Berne Union defeats Fisher Catholic to win MSL-Cardinal and secure first undefeated season of the 21st century
By: Jake Motta
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LANCASTER, Ohio (WOUB) — The Berne Union Golden Rockets took on the Fisher Catholic Irish as the Rockets looked to complete their undefeated season. The Irish were looking to beat the Rockets in order to split the MSL Cardinal Division title three ways between themselves, Berne Union and the Worthington Christian Warriors.
The Rockets found the end zone first in this game when quarterback Nate Nemeth led the offense down the field and capped the drive off himself with a 7-yard rushing touchdown. The Rockets took an early 7-0 lead, but this was not their only score in the first quarter.
With a little over a minute left before the second quarter Brae Friesner took a pitch from Nemeth to his left side and went screaming down the sideline for a 74-yard touchdown run to give the Rockets a 14-0 lead.
Nemeth and Friesner would connect again through the air as the rain fell in Lancaster for a 16-yard touchdown catch. Nemeth found Friesner over the middle of the field dropping the ball in right over an Irish defensive back. The Rockets had a commanding 21-0 lead halfway through the second quarter.
The Irish needed to find a way to respond to get themselves back in the game. They ran the ball down to the Rocket 23-yard line and then they switched things up. Irish quarterback Grant Keefer faked a handoff and rolled to his right on a play action pass and found Jack Wright who made a man miss and ran into the end zone cutting the lead to two scores, 21-7.
With less than a minute to go before halftime Nemeth drove his team to the Irish 25-yard line, he dropped back to pass, pump faked, then took off scrambling towards the end zone in a footrace he would win diving into the end zone. The Rockets went to the locker room with a comfortable 28-7 lead over the Irish.
The Rockets would come out in the second half and score three more touchdowns and allow the Irish to score only once more. The Rockets came out victorious by a score of 49-14, securing their first unbeaten season since 1986.
The two main contributors on offense were Nate Nemeth and Brae Friesner. Friesner had 20 carries for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 16 yards and one touchdown. Nemeth finished the game with 9 carries for 83 yards and one touchdown, and five completions for 85 yards and two touchdowns.