Grinding it out

ST. HENRY - It is often said that while offense wins games, defense wins championships.

In a 14-7 win over New Bremen, St. Henry's defense got their team one step closer.

"(New Bremen) and our program is like looking in a mirror," St. Henry coach Josh Werling said. "They play with toughness and effort, and those are things we coach. We knew this was going to be a MAC grinder, and it didn't matter if you won by one point or 20."

St. Henry (10-1) now takes on Cedarville at the Wally Post Athletic Complex in the Division VII Region 28 semifinals. The Indians defeated Cincinnati Country Day 49-21.

New Bremen opened the contest in a better fashion than its last trip to St. Henry, a 20-0 loss in week nine of the regular season. Starting on the 35 after the kickoff went out of bounds, the Cardinals used a big pass on their second play of the game to pick up a first down.

After they connected a third down later in the drive, quarterback Gavin Dicke flew by the St. Henry defense for a 39-yard touchdown run just under three minutes into the game. Dicke struggled in the regular season contest (three interceptions), but carried some momentum into Friday night after a strong opening round playoff performance a week ago. His touchdown was the first score for New Bremen against St. Henry this season.

St. Henry responded on its opening drive of the game, which started at their own 35 yard-line. Seven straight runs, all by quarterback Charlie Werling even up the score at 7-all. Werling's touchdown run came on a fourth-and-one, as the Midwest Athletic Conference's Offensive Player of the Year bounced a keeper outside and accelerated past the Cardinal's defense for the score with 5:49 left in the first.

After the opening two drives, it looked like a shootout was in the works. While both offenses looked hot out of the gate, it was clear that the defenses were just warming up. New Bremen's next drive was a long one that ate up the rest of the opening quarter, but it resulted in no points. Levi Grevenkamp's punt was perfect, and the Redskins' second drive started 99 yards away from their end zone.

A pass interference call gave the St. Henry offense some breathing room, but it ultimately led to nothing. The ball was punted back to New Bremen, who took over at their own 25.

The Cardinals used a balanced attack to move the ball down the field, as Dicke had a nine-yard run to convert a third down. He followed that up with a 20-yard pass to Gavin Quellhorst to move the chains. Facing a fourth down later in the drive, Dicke's deep pass to Quellhorst was a a touch long to turn the ball over. Had the pass been completed, it would have not only been a first down, but looked like a certain score.

Given a new lease after the turnover, St. Henry's offense took command on the following drive. A 38-yard pass from Werling to receiver Austin Zimmerman put the Redskins' offense in motion. It was a great catch from Zimmerman, who used some physicality near the sideline to reel in the catch.

Five plays later, St. Henry went to ol' reliable in the red zone. A quarterback keeper from one-yard out gave the home team a 14-7 lead, and also gave Werling his 26th rushing touchdown of the year. The drive not only gave the Redskins the lead, but it left just 52 seconds for New Bremen, who decided to run out the clock.

At the break, Werling did not have a negative run and was two-for-three in the air for just over 40 yards. On the other sideline, Gavin Dicke had 58 yards rushing, while running back Jacob Kelly had an even 40 yards to help boost the Cardinals' offense.

The second half began with St. Henry on offense. Some separation was needed to calm down the fans in red and white as the Redskins tried to go up multiple scores.

Using the legs of Werling and running back Will Speck, St. Henry marched all the way down to the 11-yard line. A fourth down keeper was stopped however, despite some protesting from St. Henry Coach Josh Werling and a number of fans on the exact spot of the ball.

New Bremen took over from there, but a good play by St. Henry's Jack Huelsman in coverage stalled the Cardinal's drive, and they punted on fourth down. A sack stalled the Redskins' possession after three plays as the Cardinals took over just past the midfield stripe.

It was late in the third quarter when New Bremen took over and a 16-yard pass from Dicke to Quellhorst sparked some life into the offense. On the final play of the quarter, Dicke threw a pass near a receiver, but it just sailed high enough for Landon Schwartz to intercept. It was Redskin football entering the fourth.

"(Schwartz) was a kid we challenged this week, in the film room, in front of his teammates, and in practice. I'm very proud of how he responded," coach Werling said.

That was the only turnover of the game, and it took the wind out of New Bremen's sails. A false start set the Redskins back on their next drive, which resulted in a punt. It was one of five false starts by St. Henry in the second half and in a game where yards were hard to come by, that was a big issue.

Those mistakes continued into the Redskins' next drive. After forcing a Cardinal punt, St. Henry's offense went backward two plays in a row. A false start was followed by a swing pass that lost six yards, and was nearly intercepted. coach Werling had seen enough and used a timeout before the second down play while the fans voiced some displeasure.

The second-and-21 turned into a fourth-and-18 quickly and New Bremen took over from their own 18 after a punt.

Two short plays later, the Cardinals faced a third and eight with just over three minutes to play. A reverse was called, as Dicke flipped the ball to tight-end Pierce Whitlatch, who was met by Tate Boeckman after just one yard. Facing a fourth down, New Bremen decided to punt, and it set up St. Henry on their own 36.

Werling took the first down snap for 33 yards, easily picking up the first down and forcing the Cardinal's to burn some timeouts. Another false start followed, and it set up St. Henry 15 yards away from a getting a first down that would seal a win.

Three runs picked up 14 of the 15 yards needed. One yard now separated the Redskins from a playoff win. Not shockingly, Werling got the call and picked up more than enough on a keeper to seal the win.

It ends an up-and-down season for the Cardinals, who ended the year 3-5 after starting a perfect 4-0. Some key players will have to be replaced, with Quellhorst, Owen Bornhorst, and kicker Aidan Easthan part of a number of key seniors leaving the program.

"I couldn't ask for a better group of kids, in terms of the seniors," New Bremen coach Chris Schmidt said postgame. "How they carry themselves, how they treat their teammates, their classmates, I'm just super proud of them."

Throughout the two games between the teams in the final four weeks, it took tough plays to get the job done. St. Henry made them, New Bremen could not.

"We got a tough team," coach Werling said. "We have toughness and competitiveness, you're going to have to pry it away from us because we're going to keep working our butts off to get better."