NEW BREMEN – The Versailles football team trailed for the first time this year, falling behind to New Bremen 11-7 in the second quarter before battling back to eke out an 18-17 conference win over the Cardinals.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead when a 59-yard pass to Drake Ahrens set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Ross Francis with 4:06 left in the first quarter. The Cardinals would cut the lead to 7-3 in the second quarter with a field goal with 11:07 left in the second quarter.
The Tigers fumbled on the first play of their next possession, and the Cardinals took over at the Tiger 27-yard line. The Cardinals would convert a fourth-down pass to the two-yard line. The Cardinals ran it in with 7:21 left in the quarter. The Cardinals converted a two-point conversion pass to take an 11-7 lead. The Tigers would cut the lead with a Leland Bolin field goal with eight seconds left in the half.
Trailing at the half, the Tigers would have to kick to the Cardinals to start the second half. Bolin put the kickoff into the end zone, and the Tiger defense got to work. The snap was high, forcing a punt, and the Tigers tackled the punter at the three-yard line.
Landyn Knapke took it to pay dirt with 10:30 left in the third. Knapke gave the Tigers a seven-point lead with the two-point conversion.
New Bremen scored with 1:45 left in the game to close within one point. The Cardinals coach decided to go for the win and go for two. Bremen had a quarterback run/pass option play called, and Ross Francis took the run away. Gavin Dicke jumped and heaved an off-balance throw to the end zone. The ball fell to the turf inches from receiver Logan Kriegs’ fingers.
The Cardinals trailed by one and attempted an onside kick. The tigers covered it and ran out the clock to preserve the win.
“We’ve had a lot of close battles with New Bremen over the years.” Coach Ryan Jones said. “The coaching staff there always does a great job game planning, and their players play extremely hard.”
The game was a defensive battle. New Bremen out-gained the Tigers 277 to 147, but the Tigers made plays when they had to.
The Tigers move to 4-0 on the season and will look to go 5-0 next week as they travel to Rockford to take on Parkway next Friday.
