For the past few months folks have asked me if I’m ready for basketball, and very honestly, I have told them that I was enjoying the fall and still hungry for Mustangs football.  As of 9:15pm Friday night, I became ready for basketball, which after four weeks of practice, begins with a scrimmage Saturday morning at 10:30am at West Clermont High School over in Ohio.

We took a good Brossart football team down to the Carothers Road Hill for the second round of the playoffs, well-prepared, and confident that maybe this would be the year that we would stem the tide, turn the tables, and return to Alexandria with that elusive win over NCC.  However, despite hoping for the best, NCC was the better team on this night and deserve to advance, claiming a 24-7 win over our Mustangs.

My preview of last week’s Dayton game more aptly applied to this game.  Last week I feared that our running game might prove to be ineffective, and that the ground and pound tactics of the Dayton team, might be effective in controlling a low-scoring game.  I couldn’t have been more wrong then, and maybe, should have saved that prediction until this week, because, I could not have described what transpired on the hill, any more accurately. 

Having won the toss, Coach Martin wanted to establish offensive momentum early, instead of sitting back and allowing the Breds the first opportunity to score.  I totally agree with that decision, and would have done the same, if it were my call.  Unfortunately, we went three-and-out, relinquishing possession of the piggy at the 45 Yard Line.  The Breds utilized three first downs to get to the 4 Yard Line, where it was First and Goal, and an almost sure-thing touchdown.  “Almost.”  Hold the Phone!  The Mustangs caused the Breds to spit up the ball, and took over at our own 3-yard line (Austin Johnson Recovery).  Crisis Averted!  We moved it out to the 16, and then threw it away.  Landon Spaulding’s only interception allowed in the contest, but this time, gifted the ball to the Breds at the Brossart 18, the Breds did not squander this opportunity, and with 2:16 remaining in the first quarter, Vander Hundemer, the elephant in this room of Breds and Mustangs, (he ran 33 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns), scored from 4-yards out, and the Breds led 7-0 at the quarter stop, when former Mustang, Jaiden Wittrock converted his first of three PATs.

In the second stanza, we would punt, the Breds would punt, and on a controversial decision by the officials, Landon Spaulding was ruled to have fumbled the football, and that is the way it played out.  This time with 4:45 left in the half, Hundemer stuck again, this time a 23-yard trophy run, making it 14-0 when Jaiden Wittrock connected on his second PAT.

The Breds laid this one to rest with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter when Quarterback Ty Fennell found Hundemer with an 18 yard aerial, making it 21-0 when the Wittrock PAT effort was good.

With 8:28 remaining in our season, Landon Spaulding connected with Brady Boruske on a 64-yard pass play for a “curtain call” touchdown, his ninth of the season, for old times sake.  Zach Eldridge closed out his high school football career by making the PAT, and it was Breds 21 and the Mustangs 7.  The remaining score in the game came on a 32-yard Jaiden Wittrock Field Goal with 3:16 remaining, and that was that.  The Breds move on to face Ky Country Day next week, the Mustangs go to Hoops season.

The stat that jumps off of the page is comparative Rushing Yards, NCC – 226, BB – 14.  Through the air we were dominant – Via air, Landon Spaulding was 16/28 for 162 yards, 1-TD, 1-INT.  Ty Fennel (NCC) answered by going  7/7, 56 Yds, 0-TD.  NCC laid over us in Time of Possession as well.  Landon Spaulding was limited to 21-yards on 11 carries, and Tommy Busby had 6 carries for Minus-7-Yards.  Brady Boruske hauled in 10 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown.  Quinten Tischner caught 3 passes for 9 yards.  Ryan Eledridge hit his only PAT opportunity.  Defensively 15 different Mustangs registered tackles in this one, led by Quinten Tischner’s 18 bring-downs, Tommy Busby had 12 tackles, and Tripp Wilson 11.  Quinten Tischner is now the new school record holder for MOST TACKLES IN A CAREER with 365, 20 more than Nathan “Paco” Bezold who has held the record since 2018.  Brady Boruske has set the new school standard for MOST RECEIVING YARDS IN A SEASON with 995, eclipsing Bryce Donnelly who had held down both first and second place with 944 and 862 yards in 2016 and 2017 respectively.  Congrats!!!

With the end of the season comes the close of the high school football careers of nine Mustang Seniors – Brady Boruske, Tripp Wilson, Quinten Tischner, Landon Ketron, Justin Bezold, Landon Spaulding, Beckett Meersman, Ryan Eldridge and Kasey Moeller.  As I have been told many times this week (And Appreciate it) – Thank You For Your Service!!!  We’ve enjoyed watching you play, and are glad that you were Brossart Mustangs.  We Hope You’ve Had “The Time of Your Lives.”. 

Just a thought on our upcoming move to Class 2-A next year.  This is nothing as traumatic as when we played in Class 2A back from 2011 to 2014 when we were thrown in with Lloyd, Newport, Newport Catholic and Holy Cross – a death sentence to a team with 21 players that were practicing on the St. Mary School Playground.  It nearly put us out of the football business.  The only “death sentence” moving forward is being in a district with the Beechwood Football Academy, nearly assuring us that we will be playing for second place, nor will we be undefeated again for awhile.  However, we should more than compete with our other three district-mates – Walton-Verona, who is already on our schedule and who we have defeated the past three seasons, Owen County and Gallatin County who I like our chances against.  We can thank the KHSAA for permitting the 1.3 multiplier for Private Schools for even putting us, a school that runs a clean program, in this situation and moving us out of the more local, more competitive district that we presently occupy.  NCC remains in Class 1A, so unless Coach Martin puts them on our schedule, which I hope that he does, we have seen the last of the Breds for the foreseeable future (at least four years).   Maybe some Spaghetti / Chili Bowl Game might be arranged.

Hats off to Adam Noe and Patrick Blair, and at times Derrick McBride for carrying the Broadcast Torch and painting the Football Picture for the past season.  We certainly appreciate it.  Thank You!!!