Red Bud outscored Freeburg 28-7 in the fourth quarter but the late rally came up just short as the Musketeers suffered their first loss of the season 49-41.
“We didn’t start playing to our potential soon enough,” said Red Bud coach Dave Lucht. “When you spot a good team like Freeburg with three easy touchdowns, it is hard to overcome. We really put us behind the eight ball with our bad start.”
Freeburg took the opening kick and returned it 81 yards for a quick 7-0 lead. The Midgets built a 14-0 lead when Dustin Kimball caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Alex Fricke.
Red Bud got on the scoreboard just 17 seconds later with a five-yard touchdown pass from Jake Hoffman to Mitchel Cleveland to cut Freeburg’s advantage to 14-6, with 3:01 to play in the opening quarter.
Fricke scored from two yards out to give Freeburg a commanding 21-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams scored one touchdown in the second quarter as Jake Hoffman scored on a 17-yard run early in the quarter and Matt Hendrick pulled down a 47-yard touchdown pass from Kimball just 17 seconds after the Red Bud score. At halftime, Freeburg led 28-13.
Fricke added two more touchdowns in the third quarter and the Midget defense recorded a safety to increase their lead to 42-13.
The explosive Red Bud offense finally got going in the fourth quarter, as the team scored 20 consecutive points to give themselves a chance.
Hoffman started off the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run. Red Bud added the two-point conversion and Freeburg’s lead was cut to 42-21 with 8:53 to play in the game.
Just over three and a half minutes later, the Red Bud offense struck again this time it was a 60-yard touchdown pass from Hoffman to Tyler Magruder. The two-point conversion failed and with 5:21 left in the game, Red Bud trailed 42-28.
The Musketeers found the end zone just over three minutes later when Hoffman hooked up with Tyler Hubert for a 72-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed and with 2:04 to play in the game, Red Bud trailed 42-36.
As the Red Bud defense was looking for a big stop to give the ball back to their offense with a chance to win the game, Freeburg’s Tyler Adamson broke loose for a 49-yard touchdown run to give the Midgets a 49-36 lead with 1:12 remaining in the contest. The potent Red Bud attack was done and with 12 seconds left in the game, Hoffman tossed his fourth touchdown pass of the game as he connected with Hubert for a 20-yard score. Hoffman ran in the two-point conversion and with 12 seconds left, Red Bud trailed 49-41.
The Musketeer’s onside kick attempt was recovered by Freeburg to end the game.
“If we can take anything away from this loss, it has to be that our offense can keep us in any game,” said Lucht. “Early on, the Freeburg defense gave us a lot of trouble getting our passing game going. Freeburg is a solid team filled with good athletes. We looked at this game as a possible conference championship game and that we came up a little short. We still have a chance, but we have to win out and hope for some help.”
Hoffman finished the game with some remarkable numbers as he passed for 415 yards with four touchdowns, while rushing for 43 yards. Magruder had six catches for 192 yards and Hubert had three receptions for 119 yards.
“This may be the first time in Red Bud football history that we had someone pass for over 400 yards,” said Lucht. “Also I think Magruder may have broken the single game receiving record as well.”
The Musketeers (4-1) will travel to Breese to take on the Cougars (3-2) Friday night.
