (TFL, 0.5 sack); Easton Hochstein 9 (2 TFL); M. Cattau 8; Steffen 7 (TFL); Bensen 4 (TFL); Booker Hochstein 4; H. Kuchta 4; J. Rutar 4; J. Hoebelheinrich 5; R. Hoebelheinrich 3; others with 1-3.
