Over his head and into his hands…Marion Local’s Cale Nagel clutches the first of his four touchdown catches in the first quarter of Friday’s 40-7 win over New Bremen. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Marion Local cruised to consecutive win #69 and showed a facet of their developing game for future opponents to respect…176 yards receiving and four touchdowns by senior Cale Nagel.
New Bremen, OH – Consecutive win #69 came in an easier-than-anticipated manner Friday night at New Bremen, and Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin never even mentioned wins, or winning, in his post-game remarks. He dwelled on his team’s improvement – improving!
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Specifically, what he wanted to talk about was the development of his sophomore quarterback, Brennen Hess, following the Flyers 40-7 win over the 4-1 New Bremen Cardinals.
And for those out there trying to figure out just how good, and how similar this Marion team is to those in the recent past, Goodwin gave them something more to consider than a crushing run game and a smothering defense.
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The Flyers amassed 374 yards of total offense Friday night, and are you ready for it? Half of those yards came as a result of the passing of Hess and the receiving of senior wideout Cale Nagel. Nagel caught five balls for 176 yards and four touchdowns, and Hess connected on 8 of 12 pass attempts for 214 yards.
“You know,” Goodwin deadpanned afterwards. “I’m starting to think that Brennen Hess can be pretty good. He’s reading coverages, he’s making the throws, and I’ve said this before. Our assistant coaches, Adam Bertke and Chad Otte have spent a lot of time with him for two years…his eighth grade and freshman years. They took this tall skinny kid…and don’t get me wrong because he’s an athlete…and they’ve got this first-year sophomore playing quarterback in a pretty good league at a high level. And credit, again, to Adam Bertke and Chad Otte.”
New Bremen’s big moment…Caleb Keller took the opening kickoff 68 yards for a touchdown.
And credit, too, to the impact of the passing game as part of what future opponents must now prepare for with Marion Local. And Friday it came in the nick of time.
Because to the surprise of everyone…New Bremen’s Caleb Keller took the opening kickoff and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown before Brennen Hess, or Ben Meier, or Kamden Eifert, or Cale Nagel ever set foot on the field. Valet parking was still busy outside, the popcorn was still popping, and the score was 7-0, New Bremen.
But Marion took no time at all in answering Keller’s opening strike. In a matter of three and a half minutes Hess took the ensuing kickoff and marched Marion down the field for 54 yards and a five-yard touchdown by Kamden Eifert to tie the game at 7-7.
And then…add a little Marion defense, forcing New Bremen to punt on fourth down and Hess and company set up housekeeping on their own 38 yard line. He promptly pumped once, found Cale Nagel streaking down the Marion sideline and hit him in full stride with a miraculous over-the-head catch that Nagel pulled in, and without a hitch beat defensive back Caleb Keller for a 62-yard touchdown…14-7, Marion Local, at 6:41 still in the first quarter.
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More defense, another New Bremen punt to start the second quarter, and Marion’s Andrew Schmackers returned it through traffic all the way to the New Bremen 9 yard line. Two plays later…Hess to Nagel again, and a 20-7 Marion lead. The PAT attempt was no good.
And on the ensuing possession by New Bremen, it became evident that it was not the Cardinals’ night. Quarterback Gavin Dicke moved the ball across midfield, and from the Marion 37 yard line kept the ball on an option read and raced through the Flyers’ secondary for a touchdown…only to have it called back for illegal procedure. The half ended with Marion holding that two-score advantage.
Kamden Eifert bulls through the line for a Flyer touchdown on their first possession.
Marion had the ball first to start the third quarter, and in just two minutes Hess had hooked up with Nagel on a post route for 37 more yards and his third touchdown of the night.
“I felt like I could just go and get the ball tonight, wherever he (Hess) threw it,” said the diminutive Nagel, afterwards, wearing a broad smile.
And why not? In five games he’s proven to be the fastest guy on the field in all five, and all while still learning to play the position of wide receiver. In his three previous seasons he was a cornerback. Needless to say, he’s enjoying his current change of scenery.
And sonuva’ gun…after yet another Anna punt Hess went right back to the well again and hit Nagel on the same route, in the same spot, against the same coverage for another post pattern touchdown, this time his longest of the night…66 yards. With five minutes remaining the the third quarter Marion was leading 33-7 and approaching a running clock.
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That came in a matter of seconds after a Gavin Dicke pass was tipped an intercepted by Marion’s Brayden Mescher, setting up the Flyers again in good field position on the New Bremen 42. Moments later Kamden Eifert scored his second touchdown of the night to push the score to 40-7, the running clock, and an expedited fourth quarter manned by the Marion second unit.
It was not a good night for what had been the high-flying Cardinals, coming off last week’s thrilling 26-25 win over Versailles in the final second of the game. Marion dominated the line of scrimmage. Their pursuit held Anna to less than a hundred yards on the ground. And their pressure on quarterback Gavin Dicke held the passing game to a drib here, and a drab there. Impressive? Yes, because New Bremen is talented, they have weapons, and they are a post-season team that could easily play their way to a regional final.
But Marion’s passing attack, which approached new levels of lethality in 2024 with Justin Knouff and Victor Hoelscher, suddenly showed Friday that they may be way ahead of schedule in re-arming, and more diverse in attack than anyone suspected from a retooled roster and just five regular season games.
“The anticipation piece is still coming to him (Hess), to be able to throw the receivers open,” added Goodwin. “And he’s actually pretty decent at it now.”
And domination at the point of attack is steadily being amped up, as well, and created five and six yard chunks of running room for Ben Meier and Kamden Eifert.
New Bremen’s Gavin Quellhorst makes a circus catch of his own in the second quarter of Friday’s game with Marion Local.
“I’d like to believe that we’re becoming more physical with each week,” said Goodwin. “And I think the passing attack early caused them to play a little more loose. Eventually they had to move more people up to ‘the box’.”
But the guy that had the most impressive night was 5’7″, 150-pound Cale Nagel, who actually may, or may not be that big.
“In my wildest dreams I wouldn’t have believe this,” said Nagel. “I just came out and tried to beat their safeties over the top because I knew I was faster. And their corner didn’t seem to pay much attention to me.”
What amounted to a game of pitch and catch between him and Brennen Hess.
“Yeah, I tell him to throw it and I can go get it,” he smiled. “The over-the-head catch was one where I looked back and saw the ball pretty high in the air. I just put my head down and kept going and when I looked up again it was straight above me. I was able to adjust my body and get to it. It hit me right in the hands. It was perfect.”
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Goodwin rolled his eyes and smiled when asked if he was as anxious as two weeks ago to get back to practice on Monday…because obviously, once again at a particular point of the season Marion Local looks about ready to hit its stride.
Some second team time…freshman Cam Wolters picks up yards and playing time in the final minutes of the game.
“I’m happy with where we’re at,” he insists. “We are thin in some spots, depth-wise, and that’s always a concern if the wrong guy gets hurt. You can’t control that, but it would create some big change if the wrong guy was to go down. The kids just work so hard, and if there’s any magic to Marion Local it’s just the everyday mindset about work. It’s been pretty hot for the past two weeks, and they’re still out there practicing hard. They’re just really mentally focused.”
Next up is Versailles for Goodwin and the Flyers, coming off a Friday scorching of Parkway in with the Tigers rebounded from last week’s loss to New Bremen by scoring 43 points (43-7). But Marion’s scorching of Bremen Friday just created a tougher week of practice for Versailles, as more of the parts came together, and the confidence reached another level of platitude.
It should come as no surprise. We’ve seen it…they’ve all seen it…so many times before.
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