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LCC Bears fall to top-rated Tri-County

LAUREL — The LaurelConcord-Coleridge Bears were not able to pull off their second straight upset win here Friday.

The Bears season ended with a 40-12 home defeat against No. 1 seeded Tri-County in the second round of the D-1 playoffs.

“Our guys played hard they left it out on the field,” LCC head coach Pat Arens said. “We had some miscues, and I made some poor decisions that cost us. You make mistakes against very good teams and they make you pay for it.”

LCC was tied with Tri-County at 6-all after the Bears got a 52-yard touchdown run by Evan Haisch. Tri-County built a bit of a cushion, but an Evan Schmitt three-yard run late in the first half, pulled the Bears to within 18-12 at intermission.

It was in the second half where LCC saw their guests pull away for the win.

Haisch ran for 122 yards on 23 carries while Schmitt threwfor 75 yards and passed for 38 yards.

All told, it was one step further into the postseason than a year ago when the Bears were tripped up on the opening weekend of the playoffs.

“It was a very good season, and it was against our toughest schedule in five years,” Arens said. “Our four losses were to some of the top teams in the state in power points Tri-County (9-0), Wakefield (7-0), Stanton (8-1) and Lutheran Northeast (8-2). Our players rose to the challenges that they had each week. We improved as the season went along.

“We started the year with four gentlemen with varsity experience.”

That may not be the problem next year according to Arens.

“Next year’s team will have 10 guys returning with experience,” he said. “I am very proud of the heart and pride that they played with this year. We had three Seniors, Austin Hall, Cael Hartung, and Nolan Ohlrich that did a good job of setting the standard for next year’s team.

‘They didn’t always have a lot to say, they just did it with actions.”

Hall said that he believes that the team was a much stronger team versus the roster the previous fall.

“We took the weight room more seriously and last year we weren’t as physical,” Hall said. “You definitely want to more the hammer than the nail. Last year, we weren’t as aggressive. Instead of running someone over with the football, it was more about ease the ball over and not take the hit or the drive to run as hard as they could.”

Hall said that a lot of his teammates used the weight room during the COVID-19 quarantine and those who didn’t could easily be seen once practices started.

Hall also appreciated tackling for Haisch who had a number of big-time running games.

“He had a lot of confidence running behind the offensive line,” Hall said. “If didn’t have any confidence, that would not be good at all. He told me after a game that he wouldn’t be able to do what he’s doing without us.

“He’s very thankful for us and he kept telling us. It’s good to have a good relationship between those two positions.” —

LCC 6 6 0 0 — 12

Tri-County 12 6 16 6 — 40

Scoring summary

TC--Siems 21 run (conversion failed)

LCC--52 run (conversion failed)

TC--Lewandowski 9 pass from Siems (conversion failed)

TC--Holsing 31 run (conversion failed)

LCC--Schmitt 3 run (conversion failed)

TC--Holsing 13 run (Lewandowski run)

TC--Garrison 1 run (Noising run)

TC--Lewandowski 22 pass from Siems (conversion failed)

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