O.S. Springfield/Concordia Co-op's defensive linemen had eight sacks in a 35-20 victory over New Berlin on Saturday. And Bryce Copeland thinks they can do more.
"We're excited about the win, but we still have work to do," said the defensive end, who had three of Our Savior's eight sacks and caused a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. "I think we just had to hone in on what coach told us to do and just do our job."
Our Savior's/Concordia (3-1), coming off a 23-17 loss at No. 3 Rochester, trailed 17-14 at the break and then had the Pretzels (4-1) complete a successful onside kick to open the second half. The O.S. Springfield defense held, setting the tone for the second half with five of its eight sacks in the third quarter.
Our Savior's coach Phillip Heppe, who challenged his team and coaches after the loss to the Rockets, liked what he saw.
"They were exactly what I wanted them to be -- they were determined, they were persistent," Heppe said. "We were determined to play physical in the second half. We got a big-play defense. If we can make more plays on offense, this could be a special group."
Jace Easley, who had three touchdowns and a season-high 131 yards on 18 carries, scored two plays later from the 2 to give the Eagles a 21-17. They never trailed again.
Later in the quarter, Copeland, who finished with two forced fumbles and fumble recovery, stripped the ball from Perkins and defensive end Jeremiah Perkins recovered and ran 23 yards to put the Eagles up 28-17.
Thanks to the sacks, O.S. Springfield/Concordia held New Berlin to 4 yards rushing. O.S. Springfield, which outgained New Berlin 343 yards to 338, got 165 yards on 17-of-25 passing by Conor McCaffrey.
McCaffrey found a majority of his passes to Paul Hammond and Sasha Vanderkecha that dual-threat WR Combo that caught 11 passes for 134 yards today.