HARTINGTON, Neb. — Whoever believed that Hartington Cedar Catholic would settle for overtime when it got the ball with 30 seconds left Tuesday was dead wrong.
Cedar quarterback Justin Leise threw to Cody Klug for a 39-yard touchdown pass with 0.6 seconds left for a 26-20 victory over Cambridge in a Class C-2 semifinal.
“(Klug) was just following me across the field, and luckily I found him,'' Leise said. “He made a great spin move and got around the defender (at the 20-yard line).”
It was the third touchdown of the final period for No. 4 Cedar, which rolled up 269 yards in the second half after getting just 58 in falling behind unranked Cambridge 13-0 at halftime.
A 5-yard run by the school's career rushing leader, Chad Koch, and a 39-yard TD pass from Leise to Klug cut Cambridge's lead to a point with 9:57 left in the game.
Gus Petersen, who led all rushers Tuesday with 148 yards, broke for a 51-yard touchdown that increased Cambridge's lead to 20-12 with 8:10 left.
A pass interference penalty on third-and-20 helped launch a 73-yard scoring drive for Cedar that tied the game 20-20.
Koch, who gained 92 of his 99 yards in the second half, scored from the 2 and ran for the two-point conversion with 2:16 left.
Cedar forced a three-and-out, which nearly was a disaster for Cambridge when the snap sailed over punter Catlin Rice's head. He retrieved the ball and rugby-kicked a 29-yarder.
Koch picked up 11 yards on first down and Klug went out-of-bounds after a 16-yard catch to set up the final play.
Cambridge (8-4)....................7 6 0 7—20
At Hartington CC (10-2)...............0 0 6 20—26
C: Delvin Jackson 5 run (Anthony Rodriguez kick)
C: Jackson 5 run (kick failed)
HCC: Chad Koch 8 run (kick blocked)
HCC: Cody Klug 39 pass from Justin Leise (kick failed)
C: Gus Petersen 51 run (Rodriguez kick)
HCC: Koch 2 run (Koch run)
HCC: Klug 39 pass from Leise (kick failed)
A: 1,000 (est.)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: C, Petersen 20-148, Hayden Ekberg 8-82, Carson Farr 5-14, Jackson 11-34, Ethan Long 2-6, Seth Trosper 1-minus 1, team 2-minus 2. HCC, Koch 29-98, Eric Becker 3-13, Leise 5-minus 9, Klug 1-minus 4.
PASSING: C, Ekberg 2-3-0 14. HCC, Leise 10-16-1 229.
RECEIVING: C, Petersen 2-14. HCC, Klug 7-207, Koch 1-minus 3, Nick Lauer 1-11, Becker 1-14.
Contact the writer:
444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com
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