(Algona, IA) – The CAM Cougars fall in Algona on Thursday night to the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears 26-16. Going into halftime, the Cougars led over the Golden Bears but were never able to score in the second half which gave Bishop Garrigan the advantage in the game.
Starting out in the first quarter, both teams exchanged punts after their first drives, and then the scoring started for both the Cougars and the Golden Bears. Bishop Garrigan added the first touchdown in the game with a 50-yard pass by Tate Foertsch that went to Justin Bauer for the first score. After a missed extra point, the Golden Bears led 6-0. CAM came back after that drive and made one of their own as Chase Spieker made a 24-yard pass down to Jack Follman as he dove into the endzone for a touchdown. After the Cougars converted on the two-point conversion, they now led 8-6 to end the first quarter.
The second quarter continued the offensive momentum. To add on the line, Bishop Garrigan started the scoring as they continued to march downfield with a few deep passes and the running game of Caden Roethler. With that push on offense, Tate Foertsch had a rushing touchdown up the middle for a two-yard touchdown. The Golden Bears converted on their two-point conversion and now led 14-8. CAM marched downfield on the passing game of Chase Spieker as he had a deep pass to Colin Bower for a 36-yard touchdown to put the Cougars up at 16-14 after another two-point conversion to end the first half.
After halftime, the Cougars and the Golden Bears came out with the defense ready to play. The third quarter was a shutout between the two teams as turnovers were the name of the game and went scoreless. While the third quarter was scoreless, the fourth was completely opposite. The Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears scored with under 10 minutes left in the game in the fourth quarter as Tate Foertsch made a 38-yard pass downfield and built on the running game of Caden Roethler. Foertsch ran in the endzone for a touchdown to stop the scoreless second half to put them up 20-16. CAM continued to try to march downfield, but with multiple interceptions by Chase Spieker, and the momentum of the Golden Bears’ offense, Bishop Garrigan was able to put another touchdown on the board with the quarterback Foertsch for a one-yard touchdown to put the final score of 26-16.
CAM was led by Chase Spieker with 45 rushing yards and went 14-29 for 212 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Colin Bower was one of his primary targets with 74 yards receiving and a touchdown. Senior Jack Follman had 66 receiving yards and a touchdown. Head coach Barry Bower was proud of his athletes in their success this season and wants them to continue on to make big impacts in the community and show love for the game and each other.
CAM had been successful up until this game as they were undefeated 10-0 overall but weren’t able to earn the win on Thursday. They took on a very tough Bishop Garrigan team that not only has had a lot of experience in the past but played at home against the Cougars.
Bishop Garrigan was led by Tate Foertsch as he rushed for 121 yards and earned three rushing touchdowns while he passed 10-15 for 161 yards and one touchdown while also whipping an interception. Caden Roethler had 21 carries for 83 yards while Ethan Marso had nine carries for 36 yards. Justin Bauer had three receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. Drew Lappe was also one of our players of the game with 38 receiving yards but also played very well on the defensive side.
Bishop Garrigan moves on to the UNI-Dome in semifinal action as CAM finishes off 10-1 overall.
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