NEW PRAGUE – A year ago, the Mayer Lutheran football program was enjoying one of the best seasons in school history. An undefeated season resulted in nothing to show for it as the Crusaders saw their season cut short.
Flash forward to this season and it’s been unfinished business for Mayer Lutheran. The Crusaders moved one step closer to their ultimate goal as they captured the Section 2A championship with a dominant 48-12 win over Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Friday night.
“To be section champions feels good,” senior quarterback Ty Hoese said. “But we know this is just another step towards winning a state title, so we are not satisfied yet. After having last year cut short, there is definitely a feeling of unfinished business within our senior class. That has helped to motivate us every day to keep this season going and keep working towards our ultimate goal.”
G-F-W was responsible for the only loss of the season for Mayer Lutheran this year. That came back in the opening week of the season and the Crusaders were determined to not let that happen again.
“It was a huge win for us,” Chad Heinlen said. “It’s a big step for this team. This was definitely a revenge game for us. This one feels good for sure.”
It was G-F-W who came out firing in the rematch. A 69-yard touchdown run from Traey Taylor on their second play of the game gave the Thunderbirds a 6-0 lead early on.
That big play for the Thunderbirds was all the Crusaders would allow. Instead of panic setting in on the sidelines, the large group of seniors knew everything was going to be OK.
“We knew it was going to be a game,” senior Elijah Jopp said. “They came out strong and we just said it’s going to be a game so we realized we needed to step it up. We stayed to our game plan and we executed it. This was a big game for us. We didn’t get to play them the first time. We let the team down right away this year. We came back and knew we had to step it up and make plays.”
Mayer Lutheran would hold the Thunderbirds in check the rest of the way. After one mistake early on, the Crusaders were swarming to the ball as their preparation paid off.
“After that, everything he planned worked great,” Mayer Lutheran coach Dean Aurich said about his defensive coordinator Tim Zupke. “He put a lot of energy into it. He did a great job stopping the dive. Once you stop their dive, they’re in trouble.”
as Marcus Johnson and Heinlen dominated play at the line of scrimmage. Both Johnson and Heinlen were routinely in the backfield disrupting the timing for G-F-W.
Marcus Johnson and Heinlen were big reasons for the strong defensive showing for Mayer Lutheran. Both were in the backfield regularly throwing off G-F-W’s timing.
“Marcus and Chad stepped up this week,” Aurich said. “They’ve improved all year long. Having those big guys get in the backfield disrupted their timing.”
“The defensive line up front did what they had to do,” Jopp added. “They let us linebackers get things done. We all made plays. It was just special.”
With the defense settled in, Mayer Lutheran got the running game going which opened everything else up. After forcing a G-F-W punt, it took the Crusaders just one play to take the lead as Cole Neitzel broke free for a 40-yard touchdown run. The extra point from Connor Olsen gave Mayer Lutheran the lead, but they were just getting started. The Crusaders would go on to score 41 unanswered points to take a commanding lead over the Thunderbirds.
“At the end of the day, everybody just did their job,” Heinlen said. “Every guy on the field has got to do their job. That was the difference tonight. They’re a great team, but we have a great group of seniors. It’s a great group of guys. I love this team.”
Phase one for Mayer Lutheran was winning the district title. They did that. Phase two was winning the section title. Now it’s time for the Crusaders to move on to phase three, a phase Aurich doesn’t want his team to take lightly.
“That’s what we just talked about,” Aurich said. “We all felt so empty after last year. I told them to not let this one slip through their fingers. This is the time.”
Mayer Lutheran will open the Class A State Tournament taking on Murray County Central. The Rebels were the No. 1 ranked team in Class A in the final poll.
While Murray County Central is a new team the Crusaders haven’t faced, Aurich and his team will be focusing on what they do in practice leading up to the matchup.
“What we do that is a little unusual is we run the trips formation and then we run different things off of it that no one has seen,” Aurich said. “We’ll put another formation together that no one has seen. That’s what is good about Ty. He’s able to do that. It’s some of the same plays but they can never come up to the line knowing what we’re going to run. That’s where the senior group comes in. They’re smart enough to be able to do that.”
Kickoff for the matchup between the Rebels and Crusaders is set for 7 p.m. from Jordan High School. The winner will advance a step close to playing for a state title.
“We’ve got to make it to the top of the mountain,” Heinlen said. “That’s where we’re headed. We just need three more.”
“State champions,” Jopp added. “That’s phase three.”
Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter – @Kovar_HJSports