Photo by Zeb Besch: The Bishop Garrigan football team hoists its eight-player state semifinal trophy on Wednesday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

CEDAR FALLS — It had been 446 days since Bishop Garrigan head football coach Marty Wadle gathered his players and deliver a post-game speech following a loss.

Even such a span of time between defeats wasn’t long enough to ease the pain of this one.

Leading late in the fourth quarter over Remsen St. Mary’s here Wednesday morning in the eight-player semifinals, the Golden Bears saw their hopes of repeating as state champions come to an end with a heartbreaking 22-20 defeat.

The Hawks (12-0 overall), who won the 2022 state title before being eliminated in the second round last year by Garrigan (11-1), will now face Gladbrook-Reinbeck next Thursday inside the UNI-Dome for gold. The Rebels (11-1) advanced with a 43-27 victory over Lenox on Wednesday.

“It was tough talking to this group after the game — especially the seniors,” Wadle said. “It was hard to get through because it has been so long since we’ve had to do that.

“But these kids have gone 23-2 over the last two seasons, and that is something special.”

It’s been a memorable two-year run for the Golden Bears, who delivered Wadle his first state title in three-plus decades on the sidelines in 2023 while putting together a 23-game win streak in the process.

Still, nothing helps ease the pain of just how close they were to getting to this year’s finals.

On second-and-goal from the Garrigan 12 after a big tackle for loss by Keaton Helleseth and Michael Joyce, Remsen St. Mary’s quarterback Landon Waldschmitt rolled to his right and launched a pass to the corner of the end zone.

The ball was tipped and batted around before coming down in the hands of Brady Wurth for the game-tying score — his second TD of the day.

After a Hawk timeout, Waldschmitt hit fellow senior Keaton Harpenau for the winning two-point conversion.

“We felt like we had them played well on both the touchdown and the conversion,” Wadle said. “We didn’t do a very good job all day of stopping them on third-and-long, though, and that hurt. We also missed some conversions that could have changed the score and forced them to play it different.

“But that’s why football is a game of inches. And when you coach it or play it, you understand just how true that can be.”

Both Waldschmitt and Harpenau were key players last year when Remsen St. Mary’s fell to the Golden Bears at Conway Field in Algona. Waldschmitt ran for 99 yards and threw for 91 with three TDs, hitting Collin Homan for the other score.

Harpeanau was held to just 67 yards rushing and 16 yards receiving on two catches, as Homan finished with three receptions for 34 and Wurth had three for 29.

Tate Foertsch, who led Bishop Garrigan to the title last season as a sophomore, ran for 76 yards with two touchdowns on Wednesday, while Ethan Marso also found the end zone. Foertsch had a team-high 76 yards on the ground while completing 8 of 16 for 124.

Trayton Cink ran for 57 yards. Owen Murphy had four receptions for 76.

Neither side committed a turnover, and both had just one punt each. The overall statistics were nearly identical, showing just how close these two were.

The Golden Bears were 6 of 10 on third-down conversions and 1-for-2 on fourth-down attempts, while Remsen St. Mary’s converted 7 of 10 third downs and was 1-for-3 on fourth-down tries. Just 20 seconds of game-time separated them in possession with the Hawks recording 18 first downs to 17 by Bishop Garrigan.

Remsen St. Mary’s has reached the final four six of the last eight years overall, winning three state titles while going 67-3 during that time. The Golden Bears, meanwhile, were just 6-11 in their first two seasons of eight-player until this recent and historic run took off.

“We lost our first game two years ago (to St. Edmond) and our last game this season,” Wadle said. “That’s a pretty special run that our seniors helped put together.

“They were a great group of kids and wonderful teammates. They helped get us back on track toward building the kind of tradition we all want to have here. I talked to each one of them individually after the game and gave them a hug, letting them just how much they have meant to us.”

BG RSM

First Downs 17 18

Rushes-Yards 38-175 44-195

Passing 124 91

Comp-Att-Int 8-16-0 10-16-0

Total Offense 299 286

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Punts-Avg. 1-37.0 1-27.0

Penalties-Yards 6-55 4-30

Garrigan 8 0 0 12– 20

RSM 8 0 6 8– 22

Scoring Summary

Remsen St. Mary’s — Collin Homan (4-yard pass from Landon Waldschmitt), 5:26 left in first. Waldschmitt-to-Braxton Kneip conversion.

Bishop Garrigan — Tate Foertsch (8-yard run), 1:32 left in first. Foertsch-to-Ethan Marso conversion.

Remsen St. Mary’s — Brady Wurth (8-yard pass from Waldschmitt), 4:33 left in second. Conversion failed.

Bishop Garrigan — Foertsch (1-yard run), 10:39 left in fourth. Conversion failed.

Bishop Garrigan — Ethan Marso (2-yard run), 3:43 left in fourth. Conversion failed.

Remsen St. Mary’s — Wurth (12-yard pass from Waldschmitt), :24 left in fourth. Waldschmitt-to-Keaton Harpenau conversion.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Bishop Garrigan: Tate Foertsch 12-76, Trayton Cink 14-57, Ethan Marso 12-42. Remsen St. Mary’s: Landon Waldschmitt 25-99, Keaton Harpenau 13-67, Braxton Kneip 6-29.

Passing — Bishop Garrigan: Tate Foertsch 8-16-0-124. Remsen St. Mary’s: Landon Waldschmitt 10-16-0-91.

Receiving — Bishop Garrigan: Owen Murphy 4-76, Michael Joyce 2-27, Wyatt Rosenmeyer 1-15, Nick Leerar 1-6. Remsen St. Mary’s: Collin Homan 3-34, Brady Wurth 3-29, Keaton Harpenau 2-16, Braxton Kneip 2-12.