New Bremen finished the season 13-3, winning six straight games to its their second state title in school history.
“I’m really happy for our kids and our community,” said Cardinals coach Chris Schmidt. “I was telling somebody I saw a quote recently that said, ‘Time is measured in minutes, but life is measured in moments.’ What a great moment for these players, coaches, their families and this community.
“I’m just happy and feel blessed and thankful to God that I’m able to be a part of it. A lot of it is still sinking in, but obviously you get to this point and you want to finish with a victory. I’m happy for our kids and the way they finished.”
The Cardinals scored on their opening possession as senior running back Hunter Schaefer capped a 13-play, 64-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run.
New Bremen forced a three-and-out on the next possession, but Homan fumbled the punt, giving the Eagles the ball at the Cardinals’ 22-yard line. Warren JFK eventually lined up for a field goal, but a delay of game penalty pushed them back to the 13-yard line. They chose to go for it instead and were held on fourth down.
From that point forward, Homan took over. The senior scored on rushing touchdowns of 67 and 41 yards to break the game open in the second quarter.
“Our linemen do a great job of opening up holes and staying on blocks for me and (Schaefer) to get some breathing room and make open field cuts,” Homan said.
Schaefer hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to give the Cardinals a 24-0 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Warren JFK’s Caleb Hadley hit Aidan Rossi on a 27-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 24-6.
Homan followed with TD runs of 27 and 7 yards to give the Cardinals a 38-6 lead and trigger the running clock.
New Bremen senior defensive back Carter Elking and senior defensive lineman Evan Eyink each had interceptions for the Cardinals.
Warren JFK saw its eight-game winning streak snapped, finishing its season 13-2. The Cardinals also beat the Eagles 31-0 in the D-VII state championship game in 2020.
The motto for the Cardinals this season was a simple one — W.I.N., or as Homan said, ‘What’s Important Now.’
“If you have a bad play, it’s ‘What’s Important Now,’ the next play,” Homan said. “I think Coach Schmidt at the beginning of the season really brought that to us and made it important to us to look at what’s next and not focus on what happened in the past or what can affect us in the future.”
A year ago, the Cardinals fell to Tri-Village 32-29 in a Region 28 second-round game. The memory of last year’s loss was a driving force for New Bremen in the offseason as it prepared to make another championship run this season.
“That loss really did kind of hit us hard,” Schaefer said. “I think after that loss all of us were back in the weight room working because we knew with the talent that we had we could (win another state title).”
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