Fremont Bergan had every opportunity to win Friday night's football game late at Arlington High School.
The Eagles didn't let them.
Facing fourth down with a single yard separating them from the end zone, the Knights ran the ball to their right. On the opposite side of the line of scrimmage, AHS senior Trent Koger, meanwhile, moved left-to-right through the offensive line, shed a block and made the game-sealing tackle in the backfield with just seconds left in the regular season finale.
“From my angle, it looked like he beat a down block really quickly, and wrapped up the ball carrier with those long arms and threw him down,” Eagles coach Troy Schlueter said after the 20-14 victory.
His team won three of its last four games and closes the 2024 season 4-5 overall.
“I'm very proud of the grit we showed on those last four plays as I think that shows the growth this team has made mentally this year,” Schlueter added after the goal line stand.
Offensively, Arlington had to come back from a 14-0 deficit to beat Bergan, too. Dallin Franzluebbers' 19-yard third-quarter touchdown run pulled the Eagles within eight points before Owen Ladehoff's 1-yarder during the fourth quarter cut their deficit to just two.
Finally, though — with 1:57 remaining — AHS secured an 18-12 advantage on an 18-yard Ladehoff touchdown pass to Luke Sharp. Sprung by a Koger block, the receiver cut across the field and ran over a Knight on his way into the end zone, Schlueter said.
A two-point conversion later, the Eagles led 20-12 with less than 2 minutes left in the fall season.
“We didn't actually want to leave as much time on the clock, but our play action passes and rollout game were working pretty well,” the coach explained.
Ladehoff finished 8-for-13 through the air with 125 passing yards. His last completion capped what would be the Eagles' final complete drive of the season — a quite successful one.
“The plan was to keep moving down the field without getting in panic mode,” Schlueter said. “I think we did that.”
A defensive stand and a kneel-down later, Arlington celebrated its fourth win. The total is three more than what the 2022 and 2023 teams were able to accumulate combined.
“I'll have to take some time to reflect over the next few days, but I'm happy for these players and coaches that we were able to compete in many games this year,” Schlueter said. “I want to give credit to the previous coaching staffs as well, because their groundwork with these guys allowed us to make some of the improvements we were able to make this year.”
On the final night of his first season as the Eagles' head coach, the team came through.
“I feel like we became a physical team,” Schlueter said. “And I like that we were able to show some mental toughness tonight and throughout the season as well.”
ARLINGTON 20, FREMONT BERGAN 14
FB (4-5) 7 0 7 0 — 14
AHS (4-5) 0 0 6 14 — 20
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
FB: K.J. Faulkner 1-yard run
Third Quarter
FB: Alex Kimminau 48-yard pass from Austin Scheuler
A: Dallin Franzluebbers 19-yard run
Fourth Quarter
A: Owen Ladehoff 1-yard run
A: Luke Sharp 18-yard pass from Ladehoff
