St. Henry’s defense pitched a shutout by standing tall deep in its own territory. The Redskins’ offense committed four turnovers, but overcame them with a late surge from the run game.
St. Henry, OH – As St. Henry’s offense sputtered through the first half Friday night, it needed just one thing from its defense. It didn’t need a defensive score, or a short field or three-and-outs to control time of possession. It just needed time.
Even when struggling against a stout New Bremen defense, the Charlie Werling-led offense has too much talent not to figure things out when given enough time to do so.
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The St. Henry defense delivered. It provided more than enough time, ultimately blanking the Cardinals. As promised, the Redskin offense worked out the kinks and overcame four giveaways to claim a 20-0 win.
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“I love where our team’s at,” St. Henry coach Josh Werling said. “But we can get better in certain aspects, and we’re gonna approach practice Monday that way.”
The Redskins are now 8-1 (6-1 MAC) and in 4th place in Region 28. If that result holds through week 10, they’ll get a first-round bye in the playoffs, then host a second-round game. A win against Versailles (4-5) next week could even bring the #2 seed within reach.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been really successful in this town,” Charlie Werling said. “We’ve had great teams here, but we haven’t really done a whole lot with it. So this is awesome, this is what you want. Everybody loves St. Henry football, and we love playing for St. Henry.”
Meanwhile, the Cardinals fell to 5-4 (3-4 MAC) and 8th place in Region 28, just good enough for a home playoff game in the first round. They host Delphos St John’s (1-8) in week 10.
“I’m proud of our kids’ effort,” New Bremen head coach Chris Schmidt said. “It wasn’t for a lack of effort, that’s for sure.”
St. Henry’s Charlie Werling escapes pressure in the pocket…didn’t have his best night, but he was good enough to win. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Howard)
Despite losing four of their last five games in the MAC, the Cardinals would be a formidable opponent in the first round, and they proved it by boarding up St. Henry’s offense in the first half.
“I thought our defense for most of the night played awesome,” Schmidt said. “But they’ve got a tough, physical team, and a hard runner at quarterback … That can start to wear on you.”
The St. Henry defense bent like a rubber band in the first half, stretched by the ground game of quarterback Gavin Dicke and running back Jason Kelly. They averaged 4.8 yards per carry on 21 attempts before intermission. Not bad against the MAC’s leading run defense. But the rubber band never snapped. New Bremen’s longest run of the night progressed just 16 yards.
And when steady production turned into opportunities, St. Henry killed them.
A drive-killing sack, a goal line stand, a tackle for loss on 4th & 1, and an interception highlighted the first half for St Henry’s defense.
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“Those were huge plays,” Josh Werling said. “People talk about momentum not being a real thing, but it’s an absolutely real thing. And when you’re the team that handles that situation, it bodes well.”
Like many games in this year’s condensed version of the MAC, the difference between the teams was winning the high leverage, critical moments of the game, like the red zone.
“Offensively, I’ve gotta do a better job of putting our guys in situations to capitalize on some field position,” Schmidt said. “There were times we moved the ball, we just weren’t able to come away with points, and that hurts.”
St. Henry’s defense responded…bought time until the offense could put points on the board.
Fortunately for the Redskins, there’s no spot on the scoreboard for yards, time of possession or first downs. The final tally didn’t even speak to St. Henry’s four giveaways. The only number that mattered was a zero on the scoreboard, and the Redskins found a way to keep it there.
Dicke plowed to St. Henry’s 21 on the first drive of the game, but outside linebacker Brayden Heath came screaming into the backfield for a back-to-back sack and batted pass to end the drive on downs.
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St. Henry’s offensive struggles began with an unforced fumble on first down, then an uncharacteristic miscue by Werling on third down. He tried to throw while already under heavy harassment from linebacker Jaylen Powell, and dropped the pass into the lap of Powell’s fellow linebacker, AJ Rismiller. The Cardinals took over at St. Henry’s ten-yard line.
Again, St. Henry’s defense stood tall. It forced 4th & goal from the two-yard line. Dicke kept it, but faltered momentarily when he bumped into Kelly in the backfield. That split-second delay allowed a tribe of Redskins to rally to the ball and stuff the run.
Werling’s second interception set up another grueling New Bremen drive – 8 runs and a pass to St. Henry’s 35. The Cardinals called on Kelly, the MAC’s leading rusher, but cornerback Keith Siefring dragged him down for a loss.
“Offense wasn’t going the greatest in the first half,” Siefring said. “So those kinds of plays just kept us in it … With our defense, anything can happen. I think we’re the best defense in the MAC. We’ve gotten turnovers whenever we’ve needed them.”
Where Werling struggled in the passing game, he made up for it on the ground. St. Henry finally sustained a drive without needing to go to the air. With under two minutes to go in the half, Werling plunged in from three yards to break the two-way shutout.
Lest any in attendance think that broke down the dam, the teams spent the last 1:14 of the half trading interceptions. St. Henry’s Tate Boeckman toe-tapped a pick, and New Bremen’s Brennan Stachler took it back.
Charlie Werling dives across the line to convert on an important fourth down and one.
The absurdity continued. On the opening third-quarter drive, Werling threw his fourth, final, and arguably ugliest interception to DB Tommy McNaughton.
“We were trying to do too much,” Charlie Werling said. “Me especially, I was just trying to do too much. We need to just do what we’re coached on.”
Perhaps as retribution, Werling pressured Dicke, knocking the ball off course, causing a pass to bounce between three different players before Siefring claimed it for the Redskins.
A few more fruitless drives ended less dramatically, and early in the fourth, the key in the lock to St. Henry’s offense clicked.
“We just bought in more,” Charlie Werling said. “Obviously things weren’t going how we wanted them to in the first half. But we knew where we could get them in the second half, and we did.”
After Landon Schwartz hauled in the seventh combined interception of the game, St. Henry cruised down the field with QB runs and screen passes. Werling capped it with a 20-yard scramble to the left for a 14-0 lead with 10 minutes left.
“What I love about Charlie is that his demeanor is unwavering,” Josh Werling said. “Our locker room trusts him. And he knows he didn’t have his best stuff tonight, but when it comes down to it, it’s gonna be in 12’s hands behind our offensive line, and we’re gonna live with that.”
In the waning minutes, New Bremen’s safeties finally sank low enough to stop the run that running back Will Speck slipped by everyone for a 52-yard touchdown reception. A botched extra point operation left the score at 20-0. And at the end of the day, those two numbers are the only ones that really matter.
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