ALGONA — Marty Wadle knew it was going to take a while to get Bishop Garrigan football back to where it used to be.

On Friday night the Golden Bears resurgence was solidified as they claimed the Eight-player, District 2 championship.

The Golden Bears (7-1 overall, 6-0 in districts) scored with 29 seconds remaining to end Harris-Lake Park’s (5-3, 4-2) upset bid with a 20-14 victory.

“We knew it was going to take awhile,” said Bishop Garrigan head coach Marty Wadle. “It’s a great thing to see guys contribute and restore our culture and do a great job.

“It’s been fun and it’s been a while since we’ve won something.”

Sophomore quarterback Tate Foertsch pushed the pile on third-and-goal from one-yard out to send the crowd into a frenzy and give the Golden Bears the victory.

“We didn’t even know if we would have Tate this year. He broke his arm in two spots,” Wadle said. “He is heady and wants to compete. It helps when you have good kids around you.

“Our seniors have done a great job not pushing, but pulling our younger kids.”

Bishop Garrigan took a 14-0 lead behind Ethan Marso and Caden Roethler three-yard touchdown runs.

The Wolves stood toe-to-toe with the Golden Bears for the third quarter and with 3:29 left in the contest, quarterback Lucas Ahrenstorff hit Landon Wittrock with a 58-yard strike to tie the contest.

Roethler finished with 131 yards on 28 carries. Roethler led the defense with 10 tackles as well. Foertsch had 72 yards.

“We talked about adversity and how we could have folded,” Wadle said. “We just needed to (on the last drive) do what we were doing and be confident.

“I told them a couple of plays and they had some ideas and I said run that. They have confidence in themselves and we have a great group of seniors.”

Benjy Trainer and Brody Ludwig had eight tackles each, while Marso had six and a pick.

This is Bishop Garrigan’s first district championship in eight-man football, in their third season. The win ends a three-year skid of sub .500 records. The Golden Bears have seven wins, one less than the last three combined.