BREMEN – The way the Culver Academy-Bremen game started you thought the Eagles were going to spoil the Lions’ Homecoming and Senior Night festivities Friday at Don Bunge Field.
However, Bremen had other ideas.
After spotting the visitors a 14-0 lead the Lions roared back, outscoring the Eagles 40-3 and eventually posting a 40-24 win.
“We spot everybody 14,” Bremen head coach Justin Bogunia said. “I’m like, ‘Lets go.’ You may hit us early, but you better keep it up because our kids have that resiliency, tenacity and fight.”
Bogunia’s Lions have now won five straight games to improve to 5-2 on the season.
CMA saw its modest two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 2-5.
With the game tied at halftime at 14, Bremen wasted no time taking the lead for good.
On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Lion senior quarterback Jack Wildauer went off tackle untouched in front of the Eagles’ sideline for a 62-yard touchdown run. Bremen missed the ensuing PAT, but the Lions led 20-14 just 12 seconds into the third quarter.
Bogunia and his staff made the adjustment at halftime and figured that play might be a good gainer.
“That was a halftime adjustment. We saw what they were doing,” he explained. “We hit them with it a little before halftime and knew we could hit them with it. We just had to make sure our kids were set up right. I knew we had the edge. I didn’t know if Jack would make it all the way. I knew it was a 10- or 15-yard call. The rest was Jack.”
CMA cut it to 20-17 thanks to Rafael Muniz’s 37-yard field goal about five minutes later.
Barely 90 seconds after that, Wildauer hooked up with freshman Jake Rodriguez for a 35-yard touchdown pass play. A slew of Eagle defenders appeared to have Rodriguez, one of the Lions’ fastest players, pinned on the Bremen sideline, but somehow he escaped thanks to an incredible spin move that allowed him to break free and scamper down the sideline for the score.
The Lions led 27-17 with 5:17 to go in the third.
The score stayed that way until just under nine minutes remained in the game. That’s when Wildauer scored on a beautiful naked bootleg on fourth-and-one from the 2-yard line.
Wildauer’s second rushing touchdown run of the game put his team up 34-17 with 8:57 to go.
Bremen would find the end zone again on its next possession. This time junior running back Derek Miller went straight up the middle for a 5-yard score to finish his team’s scoring.
Miller finished with 12 carries for 65 yards and the TD.
“He’s that old school, hard-nosed kid,” Bogunia said. “I do love him, it’s hard not to.”
CMA would add a touchdown in the final minute.
Wildauer had a great game. He accounted for four of Bremen’s six touchdowns, running for 156 yards on 12 carries.
“He’s still a work in progress,” said Bogunia of his signal caller. “Jack is a great player, but he’s got the head coach on him so he’s always getting critiqued.
“He made huge strides in the passing game this week.”
The Eagles started the game with a bang, scoring on their first two possessions.
CMA senior quarterback Owen Dorrel hooked up with senior slot Ainsley Ritchie for an 18-yard touchdown pass play on the game’s first possession, giving the visitors a 7-0 lead halfway through the opening quarter.
The next time the Eagles touched the ball they drove 71 yards on nine plays. Again it was Dorrel to Ritchie. This time for a 17-yard touchdown scoring strike to make it 14-0 just nine seconds into the second frame.
Without question, CMA’s cause, especially on offense, was greatly hindered after it lost top back Max Pasquale and Ritchie to first-half injuries. They never returned.
They weren’t the only ones who were hampered.
Bremen lost top rusher Logan Moser to a right ankle injury, something he injured a week earlier in the win over Glenn.
Dorrel was 13-of-32 passing for 177 yards with three touchdowns, but he threw three interceptions, including two in the first half, which came in Bremen territory.
Bremen got on the board when Wildauer threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Rodriguez. It was 14-7 with 8:42 left until halftime.
The Lions tied the score on a Wildauer scramble with less than five seconds to go in the second quarter. Wildauer somehow found the end zone from two yards out. The PAT looked like it would be botched due to a poor snap, but Rodriguez was able to get it down and Wildauer kicked it through the uprights to tie the score heading into the locker room.
The Lions hit the road next week to face fifth-ranked Knox (kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.). The Eagles will also be on the road as they travel to Guerin Catholic for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
CMA 7 7 3 7 – 24
C – Ainsley Ritchie 18 pass from Owen Dorrel (Rafael Muniz kick)
C – Ritchie 17 pass from Dorrel (Muniz kick)
B – Jake Rodriguez 27 pass from Jack Wildauer (Wildauer kick)
B – Wildauer 2 run (Wildauer kick)
B – Wildauer 62 run (kick no good)
B – Rodriguez 35 pass from Wildauer (Wildauer kick)
B – Wildauer 2 run (Wildauer kick)
B – Derek Miller 5 run (Wildauer kick)
C – Jak Chaney 40 pass from Dorrel (Muniz kick)
Passing 13-32 8-11
Penalties 6-55 6-55