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Second-half surge sinks Cedar Catholic

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HARTINGTON — A rivalry game means anything can happen and any result is possible.

A year removed from Cedar Catholic’s win over Battle Creek en route to the Class C2 quarterfinals, the Trojans and Braves once again squared off, but this time the Trojans couldn’t overcome the potent BC attack.

Battle Creek rallied from an early deficit and used a 14-0 fourth quarter to win 24-7 Friday, dropping Ceddar to 1-1 on the season.

“We knew going into this game that we were going to have to play very physical for four quarters because that’s Battle Creek’s style,” Cedar head coach Chad Cattau said. “The kids prepared pretty well during the week, and we got off to a good start, but we really struggled moving the ball as the game progressed.”

Nothing seemed to work against the Braves stingy defense, Cattau said.

“We tried a variety of formations and plays but we just couldn’t get control of the line of scrimmage,” Cattau said “I need to do a better job of preparing the kids for the physical style we will see in our bigger games this season.”

Cedar got a 43-yard touchdown run with 4:41 left in the first quarter to go up 7-3 and that was the extent of the scoring as the Trojans were limited to 124 total yards. Battle Creek finished with 282 overall yards. Easton Becker finished

Easton Becker finished with 76 yards on 13 carries.

Despite the Trojans offensive woes, other aspects of the game looked solid, Cattau said.

“I thought our special teams and defense played pretty well overall and they gave us opportunities to win the game, but we couldn’t make a big play on offense,” Cattau said. “We will learn from this and become a better team from what we have learned about ourselves.”

Senior Trojan defensive tackle Ethan Becker said that the difference between now and a year ago when CCHS beat Battle Creek comes down to improvement in the trenches.

“We didn’t really give the quarterback a lot of pressure and I take a little responsibility for that: I have to be better up front,” Becker said. “They moved the ball really well. They got a lot more experience coming into this year, but it doesn’t change the fact we still could have won this.”

“We look around and still see a lot of potential for us. We aren’t going to see Battle Creek again, so that’s good for us, but they show us what we need to become. They were a very physical team up front and had a great defense.”

Becker also noted other teams on the Trojans schedule will be similar to this challenge so the experience can only help. He also said, he’d rather have his team play well against a quality team and get beat, then win against an inferior opponent. “It’s better because we can get better playing that team,” Becker

“It’s better because we can get better playing that team,” Becker said. “However, we have the same goal against anyone we play and take what we can get from either team.

“We just have to get back to practice and we have to be more physical all the way around. I still very positive about the team all the way around. This is just a bump in the road.”

The Trojans travel to Tekamah-Herman 7 p.m. Friday in hopes of getting back to their winning ways. “There are a team that will run a base option offense so we will need

“There are a team that will run a base option offense so we will need to be sound in our assignments,” Cattau said. “They will also mix in a variety of formations so we will need to communicate well what our coverages are, so we aren’t confused. This week we need to really show a high level of improvement on some fundamental things. If we play hard and play with discipline, I know a lot of good things will happen for us.

“We need to do things the right way though in order for that to happen.”

Cedar Catholic 7 0 0 0 — 7

Battle Creek 3 7 0 14 — 24

Cedar Battle Creek

Passing 5-14-23 8-14-99-

Rushing 33-101 36-183

Total 47-124 50-282

First Downs 8 18

Penalty yds 5-30 5-25

PASSING Cedar - Tate Thoene, 5-14-23; Battle Creek - Dylan Amick, 8-14-99.

RUSHING Cedar - Easton Becker, 13-76; Tate Thoene, 13-22; Brett Kleinschmit, 4-3; Grant Arens, 2-1. Battle Creek - Logan Roberts, 13-90; Rich Brauer, 8-51; Trent Uhlir, 8-25; Dylan Amick, 7-17.

RECEIVING Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 3-15; Easton Becker, 1-5; Andrew Jones, 1-3. Battle Creek - Korbyn Battershaw, 3-42; Will Hamer, 2-23; Roger Mieure, 2-20; Cameron Blain, 1-14.

TACKLES Cedar - Tate Thoene, 10.5; Brett Kleinschmit, 8.5; Owen Dendinger, 5; Andrew Jones, 3.5; Carter Arens, 3; Easton Becker, 2.5; Alex Kuehn, 2; Jaxson Bernecker, 1.5; Grant Arens, 1.5; Brandon Rohan, 1.5; Keaton Steffen, 1; Spencer Albers, 1; Ethan Becker, 1; Hunter Thoene, .5; Ty Thoene, .5; Max Steffen, .5. Battle Creek - Rich Brauer, 5; Cameron Blain, 5; Logan Roberts, 4; Ty Schroeder 3; Eli Hintz, 3.

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