Six years later, the Rebels finally found their way back to the state title game, along with the agony that can accompany it.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck fell to top-ranked Remsen-St. Mary’s in Thursday’s 8-Player championship game, 51-12, at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, ending its season at the Dome for the second year in a row.

Starting in 2018, G-R lost four straight first-round playoff games before finally breaking through to the quarterfinals in 2022. The Rebels run to achieve one more win each season continued with last year’s heartbreaking loss to Bedford in the state semifinals, but Thursday’s loss to Remsen-St. Mary’s made for an incomparable kind of heartache.

The Hawks (13-0) scored the game’s first 21 points as well as the last 22 points to hand Gladbrook-Reinbeck (11-2) its first loss since the first game of the season.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Gladbrook-Reinbeck seniors Hunter Roberts (22), Michael Boyd (21) and Drew Eilers (2) receive the Rebels’ 8-Player state runner-up trophy from Dubuque Senior athletic director Brent Cook, a Reinbeck native, after Thursday’s championship game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. The Rebels fell to top-ranked Remsen-St. Mary’s, 51-12.

“It just kinda got away from us,” said G-R head coach John Olson. “An inch here, an inch there … I know they talk about it being a game of inches but it just felt like that’s what it was. It was 10 inches — 10 different plays at 10 different times and they made nine of them.

“It just didn’t quite go our way for whatever reason, but it wasn’t because of the effort of our kids. They were busting their butts the whole time.”

Remsen-St. Mary’s claimed its third state title in the last five seasons, improving to 58-2 under fifth-year head coach Tim Osterman. The Hawks withstood G-R’s opening drive with a goal-line stand on fourth-and-3, and it was all the Rebels could do to keep up with Remsen-St. Mary’s from there.

The Hawks went on a 10-play, 76-yard drive that reached the end zone on a 27-yard pass from Landon Waldschmitt to Keaton Harpenau, and Remsen-St. Mary’s got it rolling from there. The Hawks hit paydirt on their next four possessions, too, and Gladbrook-Reinbeck couldn’t keep up.

“They’re just such an explosive offense all year long, even last year,” said Osterman. “But we hung our hat on defense, got a stop, made a play, and we kinda knew we could run the football.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Gladbrook-Reinbeck sophomore Treyvon Herron (9) is pulled out of bounds by Remsen-St. Mary’s defender Brady Wurth (11) in the second quarter of Thursday’s 8-Player state football championship game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. Herron gained 24 yards on the play.

“They’re a great defense, we saw it all day long, but we just made a few more plays than they did.”

The Hawks outgained G-R 399-253, limiting the Rebels to just 10 first downs. Senior quarterback Drew Eilers got both Gladbrook-Reinbeck touchdowns on the ground, scoring on runs of 14 and 25 yards. The first got G-R back to within 21-6 late in the second quarter, but not late enough that Remsen-St. Mary’s couldn’t score again before the half. Waldschmitt pounded the ball into the end zone for the second of his five touchdown runs to put the Hawks on top 29-6 at the intermission.

Eilers capped G-R’s opening possession of the second half with a long touchdown run on fourth-and-2, but that was the last dent the Rebels put on Remsen-St. Mary’s staunch defense.

The Hawks entered the game allowing just 10.2 points per game — second-best in 8-Man football this season — and they proved it on the biggest stage.

As Remsen-St. Mary’s received its state championship trophy on the field after the game, Eilers held G-R’s state runner-up trophy while watching replays on the jumbotron with tears in his eyes.

“I was embarrassed because we got outworked,” Eilers said of his outpouring of emotion at the end of the game. “They’re a good team, I thought we were good too, but sometimes you can’t get it done I guess. They must have worked harder than us.”

A team averaging 54.5 points per game, G-R ran into an immovable object in Remsen-St. Mary’s and couldn’t get through often enough to make a game of Thursday’s finale.

“There’s 67 teams in 8-Man football and we’re one of the final two,” Olson said. “We played a lot of tough games. Don Bosco came down to an inch and we got that inch. Tonight there were 10 different inches on 10 different plays and we couldn’t quite come up with it for whatever the reason. You’ve gotta give credit to Remsen-St. Mary’s because thye made those plays when it mattered. They played an awesome game.

“When the game gets tough the made those big plays. All season long we made those big plays too, and today was a clash of two really good football teams.”

Waldschmitt rushed 33 times for 177 yards and five touchdowns while going 10-for-15 passing for 156 yards and two scores. He and the Hawks’ imposing offensive line had an answer for everything G-R threw at them.

“We just kinda chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, and that’s how we did it,” Osterman said.

Remsen-St. Mary’s was 9-for-12 on third-down conversions, refusing to relent every time the Rebels had a chance to make a stop. The Hawks even converted the only fourth down they attempted, and it went for a 17-yard touchdown pass from Waldschmitt to Harpenau to make it 21-0 with 5:57 left in the second quarter.

Eilers finished with 19 carries for 83 yards and both Rebel scores. He was 12-for-23 passing for 118 yards with an interception. Harpenau hauled in a long pass intended for Hudson Clark late in the third quarter, preventing G-R from sparking a comeback.

“I thought we gave it our all, but it kinda sucks to lose by 39 in a state championship,” Eilers said. “I’m proud of our guys. We knew we were going to have to put in extra work in the weight room and we did it. I think we gave it our all, we’ve been busting our butts. It’s been our goal since junior high to get here, and I guess we got here but fell one game short.

“All of our dudes cared, they all wanted to be here, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to play with.”

Olson consoled Eilers after the game as the senior signalcaller tried to take responsbility for the loss.

“There’s not a lot you can say so you just don’t say anything,” Olson said. “You just hang out with them, cry with them. It’s tough. They don’t get to play football for G-R anymore, so there’s nothing you can say.”

Clark finished with seven receptions for 70 yards, while Treyvon Herron had three catches for 33 yards. Trevor Mathern added one catch for 11 yards, but the Rebels couldn’t break through the Remsen-St. Mary’s defense when they desperately needed to.

Collin Homan, the Hawks’ 6-foot-6 defensive end, had 8.5 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, a quarterback sack and he also blocked G-R’s first extra-point attempt.

Michael Boyd, a senior end, led the Rebels with 12.5 stops. Herron had 10 tackle and Clark added 7.5.

“We have a team that wants to work hard and that’s what gets us here,” said Herron, a sophomore. “I’m just glad to be on this team. Next year the expectation is to win. We’ve been to the state championship now and we’ve just gotta keep coming back and working harder.”

State Football Playoffs

At UNI-Dome, Cedar Falls

Championship Finals

Thursday, Nov. 21

8-PLAYER

Remsen-St. Mary’s 51, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 12

CLASS A

Tri-Center 14, West Hancock 10

CLASS 1A

Grundy Center 28, Dike-New Hartford 7

CLASS 4A

North Polk 24, Pella 14

Friday, Nov. 22

CLASS 2A

Spirit Lake (11-1) vs. West Lyon (12-0), 10 a.m.

CLASS 3A

Dubuque Wahlert (12-0) vs. Humboldt (11-1), 1 p.m.

CLASS 5A

West Des Moines Valley (10-2) vs. Southeast Polk (8-4), 7 p.m.

Remsen-St. Mary’s 51, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 12

G-R 0 6 6 0 — 12

REMSEN-SM 6 23 8 14 — 51

First Quarter

RSM — Keaton Harpenau 27 pass from Landon Waldschmitt (pass failed), 2:08.

Second Quarter

RSM — Waldschmitt 5 run (Brady Wurth pass from Collin Homan), 10:01.

RSM — Harpenau 17 pass from Waldschmitt (Homan kick), 5:57.

G-R — Drew Eilers 14 run (kick blocked), 5:57.

RSM — Waldschmitt 5 run (Harpenau pass from Waldschmitt), :58.

Third Quarter

G-R — Eilers 25 run (run failed), 8:34.

RSM — Waldschmitt 3 run (Harpenau pass from Waldschmitt), 5:17.

Fourth Quarter

RSM — Waldschmitt 5 run (Homan kick), 9:19.

RSM — Waldschmitt 3 run (Homan kick), 4:37.

TEAM STATISTICS

G-R RSM

First downs 10 22

Rushes-yards 30-135 48-243

Passing yards 118 156

Comp-Att-Int 12-23-1 10-15-0

Total Offense 53-253 63-399

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-24 2-10

Time of Poss. 22:15 25:45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — G-R: Eilers 19-83, Treyvon Herron 9-44, Hudson Clark 2-8; RSM: Waldschmitt 33-177, Harpenau 8-44, Braxton Kneip 5-13, Cade Tentinger 2-9.

PASSING — G-R: Eilers 12-23-118-1; RSM — Waldschmitt 10-15-156-0.

RECEIVING — G-R: Clark 7-80, Herron 3-33, Trevor Mathern 1-11, Michael Boyd 1-(minus-6); RSM: Harpenau 3-58, Kneip 5-57, Homan 1-26, Brady Wurth 1-15.