Covid-19 hurts CG-Belgium football

Contact tracing from Covid-19 hit the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School football team in the wrong place at the wrong time last week.

Starting quarterback Logan Arrowood was among seven players missing when the Rockets traveled to Reedsville, which many chose as one of three contenders for the Big East Conference title this season.

The Panthers built a 21-0 lead and hung on for a 28-14 victory. The Rockets went to 2-1 while Reedsville is 3-0.

“When you play Reedsville, you definitely need your full team,” coach Dan Schreurs said.

He said he would have been comfortable with backup quarterback Colten Sellin, but he had a shoulder injury and could only throw 10 yards.

Schreurs used his next best option, wide receiver Sam Peiffer, and implemented the offense he used with wide receiver/quarterback Michael Navis in 2018 and 2019.

“Overall, I was really happy with the way Sam ran, especially with three days of practice on it. He just never played quarterback before,” Schreurs said.

Peiffer had 62 yards and two scores on 14 rushes, and he went 14-for-19 passing for 159 yards and an interception. But he didn’t have his team’s No. 1 target and fastest player as a receiver — because that’s him.

“Obviously you take Sam out of the wide receiver corps, that takes us away from our game there,” Schreurs said.

“It was the cards that we were dealt.”

Cole Augustiniak caught seven balls for 73 yards, and Schreurs said he was pleased with Gabe Egan, who took Peiffer’s place at receiver. He caught two balls for 33 yards.

“He’s going to be a heck of an athlete someday,” Schreurs said.

The Panthers, with a young team the last couple of seasons, have a host of seniors this year who took control of the game early.

A 7-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter opened the scoring, and a 50-yard run by Weston Liebzeit made it a two-score game in the second quarter.

With less than 90 seconds left in the half, Liebzeit picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown. Reedsville was up, 21-0, at halftime.

The Rockets’ young offensive line, Schreurs said, struggled with the Panthers’ experienced and strong front three. So the Rockets’ tried a four-wide formation to spread them out, which worked better.

Peiffer had a 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but Panthers’ quarterback Brennen Dvorachek answered with a 71-yard scoring run.

Peiffer added another 2-yard score with six and a half minutes to play, but the Rockets couldn’t muster anything else.

“For the most part, the defense contained them really well. We just gave up some big plays in there,” Schreurs said.

“When you play a team like Reedsville, especially shorthanded, you need to play a perfect game. We just didn’t.”

Dvorchek went 6-for-10 passing for 108 yards and a touchdown, and he ran 14 times for 106 yards.

The Panthers outgained the Rockets, 290 to 234.

Schreurs said Reedsville coach Aaron Frederick, who is a good friend, told him they lucked out with Arrowood missing.

“Their main focus was on Logan,” Schreurs said.

Arrowood has gone 17-for-23 passing for 436 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions on the season.

“If I had Logan, I would take on anybody,” Schreurs said.

“I get this day and age and what we’re going through in society. But you can’t help but feeling cheated. You’ve got a kid quarantined sitting at home, perfectly healthy, but can’t play because potentially sat next to someone in school that had it (the coronavirus).”

Practice last week was bizarre for the Rockets. On Tuesday, only 28 of the 49 players in the program attended due to contact tracing, and on Wednesday the Rockets were down to two coaches. Schreurs advised anyone with the sniffles to stay away.

Reedsville is now in the driver’s seat for the conference title at 3-0.

Now, the Rockets turn into Hilbert fans, the other conference title contender they edged, 25-18, the week before with Arrowhead. Hilbert (2-1) plays at Reedsville on Oct. 30.

The Rockets would still be missing Arrowhead this week but it won’t matter since their opponent, Random Lake, has had the entire district switch to online school due to an outbreak, and all of its sports are suspended for now.

The Rockets get the forfeit victory, and Schreurs said a week off may do his team some good since a few players are recovering from injuries.