-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Tate Foertsch of Bishop Garrigan run for a touchdown against St. Edmond on Friday inside Dodgers Stadium

Marty Wadle gave the seniors on the Bishop Garrigan football team an option heading into Friday’s game with St. Edmond.

The group of seven 12th-graders quickly said no to the option of wearing their yellow pants, as the last time they visited Dodger Stadium was in 2023.

That also marked the last regular season loss for the top-ranked Golden Bears, as they were topped by the Gaels, 42-34.

Bishop Garrigan made sure to erase any lingering thoughts of that night, blasting St. Edmond to the tune of a 65-6 victory behind almost 400 yards of total offense.

“Honestly, that was even a little bit more (one-sided) than I expected,” Wadle said. “I thought our kids played really well. We had some adversity in a few situations, but that’s a good thing.

“There’s nothing wrong with adversity and I feel like our kids handled it well.”

Ethan Marso ran for three touchdowns and had 100 yards on just 14 carries, as the senior did not record an attempt after halftime. Tate Foertsch, three-year starter at quarterback who led Bishop Garrigan (4-0 overall) to a state title as a sophomore, rushed for 149 yards and two TDs while adding an interception return just before the break to make it 43-6.

Coming out of halftime, Michael Joyce returned the kickoff 75 yards, as he also caught both of Foertsch’s completions for 75 more yards on the night.

“They are as good as advertised,” SEHS head coach Matt Dillon said. “They were even better in person compared to on film. They have it all, and they just might be the best eight-player team I’ve seen in five years.

“But I thought our kids did a nice job of fighting and battling out there. We knew nothing would be easy, but they never quit.”

Grant Galles got St. Edmond (2-2) on the board with a 30-yard touchdown catch from Ethan Swisher. Galles, who missed last week with an injury, caught four passes for 57 yards and added 19 yards on the ground.

Swisher finished with 102 yards passing, but was picked off twice by Foertsch. Aaron Hindt had 36 yards from scrimmage and Julian Blanco and Jacob Nieland combined on a sack.

For the Golden Bears, Karson Kramer recorded two sacks and Woodrow Wells recovered a fumble with a sack.

“We played very physical, and that’s what we like to do,” Wadle said. “Hopefully, we can stay healthy and keep it going.”

St. Edmond now has a week off, as its planned district matchup with Siouxland Christian has been credited as a forfeit. Bishop Garrigan hosts Turkey Valley next Friday night.

SE BG

First Downs 8 17

Rushes-Yards 24-50 38-308

Passing 102 75

Comp-Att-Int 11-21-2 2-7-0

Total Offense 152 383

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 0-0

Punts-Avg. 3-33.0 1-20

Penalties-Yards 6-35 3-30

St. Edmond 0 6 0 0– 6

Garrigan 14 29 14 8–65

Scoring Summary

Bishop Garrigan — Ethan Marso (2-yard run), 8:44 left in first. Conversion failed.

Bishop Garrigan — Marso (3-yard run), 4:59 left in first. Tate Foertsch conversion.

Bishop Garrigan — Foertsch (24-yard run), 11:11 left in second. Conversion failed.

St. Edmond — Grant Galles (30-yard pass from Ethan Swisher), 7:37 left in second. Conversion failed.

Bishop Garrigan — Foertsch (3-yard run), 4:18 left in second. Foertsch-to-Marso conversion.

Bishop Garrigan — Marso (17-yard run), 1:02 left in second. Foertsch-to-Weston Rosenmeyer conversion.

Bishop Garrigan — Foertsch (30-yard interception return), :46 left in second. Gage Meyer kick.

Bishop Garrigan — Michael Joyce (75-yard kickoff return), 11:47 left in third. Meyer kick.

Bishop Garrigan — CJ McGregor (4-yard run), 5:27 left in third. Meyer kick.

Bishop Garrigan — Carter Cink (29-yard run), 3:07 left in fourth. Jerad Graves conversion.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — St. Edmond: Kinnick Henning 3-31, Grant Galles 4-19, Aaron Hindt 6-14, Ethan Swisher 3-9, Matthew Crimmins 3-(minus-2), Garrett Royster 1-(minus-2), Team 4-(minus-19). Bishop Garrigan: Tate Foertsch 9-149, Ethan Marso 14-100, Carter Cink 5-44, CJ McGregor 5-22, Sean Thilges 2-16, Jerad Graves 1-1, Luke Behounek 1-(minus-5), Team 1-(minus-19).

Passing — St. Edmond: Ethan Swisher 11-19-2-102, Thomas Ehn 0-2-0-0. Bishop Garrigan: Tate Foertsch 2-4-0-75, Jerad Graves 0-3-0-0.

Receiving — St. Edmond: Grant Galles 4-57, Aaron Hindt 4-22, Jakob Koopman 2-20, Kinnick Henning 1-3. Bishop Garrigan: Michael Joyce 2-75.