Hanging on

FORT LORAMIE - With an eight-point lead, New Bremen needed to make one more play.

Fort Loramie had the ball on the Cardinals' 33-yard line with 1:26 to play, needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to force overtime. But Branxton Krauss got his hand up at the line of scrimmage and batted down a 4th-and-4 pass, allowing the Cardinals to kneel out the clock for a 16-8 win in the Division VII Region 28 semifinals at Redskins Stadium on Friday night.

"Our defense has been tremendous all year long, and they did a great job tonight," New Bremen coach Chris Schmidt said. "Really proud of them, and really proud of our kids for just gutting out a win."

With the win, New Bremen (7-2) moves on to face Marion Local at Booster Stadium in the regional finals next week in a rematch from their Week 2 meeting in Maria Stein.

After holding Fort Loramie (7-2) in check all night, the New Bremen defense appeared to be crumbling at the worst time. The Redskins started at their own 1 after terrific punt coverage by David Homan, but got a couple of short passes and a defensive pass interference penalty to start moving. Nate Meyer took a screen for another 14 yards before quarterback Collin Moore found Sam Barhorst down the right seam for 20.

But with less than two minutes to play, the defense tightened up. Quick pressure forced a throwaway on first down, and after Meyer caught a short pass and got out of bounds, the third down pass was a little too high and off the receiver's hands.

That set up fourth down, and Krauss stepped up.

"It was just a great play," Schmidt said. "It was one of those where, who's going to make a play? Branxton did a nice job of making a play, and that's what we needed."

Up until that final drive, New Bremen had been in control. The Cardinals weren't able to score in the first quarter, but they moved the ball well and stifled the Redskins on offense. Finally it was special teams that got the Cardinals the break they needed, getting a hand on a punt that was downed on the Redskins 30.

Owen Gabel finished off that drive with a field goal, and after a three-and-out from Fort Loramie the Cardinals punt team got at it again, forcing another bad punt that gave the offense the ball back at the 50. Two plays later, Mitchell Hays broke free down the left sideline for a 43-yard touchdown run and a 10-0 lead.

Hays added a touchdown through the air in the fourth quarter, but a botched hold on the extra point attempt kept the game within two scores.

"That was a big play, because we needed to get as much room as we could," Schmidt said. "We were worried about their offense."

The only moment where that offense broke through came midway through the third quarter, when the Redskins kept the offense on the field for a 4th-and-2 at their own 40. Logan Eilerman streaked down the sideline and got a step on the defender, and Moore found him for a 60-yard touchdown pass.

"The Eilerman kid just outran our corner, and it was a great ball by Moore," Schmidt said. "We knew that was a connection we were going to have to worry about, and we had been good all night. We just weren't good right there. Thankfully, it didn't come back to bite us in the end."

Fort Loramie got lucky on the two-point conversion, as Moore's pass was batted back into his arms and he was able to dive across the goal line. But that was where the luck ran out and the New Bremen defense reasserted itself.

The Cardinals held Fort Loramie to 213 total yards, including just eight rushing yards, and allowed the Redskins to convert just two of their 15 third downs. Krauss had four tackles for loss in addition to his late game heroics, and Nick Alig picked off Moore to end the first half. The punting team, aided by the two tipped balls in the second quarter, kept Fort Loramie to an average of 26 yards on eight punts.