The Charger defense defended every blade of grass on the final possession of the contest to preserve a hard fought 15-10 victory over the Tigers of Doane in Crete, Nebraska.
“”Extremely gritty win for our program. Coach Johnson and the Doane program fought their tails off and deserve a ton of credit, they did a great job,” said Head Coach Shane LaDage. “We made opportune plays on offense and minus one play.”
The Tigers took over on their own 43-yard line with 1:54 left in the fourth quarter. After a one-yard rush from James Miles III, the Chargers forced two straight incomplete passes to force a fourth-and-nine situation. Sam Hartman completed a pass to Andrew Waido down the Charger sideline to extend the drive.
Doane marched down the field, taking a shot towards the endzone and drawing a pass interference call on the play to place the ball on Briar Cliff’s 17-yard line. Hartman again connected with Waido to place the ball on the six-yard line.
In a first-and-goal situation with time winding down, the Tigers handed the ball off to Miles off the right side and was brought down by Lakey Martin and Tim McCarthy on the one-yard line.
The Tigers tried to run a quarterback sneak but was stuffed by Martin and Lopez. With the clock ticking down, the Tigers quickly lined back up in a QB sneak formation, and again was stopped by the Cliff.
The game clock read nine seconds, and a penalty was thrown on the previous play. The officials had declared a false start penalty on Hartman. The penalty under the two-minute timeout period requires a 10-second runoff, and the Chargers secured the victory.
The Tigers in the opening drive ran a heavy dose of run plays for Miles, but their drive stalled out at the Charger 14-yard line and had to settle for a Kelen Meyer field goal to take a early 3-0 lead.
Midway through the second quarter, the Charger offense moved backwards after losing yards in their first initial plays. Facing a third-and-14, the Tigers lined up in a cover 0 look and left tight end Steven Whiting open down the left hash. Brock Saya dropped a dime to Whiting, who broke one tackle and raced off for a 68-yard touchdown. Johnny Bauser connected with Whiting on the two-point try to give BCU a 8-3 lead.
The Tiger’s got the ball with 1:42 left in the first half and scored on a 62-yard touchdown pass from Hartman to Miles to regain a 10-8 lead heading into the half.
On the first possession of the third, the Cliff used a 18-play 85 yard scoring drive that burned close to five minutes off the clock to take a 15-10 lead. The Cliff got to the ground game, as Matthew Mason rushed for 43 yards on 10 carries in the drive. E’Mond Pitmann spelled Mason in the drive and earned tough yards to keep the Chargers ahead of the chains.
Facing third-and-goal from the Doane two-yard line, Whiting motioned from the right of the formation to flexed out on the left side. Saya tossed a fade ball to Whiting who corralled it in for his second touchdown of the contest. Jacob Schroeder converted on the PAT attempt.
The defensive line platoon dominated the line of scrimmage in the contest, led by Lopez who had a monster game from his defensive tackle position. He led the team with 12 tackles, five tackles for loss, and three sacks. True freshman Joseph Casarez recorded the first sack of his career in the contest. Phillip Benjamin, Milo Collier, and Michael Casarez all chipped in half a sack.
The Charger defense totaled six sacks in the contest, while holding the Tiger rushing attack to just 44 yards and an average of 1.3 yards per rush.
“I felt like our defense was fantastic. Carlos Lopez was outstanding and provided a spark to us all day long,” said LaDage. “Steven Whiting also had a great day with two touchdowns. Road wins in the GPAC are tough and we are happy to head home to the Cliff with the victory!”
Saya finished the contest 16-for-28 for 164 yards and two passing touchdowns. Whiting led BCU in receiving with three catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
The Chargers improve to 1-1 (1-0 GPAC) and will hit the road again next Saturday, as they travel to take on the Broncos of Hastings in Hastings, Nebraska. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
Briar Cliff Football beats Doane
