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Trojans force Ponca mistakes to earn big 46-14 win

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PONCA — Cedar Catholic finished just a few minutes shy of tossing a shut-out Friday as the Trojans trounced Ponca 46-14.

The win pushes the Trojans’ record to 7-1 with just one regular season game left on the schedule.

Despite the margin of victory over Ponca, Cattau saw his Trojans come out a bit stunted out of the gate following the tough loss to state heavies Oakland-Craig.

“I thought our kids came out somewhat flat in our game with Ponca,” Cattau said. “We didn’t seem as focused as we needed to be. We were playing decent, but we lacked any emotion that we feel we need to play at a high level. Once we started playing at a higher level of intensity, we were able to do a lot of good things, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”

The Cedar offense wasn’t exactly running on all cylinders in this one as they were only able to amass 235 total yards, and only nine of those through the air. Cedar did, however, excel on defense, forcing Ponca to make five turnovers. The Trojans picked off four Ponca passes and recovered one Ponca fumble.

The game was broken open when the Trojans used three defensive touchdowns to streak past Ponca in a game that was relatively, statistically even.

“That really kept our offense off the field for a long period of time, which was OK with us,” Cattau said. “If you can get points from your defense, it’s always a great thing and we were able to get 21 points from them this week.”

Cedar put the first points of the night on the board when Tate Thoene rambled in from two-yards out at the seven-minute mark of the first quarter. Cedar’s attempt at the two-point conversion was stopped short.

The Trojans extended their lead when they found paydirt again with 7:30 left in the second quarter. James Christensen completed a solid drive with a one yard run to score. Cedar again missed the extra point attempt, making it 12-0. The Trojans put one

The Trojans put one more score up before the end of the first half when Myles Thoene got in front of a Bryar Bennett pass to pick it off then cruised into the endzone to score with just 18 seconds left before the halftime buzzer.

Easton Becker found paydirt again in the third frame with a 12- yard TD run. Blake Arens nailed the extra point kick to make it 26- 0.

The Cedar defense got another score after that when Hunter Thoene batted down a Bryar Bennett pass and lumbered in for the touchdown. Arens again nailed the extra point to make it 33-0.

Yet another Bryar Bennett pass found its way into the Trojans’ arms on the Indians’ next drive. This time Charlie Schroeder picked one off to score. The Arens kick gave Cedar a 40-0 lead.

Ponca finally got on the board with nine minutes left in the game with a Bryar Bennett TD pass. The extra point kick missed, though and Cedar led 40-6.

The Indians found paydirt again with 3:30 left in the game when Bennett broke loose from on a 15-yard TD run. Zach Fernau then ran in the twopoint conversion.

Cedar scored for the final time in the final seconds when James Christensen burst through the line from one-yard out. Chase Schroeder tried his hand at kicking the extra point, but it missed the mark, making the final 46-14.

The regular season officially wraps up 7 p.m. Friday when Norfolk Catholic invades Hartington for what should be a rousing finale.

“This will be for the district championship and an automatic berth into the playoffs,” Cedar Catholic coach Chad Cattau said.

Cattau said despite Friday’s offensive letdown, the Trojans are looking solid.

“I really like where we are at right now,” Cattau said. “We have a chance to play for a district championship on Friday, so we need to have a great week of practice. I know our kids will be focused and it will be great to be back at home after two straight road games.

A few soldiers will also be able to join the battle, Cattau said.

“We will also be getting a few kids back from injury that didn’t play against Ponca so that should help us out as well. We need to basically take the approach that this week is the first round of the playoffs because if we win Friday we will be able to host the first round of the playoffs, and that is always a nice feeling.”

To get there it shouldn’t be expected to simply come easy.

“Norfolk Catholic will bring a good mix of run and pass so we will need to be sharp on defense,” Cattau said. “They also play solid defense, and they are really good at their special teams so this will be a great challenge for us.”

The Trojans will face a tough task as they host the Norfolk Catholic Knights Friday night at Russ Hochstein Field.

Passing Cedar - Tate Thoene, 1-5-9. Ponca - Bryar Bennett, 6-11-92.

Rushing Cedar - Easton Becker, 16-106; James Christensen, 9-58; Tate Thoene, 7-54; Ty Thoene, 2-5; Jaelen Lammers, 1-3. Ponca - Hunter Bennett, 24-68; Zach Fernau, 12-54; Bryar Bennett, 7-36; Aidan Cook, 3-16; Ben Bodlak, 1-0.

Receiving Cedar - Myles Thoene, 1-9. Ponca - Aden Anderson, 2-41; Hunter Bennett, 2-34; Aiden Cook, 1-16.

TACKLES Cedar - Kerby Hochstein, 16; Owen Heimes, 9; Carter Arens, 8; Charlie Schroeder, 7; Carsen Becker, 7; Myles Thoene, 5; Connor Vlach, 5; Easton Becker, 4; Ethan Becker, 4; Jay Steffen, 3; Brandon Rohan, 3; Hunter Thoene, 3; Keaton Stefffen, 3; Jaxson Bernecker, 2; Jacob Rohan, 1; Noah Arens, 1; Blake Arens, 1; Calvin Christensen, 1; Conner Hochstein, 1; Andrew Heimes, 1; Tyan Baller, 1.

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