The Bears Austin Brandt is stood up by the Fullerton defense during first-half action in last week’s playoff game. LCC surprised Fullerton by tieing them at the end of regulation.

Austin Brandt stood up by the Fullerton defense
The Bears Austin Brandt is stood up by the Fullerton defense during first-half action in last week’s playoff game. LCC surprised Fullerton by tieing them at the end of regulation.

Bears return to playoffs ends in OT thriller

FULLERTON — LCC’s first playoff game since 2011 did not disappoint when it came to heart-stopping excitement — although the final outcome was a heartbreaker.

The Bears came back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit and had a chance to win in regulation, then were unable to score in the overtime period as Fullerton pulled out a 40-34 win over LCC in the opening round of the Class D1 playoffs Thursday, ending the Bears’ 4-5 season.

After a scoreless first period, the Warriors got out to a quick 14-0 lead in the second quarter before the Bears answered with two scores of their own.

LCC got on the board with a 24-yard pass from Izac Reifenrath to Cael Hartung, with Noah Schutte running in the two-point conversion.

On their next drive, Reifenrath called his own number and scored on a three-yard run to tie the game at 14-14.

Fullerton scored late in the first half and added another in the third to put their lead back up to 12 points, but LCC cut that lead in half early in the fourth on a one-yard plunge by Reifenrath to make it a 26-20 game.

Fullerton scored again to go up 14, but the Bears weren’t going away quietly, as Reifenrath scored his third rushing touchdown on a four-yard run. Nolan Ohlrich’s two-point conversion run made it a 34-28 game with less than five minutes to go.

Fullerton seemed to have the game won when they denied LCC with less than two minutes to go, but LCC’s defense held the Warriors and gave the Bears one last chance with :30 left in regulation.

The Bears offense came through once again, with Reifenrath lofting a 19-yard pass in the corner of the end zone to Schutte to tie the game at 34-34 with :08 left.

LCC could have won the game on the point-after conversion attempt, but a penalty on the play moved them back and they were unable to find the end zone as Fullerton held and sent the game to overtime.

In the extra period, the Warriors scored on a 12-yard pass, then left it up to their defense, who kept LCC out of the end zone to come away with the hard-fought win and bring an end to the Bears’ playoff run.

LCC had a 373-310 edge in total offense, much of it coming through the air as Reifenrath was 30-of-49 for 314 yards with two touchdowns. He also accounted for all 81 rushing yards on 29 attempts with three scores.

Schutte was the team’s leading receiver, catching a career-high 18 balls for 194 yards. Hartung had five catches for 70 yards and Ty Erwin had seven catches for 50 yards.

Defensively, Reifenrath had 19 tackles, Noah Stone had 10 and Cutter Haberman had eight to lead the Bears’ defense.

LCC 0 14 0 20 0 — 34

Fullerton 0 20 6 8 6 — 40

LCC Fullerton

First downs 21 13

Rushing 33-61 50-209

Passing 29-48- 312 7-13-101

Return Yds 97 81

Penalties-yds 6-48 2-14

RUSHING—LCC, Reifenrath 30-62, Brandt 3-(minus 1). F, Dubas 36-169, Wetovick 5-16, Haughton 6-8, Sonderup 1-(minus 7), Lesiak 1-29, Team 1-(minus 6).

PASSING—LCC, Reifenrath 29-48-312-1. F, Haughton 7-12-101-1.

RECEIVING—LCC, Schutte 18-179, Irwin 5-31, Hartung 6-102. F, Lesiak 1-8, Dubas 1-37, Wetovick 2-7, Norman 1-7, Sonderup 1-31, Knopik 1-11.

Scoring Summary

FULLERTON — 2 run (PAT good)

FULLERTON — 7 pass (PAT failed)

LCC — Cael Hartung 24 pass from Izac Reifenrath (Noah Schutte run)

LCC — Reifenrath 3 run (PAT failed)

FULLERTON — 31 pass (PAT failed)

FULLERTON — 1 run (PAT failed)

LCC — Reifenrath 1 run (PAT failed)

FULLERTON — 4 run (PAT good)

LCC — Reifenrath 4 run (Nolan Ohlrich run)