Andy Geiermann, Cardinal Stritch's 5-foot-10, 230-pound senior tackle/defensive end, can take a lot of things.

One thing he can't take, however, is losing — especially to defending Toledo Area Athletic Conference champion Toledo Christian.

“TC and Cardinal Stritch are huge rivals,” said Geiermann, a three-year starter. “I've never beaten TC, even as a freshman. My brother (Joe) just graduated and he never beat TC. He wasn't at the game because he had to work, but he did watch it the next day on BCSN.”

The Geiermann brothers finally got their first win over the Eagles last Saturday night at Clay. Stritch, under first-year coach Jim Kubuske, drove 81 yards and scored the winning touchdown with less than six seconds left in the game to scratch out a 25-24 victory over TC.

“It was great to finally show that our summer of hard work paid off — the two-a-days, the scrimmages. We were getting closer and closer every game,” said Geiermann after the Cardinals improved to 1-4 and 1-1 in the TAAC. “To finally come out on top, it was special.”

The win was the Cardinals' first over the Eagles since 2006, when Tony Beier was Stritch's head coach. The Cardinals have been through several coaches in the past decade. They went 1-9 in 2009 and then improved to 4-6 last year under coach Joe Gutilla, but Gutilla moved to Texas after only two years at the helm.

Enter Kubuske, who has been a head coach for 28 years including nine years (1998-2006) at Lake. Kubuske said it's taken some time for his staff to get used to its new players, and it's taken some time for the Stritch players to get acclimated to yet another coaching staff.

“Our kids are learning,” Kubuske said. “We graduated a lot of kids from that 4-6 team. They're learning and with new coaches again they have new expectations. They're learning and finding out what our expectations are. They listen, they're coachable, they try hard and they play all 48 minutes.

“Last week we got some breaks and some things happened for us. Our losing efforts paid off in a winning effort this time. Our special teams came up with a fumble recovery, we got some stops on defense and the offense came up with some plays that we needed to win.”

The Cardinals' season began with an embarrassing 34-0 loss to the Cleveland Knights, followed by a lopsided loss to Woodmore. Stritch then lost to Lakota, 34-26, and Danbury, 40-27, prior to beating Toledo Christian.

“We've been making progress,” Geiermann said. “We started out not great against Cleveland, and we looked worse against Woodmore. We took a huge step forward against Lakota, and we took a little step back against Danbury. But with TC, we took a giant step forward. We finally realized what we can do. We know we can win games. With this new coaching staff, we know they're not taking the year off. They're working hard for us seniors and taking the program forward.”

Stritch trailed Toledo Christian (1-4, 0-2) 24-19 when it took over on offense with two timeouts and 2:33 left to play. An 18-play touchdown drive ensued, culminating with senior quarterback Mike Blazevich's 6-yard scoring pass to junior tight end Trent Fuller with 5.8 seconds left. The key play on the drive was when Blazevich connected with freshman Joe Sinay for a 12-yard gain on fourth-and-10 near midfield.

Zach Denomy, a junior running back, had a big game for the Cardinals, rushing 20 times for 103 yards and a touchdown and catching eight passes for 126 yards and a score. Junior running back Owen Daniels ran for 106 yards and a touchdown in 13 carries, and Blazevich went 13-for-27 passing for 185 yards and two touchdowns.

“The kids kept their calm, they executed and they believed what we were doing, and guys came up with big plays,” Kubuske said. “Blazevich found some open receivers, and it was definitely a team win. It wasn't just one person. The defense stiffened when it needed to; there were a number of plays where our kids stepped up, and that made a difference for us.”

The key for the Stritch players at Gibsonburg, Kubuske said, was to keep their feet on the ground and keep this good vibe rolling. Geierman agreed.

“We have to come out like we did last week,” the senior said. “We can't come out cocky. We have to practice just like we did last week and go hard. No slacking. We have to hit and tackle and condition and we have to be in the right mindset. Coming into the TC game, we knew we could win. We have to know we can win at Gibsonburg.”

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