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New Bremen's Grant Dicke (14) and Brady Keller (left) bring down Versailles running back Ross Francis during Friday's MAC football battle at New Bremen. The unbeaten Tigers handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season 18-17.
NEW BREMEN - Football can be a game of inches.
Trailing Versailles 18-17 with less than two minutes to play, New Bremen decided to go for a two-point conversion and the lead.
Sophomore quarterback Gavin Dicke bootlegged to the right and caught a glimpse of receiver Logan Krieg, who had gotten wide open in the right corner of the end zone. With a few defenders in his face, Dicke's pass to Krieg was about half a football short. Kreig went to his knees, but couldn't quite grab the ball off the top of the grass.
The Tigers recovered the ensuing onside kick and held on for the 18-17 Midwest Athletic Conference victory over the Cardinals Friday night in New Bremen.
New Bremen, 1-1 in the MAC and 3-1 overall, trailed by seven points for most of the second half. Facing a third-and-12 at their own 39-yard line, Gavin Dicke dropped a dime, hitting receiver Grant Dicke in stride on a fly pattern for a 61-yard touchdown with 1:45 left in the game.
Versailles (2-0, 4-0) was called for defensive holding on the play and the officials assessed the penalty on the PAT, moving the ball halfway to the goal at the one and-a-half.
"We were struggling to move the ball consistently, and in that situation, we thought this was our opportunity to go for the win," New Bremen coach Chris Schmidt said. "After they assessed the penalty, we liked the idea even better.
"We had a play to run. We run that in practice every week," Schmidt added. "It wasn't something that we pulled out of thin air. We liked the play, we felt confident, we just didn't do a good job of executing."
On paper the Cardinals dominated in the second half, preventing Versailles from gaining a single first down over the final 24 minutes. First downs, total offense, time of possession all favored New Bremen - everything but punt snapping.
Leading 11-10 to start the third quarter, the Cardinals opened with a three-and-out and an attempted punt deep in their own territory. New Bremen punter Rogan Muether ended up chasing a snap over his head and was tackled on the three yard line.
New Bremen's Rogan Muether (15) pushes away Versailles' Tyler Barga.
On the next play Versailles running back Landon Knapke scored from three yards out. The Tigers elected to go for two and a seven-point cushion. Knapke ran the same play with the same result, converting from three yards for two points and an 18-11 lead 90 seconds into the second half.
Not counting three kneel-downs (for minus 18 yards) at the end of the game Versailles, netted just 17 more yards of total offense the rest of the game.
"Our defense stepped up," Schmidt said. "Obviously it was a bad start to the second half, but our kids gave us a chance. Offensively we struggled at times and you've got to give Versailles credit. They are a well-coached, physical football team. That's what you get in the MAC."
The Tigers struck first, going 98 yards in five plays on their second possession of the game. Versailles quarterback Ethan Wilker connected with Jace Watren for a 24-yard completion. Two plays later Wilker completed a pass to Drake Ahrens across the middle. Ahrens broke an arm tackle and turned a 10-yard gain into a 58-yard gain, as he was tracked down at the New Bremen 12. Knapke covered the final 12 yards on the very next play and Leland Bolin added what would be the game's only PAT kick for a 7-0 lead.
New Bremen answered with three first downs and a sustained drive that resulted in a 24-yard Aidan Eastham Field goal with 11:07 left in the half.
On the Tigers next play from scrimmage Wilker was sacked and coughed up a fumble at the Cardinal 27. Six plays later Muether bulled into the end zone from one yard out. The snap for the PAT kick was mishandled, but holder Ryland Busse pick up the loose ball, and tossed a strike to Aaron Wuebker for the two-point conversion and an 11-7 lead with 7:21 left in the half.
New Bremen's Aaron Wuebker makes a catch during Friday's game with Versailles.
After an exchange of possessions, Versailles took advantage of a short field, starting on the New Bremen 44 yard line and ended up with a 21-yard Bolin field goal with eight seconds left in the half to pull within one, 11-10.
"This was a tough one. You just got to persevere," Schmidt concluded. "There's things to learn and take away. I guess you look at it and say, 'hey we were right there. If we can clean up some things, continue to get better, we'll be alright.' Even if we won that one tonight, our goal is to get better and play our best football at the end of the year."
Gavin Dicke finished 15-of-28 passing for 189 yard, a touchdown and an interception. Muether paced New Bremen on the ground with 78 yards on 25 carries.
Things won't get any easier for the Cardinals as they travel to unbeaten and top-ranked Marion Local next Friday.
