Cougar run game too much as Bears fall 60-26

STROMSBURG — Cross County’s running attack proved to be more than the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Bears could handle.

The Cougars racked up 541 yards in total offense, 450 of it on the ground, and pulled away in the second half to post a 60-26 win over the Bears Thursday in the opening round of the Class D-1 eight-man playoffs at Cross County High School, ending LCC’s 5-4 season.

While the Cougars have made most of their success on the ground, it was a surprise through the air that got them on the scoreboard on their first drive.

Cross County quarterback Cael Lundstrom spotted an open man in the LCC secondary and found Carter Seim all by him self. The 39-yard pass completion put the hosts on the board with an 8-0 lead.

“We had a blown coverage there, and when you don’t stick to your assignments, those things happen,” coach Pat Arens said.

The Cougars scored again later in the first quarter to take a 16-0 lead, but LCC got back in the game in the second period when Ty Erwin found Noah Schutte on a 5-yard pass to make it 16-6 midway through the period.

Even when Cross County scored again to make it 24-6, there was a feeling during the halftime break that the Bears still had a chance to come back and get a win on the road.

That feeling slipped away rather quickly, as Cross County scored on the second play from scrimmage to open the second half, a 60-yard touchdown run by Isaac Noyd that made it 32 6 and seemed to take

Erwin and Schutte connected again on a 3-yard pass to make it 32-14, but Cross County broke the game open with a pair of touchdowns just seconds apart. Seim scored on a two-yard run, and on LCC’s next possession, Colton Nuttelman stepped in front of a screen pass and took it back 29 yards for another score. That made it 46-14 and LCC’s hopes went out the window.

“We didn’t execute well in the first half and got down, and in the second half we just got too far behind,” Arens said. “Our running game wasn’t there tonightand they did good job covering the pass, so it was a tough night for us.”

The Bears added a pair of second-half scores. Schutte hauled in his third touchdown of the night on a 13-yard pass from Erwin and Evan Haisch closed the scoring with a 14-yarder from Erwin.

Erwin was 19-of-38 passing for 189 yards for the Bears, with Schutte hauling in 11 passes for 133 yards. Erwin also led the Bears ground attack with 54 yards on 13 carries.

Cross County, which had 541 yards in total offense, was led by Noyd’s 233 yards on 17 carries, while Seim added 163 yards.

While the season ended earlier than the Bears had hoped, Arens said the team was able to show improvement from last season.

“it was a good season,” he said. “We were able to build on last season and improved little by little. We made the playoffs for the second straight year, but we don’t have that attention to detail that it takes at that bigger level

”

fort of LCC’s 10 seniors, which included Schutte, Erwin, Austin Brandt, Kaden Swanson, Wyatt Taylor, Israhel Vance, Cutter Haberman, Zach McCoy, Cody Martin and Dylan Reimers.

“Those kids were the first group to go through our program, and they went 1-7, 1-7, 4-5 and 5-4, so able to finish with winning record,” Arens said. “It’s taking steps little by little and we have a nice group of young guys and some kids that, with another year of experience and another year in the weight room, you never know what can happen.”

LCC 0 6 14 6 — 26 Cross County 16 8 22 14 — 60

Scoring Summary

CC — Carter Seim 39 pass from Cael Lundstrom (Landen Berck run)

CC — Berck 4 run (Seim run)

LCC — Noah Schutte 5 pass from Ty Erwin (PAT failed)

CC — Cory Hollinger 27 pass from Lundstrom (Seim run)

CC — Isaac Noyd 60 run (Berck run) LCC — Schutte 3 pass from Erwin (Erwin run)

CC — Seim 2 run (pass failed)

CC — Colton Nuttelman 29 interception return (Berck run)

LCC — Schutte 19 pass from Erwin (pass failed)

CC — Seim 25 run (run failed)

CC — Noyd 73 run (Seim run)

LCC — Evan Haisch 14 pass from Erwin (pass failed)

LCC Cross Co.

First Downs 19 25

Rushing-Yards 18-66 55-450

Passing Yards 189 91

Comp.-Att.-Int. 19-38-2 4-10-1

Punts-Avg. 3-47.0 2-32.5

Penalties-Yds 6-47 11-108

RUSHING — LCC: Haisch 4-11, Ohlrich 1-1,Erwin 13-54. Cross Co.: Berck 11-55, Seim 23-163, Noyd 17-233, Lundstrom 2-(-1), Graham 1-2, Hild 1-(-2).

PASSING — LCC: Erwin 19-38-2, 189. Cross Co.: Lundstrom 4-10-1, 91.

RECEIVING — LCC: Schutte 11-133, Hartung 2-18, Haisch 4-29, Puppe 2-9. Cross Co.: Seim 1-39, Hollinger 2-46, Noyd 1-6.