Jeremiah Lattier's TD run with 25 seconds left secures win, trophy in Soldier City Classic
St. Cloud quarterback Jeremiah Lattier's 3-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds remaining was the difference in a 14-7 win Friday over Harmony. (Photo/Katie Williams)
Jeremiah Lattier scored from three yards out with 25 seconds remaining as St. Cloud retained the Brass Bugle trophy with an unexpectedly dramatic 14-7 win over Harmony in the 22nd playing of the Soldier City Classic.
The Bulldogs (6-3, 3-1) came into the game as heavy favorites but had to scratch, fight and claw to a narrow win against a fired up and feisty Harmony squad (2-7, 0-4).
“Nothing really surprises me any more in this series. It just doesn’t seem to matter what records are or who is having an up or down year,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said. “We are going to get their best and they are going to get ours.”
The game started as well as it could for Harmony; the Longhorn defense held St. Cloud to quick three-and-out and then watched senior quarterback Lucas Haddad march the Longhorns 80 yards on 11 plays with Jaidon Morris running it over from the 5 for a 7-0 lead. A 16-yard run by Haddad on Harmony’s first offensive snap of the game and 28-yard pass to Sawyer Amen were the big plays in the drive that ate seven minutes off the clock.
St. Cloud countered with its own lengthy drive with Lattier taking the Bulldogs 62 yards on 15 plays and capping it off by calling his own number and scoring from a yard out. Eli Manning’s 16-yard run was the big play in the drive.
The second, third and most of the fourth quarters were played between the 30s with no team really threatening until St. Cloud drove to the Longhorn 15, only to see Adriel Gomez’s 35-yard field goal attempt sail right with 4:49 remaining in the game.
Short credited the Harmony defense for the stagnation of his offense.
“Give them a ton of credit, their defensive line was stout,” Short said. “They were able to stop the run with just three or four up front and were able to drop seven and eight in coverage. We had some opportunities over the middle but just couldn’t get the ball there.”
Harmony coach Tyler Anderson returned the compliment. “We came out and sort of punched them in the mouth, but their defense really responded after that initial drive. We had an opportunity or two at the end, we just didn’t make the plays.”
The Bulldog defense came up big at the end. Taking over with just over four minutes to go, Harmony’s defense picked up a first down on a facemask penalty but the next three plays went backwards leading to a punt with 2:19 remaining, which Owen returned to midfield. Lattier connected on 4-or-5 passes to move the ball down to 20 before hitting senior Michael Westerman on a big 17-yard completion down to the 3. On the next play, Lattier ran it over for the winning score.
Still, both offenses struggled. After picking up 70 yards on its first drive, Harmony was limited to 65 net yards of total offense for the rest of the game. St. Cloud managed just 3.4 yards per play with 230 yards of offense on 67 snaps.
“There are no moral victories and any loss hurts – especially to your rivals,” Anderson said. “That said, I am extremely proud of my team and effort they put forth tonight. I think everyone thought we were going to get boat-raced and the game came down to the final 25 seconds.”
With the win, St. Cloud clinched second place in the district and is still in the hunt for a 6A, Region 2 playoff spot. The Dogs conclude their regular season at home against Lake Howell (4-4).
“Our strength of schedule was ranked fourth in the region, so I would like to think seven wins would definitely get us in,” Short said. “Lake Howell is a solid and it will be a big challenge for us.”
It was St. Cloud’s fourth straight win in the Soldier City Class and seventh in the last eight years; the Bulldogs now lead the all-time series 13-9.
