Tough task
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St. Edmond head football coach Matt Dillon called out his team at halftime here Friday night of their regular season finale vs. GTRA.
Down 54-14 to the Titans inside a chilly Dodger Stadium, Dillon asked for one thing in the second half: compete.
"That's all I wanted out of them, and it's exactly what they did," the veteran leader said. "We came out and got after it and competed, which is all I could ask of them."
JT Laufersweiler tossed three touchdown passes and ran in another, while senior Johnny Dickerson hit sophomore Dominic McClain on a 34-yard strike in the second half.
Dickerson was one of five seniors honored prior to kickoff alongside Caleb Schaeffer, John Nemmers, Tyler McDowell and Alex Tiernan, who kicked through the final point of the night.
"It's been a group that really had to go through a lot," Dillon said. "We made the change to eight-player when they were sophomores and they've been the ones to show the younger kids the ropes."
Laufersweiler finished with 127 yards passing, overcoming three first half interceptions to his Dickerson twice on scores of 50 and 22 yards. The junior also connected with classmate Leo Ehn in the fourth from 25 yards out.
"I challenged JT and he really grew up a lot (Friday)," Dillon said. "Listen, I'm a former quarterback so I understand exactly what he's going through. You have to be able to handle a lot, and JT is the kind of kid who can -- and one who can really be the player we need to rally around.
"We have 18 freshmen and sophomores, and two juniors coming back. That group, we need them to be dedicated to getting bigger, stronger and faster. That is how we become the kind of program GTRA is."
The Titans (7-1 overall, 5-1 in district) created a three-way tie atop the league with their win, as West Bend-Mallard and Harris-Lake Park also finished 5-1. All three will advance to the playoffs, with GTRA and H-LP each making it a second consecutive season.
Max Hough, their do-everything senior leader, scored six touchdowns, four on the ground and a pick-6. Hough had a hand in the first 24 points, all of which came inside of the opening six-plus minutes of the game.
"When those seniors, including Hough, were freshman, they struggled," Dillon said. "But they rode it out and worked to become a really, really good team. All we have to do is look over at that and learn from it."
Hough, who came into the night with over 2,300 yards of total offense and 32 touchdowns, finished with 66 yards rushing and was 5 of 8 passing for 117 in a half of action. Eric Heinrichs led the Titans with 86 yards rushing and 50 yards receiving with one TD.
For the Gaels (4-4, 3-3), who are still looking to secure a ninth regular season game next week, Nemmers had a sack on defense.
SE GTRA
First Downs 10 15
Rushes-Yards 20-101 49-195
Passing 161 154
Comp-Att-Int 6-14-3 7-11-0
Total Offense 262 349
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 3-0
Punts-Avg. 1-19.0 1-12.0
Penalties-Yards 0-0 4-40
St. Edmond 0 14 6 15-- 35
GTRA 30 24 8 0--62
Scoring Summary
GTRA -- Max Hough (28-yard run), 10:16 left in first. Hough run.
GTRA -- Hough (4-yard run), 6:44 left in first. Hough-to-Jordan Saul conversion.
GTRA -- Hough (27-yard interception return), 5:39 left in first. Hough run.
GTRA -- Saul (4-yard run), 2:18 left in first. Conversion failed.
St. Edmond -- JT Laufersweiler (10-yard run), 11:51 left in second. Kick failed.
GTRA -- Hough (9-yard run), 4:36 left in second. Hough-to-Saul conversion.
GTRA -- Hough (26-yard run), 3:45 left in second. Hough run.
St. Edmond -- Dominic McClain (34-yard pass from Johnny Dickerson), :49 left in second. Laufersweiler-to-McClain conversion.
GTRA -- Kasey Hough (35-yard pass from Hough), :11 left in second. Eric Heinrichs-to-Hough conversion.
GTRA -- Heinrichs (1-yard run), 5:44 left in third. Hough-to-Saul conversion.
St. Edmond -- Dickerson (50-yard pass from Laufersweiler), 4:20 left in third. Kick failed.
St. Edmond -- Dickerson (22-yard pass from Laufersweiler), 9:13 left in fourth. Laufersweiler run.
St. Edmond -- Leo Ehn (25-yard pass from Laufersweiler), 6:08 left in fourth. Alex Tiernan kick.
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- St. Edmond: Kinnick Henning 8-59, JT Laufersweiler 5-25, Sam Myer 4-8, Adam Walker 1-8, Klay Baker 2-1. GTRA: Eric Heinrichs 14-86, Max Hough 8-66, Kasey Hough 14-42, Drew Schnell 6-27, Jordan Saul 2-6, Isaiah Malm 2-0, Team 3-(minus-32).
Passing -- St. Edmond: JT Laufersweiler 5-13-3-127, Johnny Dickerson 1-1-0-34. GTRA: Max Hough 5-8-0-117, Kasey Hough 1-2-0-25, Eric Heinrichs 1-1-0-12.
Receiving -- St. Edmond: Johnny Dickerson 3-85, Dominic McClain 2-51, Leo Ehn 1-25. GTRA: Eric Heinrichs 2-50, Kasey Hough 1-35, Drew Schnell 2-32, Jordan Saul 1-25, Kory Hough 1-12.