Cedar knuckles out win in battle of state-rated teams

DAVID CITY — Cedar Catholic football hit the road Friday for the second time this season and came away with a 25-13 fourth-quarter win over Aquinas Catholic in David City.

The Trojans used three Breiton Whitmire runs to put away the stubborn Monarchs in the final quarter after Aquinas Catholic had erased a 13-0 deficit in the first frame.

“We knew from film that Aquinas wasn’t going to play a lot of kids so we knew if we stayed physical throughout the game, we could wear them down,” Cedar Catholic coach Chad Cattau said. “It was very evident of that throughout the fourth quarter because their kids were cramping almost every play.”

The Trojans’ plan was to keep its players fresh, or as fresh as possible.

“We played a lot of kids in our rotation on both sides of the ball and special teams,” Cattau said. “That played a major factor in the outcome for us.”

Cedar Catholic’s defense played “as advertised” by holding the Monarchs to just 73 yards on the ground while the Trojans’ offense methodically ran for 260 yards to keep Aquinas Catholic on its heels.

Whitmire, who would finish with 139 yards rushing, opened the scoring with a four-yard burst in the first 12 minutes. A Jared Rutar extra point put the Trojans up 7-0.

Later in the first quarter, Braeden Reifenrath spotted Nolan Becker from 15 yards out and Cedar Catholic was up 13-0.

Reifenrath had another steady and effective performance under center, completing 10-of-15 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown as well as running the ball for an additional 74 yards.

The Monarchs answered with a touchdown pass, still in the first 12 minutes, and both teams got defensive in the second quarter with neither squad finding the end zone.

Aquinas Catholic broke through in the third quarter with another passing touchdown to tie the score at 13-13 after the extra-point kick was good. That’s when the Cedar Catholic game plan came to fruition.

“Our assistant coaches did a great job in putting together the game plans for the week,” Cattau said. “I really want to give them credit for that — it worked.”

As the Trojans wore down the Monarchs, Whitmire found pay dirt twice in the final frame, once from the one-yard line and once from the five yard-line, to put the game away and bring home the 25-13 victory.

Karsan Albers led the defensive effort with six tackles. Ty Thoene had one sack, while Jacob Steffen and Ryan Pick shared a sack, and Reifenrath picked off a pass.

“I really feel our kids played well,” Cattau said. “They all did a lot of good things during the course of the game.”

Cedar Catholic will finally get a home game when it takes on 1-1 Yutan at the Hartington Community Complex on Sept. 8.

Cedar (2-0) 13 0 0 12 - 25 Aquinas (0-2) 6 0 7 0 - 13

FIRST QUARTER

Cedar: Breiton Whitmire 4 run, Jared Rutar Kick. 7-0. Cedar: Nolan Becker 15 pass from Braeden Refenrath, PAT no good. 13-0. AC: Bryant Stouffer 6 pass from Jakob Kavan, PAT no good. 13-6.

THIRD QUARTER

AC: Garett Novacek 11 pass from Kavan, Kailer Pohl kick. 13-13.

FOURTH QUARTER

Cedar: Whitmire 1 run, PAT no good. 19-13. Cedar: Whitmire 5 run, PAT no good. 25-13. Cedar AC First Downs 24 12 Rushes/Yards 53-260 34-73 Rec/Yards 10-85 5-91 Total Yards 345 164

Cedar Catholic rushing: Breiton Whitmire 24-139 3TD; Braeden Reifenrath 12-74; Ty Thoene 14-44; Keyton Arens 1-3; Brady Hochstein 1-2.

Cedar Catholic passing: Reifenrath 10-15 85 1TD.

Cedar Catholic receiving: Nolan Becker 3-35 1TD; Br. Hochstein 1-21; Matthew Loecker 1-9; Grayden Hochstein 1-7; Whitmire 1-6; Thoene 1-6; Jaymison Cattau 1-1; Jared Rutar 1-0.

Cedar Catholic tackles: Reifenrath 2.0 1INT; Quinn Hochstein 1.0; Henry Zimmerman 1.0; Bodie Hochstein 2.0; Hunter Benson 1.0; Whitmire 4.0; Langston Christensen 1.0; Nolan Becker .5; Br. Hochstein 2.5; Thoene 3.0; Loecker .5; Keyton Arens 4.5; Cattau 2.0; Rutar 2.5; Karsan Albers 6.0; G. Hochstein .5; Jacob Steffen 2.0; Ryan Pick 4.0.