With 47 seconds remaining and the score tied, the Spring Grove B-team faced a fourth down at the Houston 39 yard-line. But instead of opting for a short pass for the first down, freshman Caleb Eiken threw deep to freshman Gavin Ostern who then raced down the sideline into the end zone. After a two-points pass to Bryce Berns, the Lions led 20-12. But that lead was still in doubt after a 31-yard Hurricane halfback pass from Austin Swenson to Arik Melbo went down to the Lion 22. But on the next play, Troy Reinhardt intercepted a Hurricane pass at the Lion 11 to finally seal a Sept. 27, season-opening win for visiting Spring Grove.
Photo by Lee Epps
The B-boys’ seventh straight win versus Houston did not come easily. The Lions scored on their first possession and never trailed, but Houston had twice come back to tie the score at 6-6 and 12-12. But the ‘Canes had only those 47 seconds for their last reply.
Eiken completed 20 of 33 passes (61%) for 212 yards, two touchdowns and that extra-points toss. Five Lions had receptions, including tight end Ethan Crouch catching nine of those passes (89 yards), Berns hauling in six (45 yards) plus the two-point toss and Ostern latching on to another three (70 yards). Both teams threw more often than they ran, but Lion freshman Zach Brumm averaged over 11 yards per carry while rushing six times for 67 yards.
The Lions’ impressive, 11-play opening drive ended with a 4-yard Eiken-to-Berns touchdown pass. Grove was soon on the way again with a 9-play, 62-yard possession that reached the Houston 10 yard-line before being halted by a Jordan Beeman interception near the goal line.
After Gavin Ostern’s 40-yard punt for SG, the Hurricanes tied the score with an equally-impressive 9-play, 85-yard drive, capped by a 16-yard pass from Ethan Frauenkron to Maddox Rodriguez to make it 6-6 just 30 seconds before halftime. But 12 seconds later, Berns returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards to put Spring Grove back in front by six points at intermission, 12-6.
On the Lions’ third offensive snap of the second half, Rodriguez returned an interception 71 yards to tie the score again at 12-12. The defenses would continue to control the second half with the Spring Grove stop troops forcing a punt, twice stopping Houston on downs and the first of Reinhardt’s two interceptions.
Meanwhile, the Lion offense would be stopped on downs three times, once after a first down at the Houston 4 yard-line. The Grove guys also reached the Hurricane 14 before Beeman’s second interception, which he returned 40 yards before being caught from behind by Brumm.
The Lion defense – anchored by linemen Ethan Crouch, Shawn Crouch and Josh Newgaard – limited the ‘Canes to only 3-for-11 success on third down and 1-for-3 success on fourth down. Berns was in on 11 tackles (8 solo) and Reinhardt 7 (4 solo) with six stops each for Shawn Crouch (2 for loss), Ostern and Nathan Crouch.
But Spring Grove converted only 2 of 10 third down plays and three times failed to score after penetrating the Houston 15 yard-line. The Lions had converted a fourth down on their opening TD drive. But after being denied on their next three attempts, the B-boys finally achieved fourth-down success again – and just in time, 47 seconds before the finish for the winning touchdown.
There were no rushing touchdowns or extra points all evening. Houston scored with a pass and an intercepted pass. Grove tallied with two touchdown tosses, an extra-points pass and a kickoff return.
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Team totals
YARDAGE (rush pass): SG 249 (37+212); Hou 225 81+144)
RUSHING: att.-yards (avg.): SG 24-37 (1.5); Hou 22-81 (3.7)
PASSES: comp-att-int, yds. (TD): SG 20-33-3, 212 yds, 2 TD +PAT; Hou 12-26-2, 144 yards, TD
Sacks allowed: SG 3, Hou 0
TD: SG: 2 pass, 1 special teams; Hou 1 pass, 1 defense
PAT: SG 1-3 (1-2 pass, 0-1 run); Hou 0-2 (0-1 pass, 0-1 run)
TOTAL PLAYS: SG 57, Hou 48
AVG. yards per play: SG 4.4, Hou 4.7
FUMBLES – LOST: SG 2-0, Hou 2-0
TURNOVERS: SG 3, Hou 2
PENALTIES: SG 5-23, Hou 7-50
3rd downs: SG 2 for 10, Hou 3 for 11
4th downs: SG 2 for 5, Hou 1 for 3
Red zone: SG 1 for 4, Hou 1 for 1
First downs: SG 18, Hou 11
Plays of 20+ yards: SG 3, Hou 3
LION INDIVIDUALS:
RUSHING: Brumm Zach 6-67; Caleb Eiken 6-(-20); team 2-(-10)
PASSING: Caleb Eiken 20-33-3, 212 yds., 2 TD +PAT
RECEIVING: Ethan Crouch 9-89, Gavin Ostern 3-70, Bryce Berns 6-45, Jacob Olerud 1-4, Troy Reinhardt 1-4
KICKOFF RETURNS: Zach Brumm 2-44; Bryce Berns 1-72, TD
PUNT RETURNS: Zach Brumm 1-13
SCORING 20: Bryce Berns 14, Gavin Ostern 6
PUNTING: Gavin Ostern 1-40
INTERCEPTIONS: Troy Reinhardt 2-3 yards
PASS BREAKUPS: Sylas Flatin 2, Emmet Engeldinger 1
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: none
FUMBLES FORCED: none
SACKS: none
TACKLES for LOSS (incl. sacks): Shawn Crouch 1.5; Ethan Crouch 1.0 ; Nate Crouch 1.0; Zach Brumm 1.0; Bryce Berns 1.0; Emmet Engeldinger 0.5
TACKLES (solo + assists): Bryce Berns 11 (8+3); Troy Reinhardt 7 (4+3); Shawn Crouch 6 (3+3); Gavin Ostern 6 (2+4); Nate Crouch 6 (2+4); Sylas Flatin 4 (1+3); Jacob Olerud 3 (0+3); Josh Newgaard 2 (2+0); Zach Brumm 2 (2+0); Ethan Crouch 2 (1+1); Emmet Engeldinger 2 (0+2)