By NEIL HESSE
Register Correspondent
SAGINAW — Sacred Heart traveled to Saginaw to face an undefeated Lake Country Christian School squad who had already pitched three shutouts.
Excitement was in the air for the home team as it was their Homecoming day. Once the game started, Sacred Heart’s defense took control of the game. Sacred Heart built a 20-0 halftime lead and held on with key fourth quarter stands for a 20-13 final.
Chad Henscheid, Michael Davis and Garrett Berend led the defense early with tackles to hold the Eagles to a fourth down punt. The Tigers started at their own 47 following the punt.
Tiger quarterback Matt Hesse began with three runs to pick up a first down. On the ensuing set of downs, Bob Bartush took the handoff on a third down trap play and scampered 34 yards to paydirt. The PAT failed to leave the score 6-0 Tigers with 3:41 left in the first quarter.
Again, as was the case in all of the first half, the Tiger defense rose to the occasion. Hesse, Bob Bartush and Gene Yosten Jr. all made tackles and Lake Country was forced to punt. The Tigers began at their own 24-yard line.
On second down, a Lake Country defender stepped in front of a Hesse pass and returned it to the Tiger 36-yard line. Josh Biffle, Henscheid and Bob Bartush all made nice defensive plays and on fourth down, the Eagle pass fell incomplete. Sacred Heart took over on their own 22-yard line.
The Tigers immediately used a 25-yard pass play from Hesse to John Krawietz to reach the Eagle 47-yard line. The Tigers then got down to the Eagle 40-yard line where it was fourth and 3. The Tiger offense used a hard snap count to draw the Eagles offsides and earn a fresh set of downs. Two plays later, the combination of Hesse to Krawietz worked again for a 30-yard touchdown strike. The PAT snap was errant and the score remained 12-0 with 6:35 left in the first half.
Lake Country began their next drive on their own 30-yard line. On fourth and 1 from their own 39-yard line, Berend and Mark Bartush got great penetration and dropped the Eagle ball carrier for a two-yard loss. The Tigers set up shop on Lake Country’s 38-yard line.
Hesse scampered around right end for 18 yards and it was followed by power running by Clay Hogan and Hesse. Hogan found paydirt on a tough 1-yard touchdown run and a Hesse pass to Bob Bartush was good for two points and a 20-0 halftime lead.
Lake Country would not go down without a fight. The Tigers began the second half at their own 47-yard line. The first play was a halfback pass which was picked off at the Eagle 20-yard line. On the third play of the second half, the elusive Josh Luethe outran the Tiger defense for a 71-yard touchdown run. The PAT was wide right and the Tiger lead was 20-6 with 11:42 left in the third.
Freshman John Paul Hesse took the ensuing kick and had a nice return of 25 yards to the Eagle 47-yard line. The Eagle defense stiffened for the rest of the third quarter as did the Tiger defense.
Sacred Heart began at their own 27 to start the fourth quarter. After a first down, the Tigers were flagged for a 10-yard holding penalty. The next play was a Tiger fumble as Lake Country returned it to the Tiger 15-yard line. From there, Josh Luethe ran in his second touchdown of the night for a 20-13 Sacred Heart lead.
Both teams stepped up their defensive pressure from there. Kyle Knabe and Berend each had fine defensive tackles to halt an Eagle drive. Sacred Heart could not run the clock out and had to punt with 36 seconds on the clock. The Eagles promptly got two flags against them, one for a motion penalty and the other for delay of game. After two incompletions, Hesse picked off an Eagle pass with 1 second remaining in the game.
One snap would conclude the exciting district opener for both schools.
Sacred Heart will travel to Fort Worth All Saints to play Fort Worth Calvary in a non-district match next Friday night.
Leading Tacklers were Michael Davis and Matt Hesse with eight, Garrett Berend with seven and Josiah Yosten with six.
