De Graff Riverside’s season ended 40 seconds short of a regional championship game Friday night, Nov. 13, as New Bremen scored the winning touchdown in the final minute to beat the Pirates 40-33 in an Ohio High School Athletic Association Division VII, Region 28 semifinal. The final score is listed in the Mansfield News Journal’s statewide regional-semifinal list, The Columbus Dispatch’s third-round scoreboard and High School On SI’s statewide finals, and the Logan County Chronicle reported the game in full from De Graff.
Riverside, the region’s No. 3 seed, entered the night 9-2, and New Bremen, the No. 7 seed, entered 7-5, according to the OHSAA’s regional-semifinal pairings. The Pirates set the tone with their first possession: 13 plays, 80 yards and nearly 11 minutes off the clock before New Bremen ever touched the football, the Logan County Chronicle reported.
New Bremen got on the board first with a field goal after a Riverside drive stalled in the red zone, the Chronicle reported, but senior Dylan Trimble punched in a touchdown that extended the Pirates’ advantage to 14-3, and Riverside’s ground game controlled the line of scrimmage behind runs from Justin Mazariegos, the Chronicle reported.
The Cardinals answered before halftime. Quarterback Gavin Dicke finished a drive with a rushing touchdown, the Chronicle reported, and with 41 seconds left before halftime Trimble scored his second touchdown to make it 20-10 — Riverside missed the extra point — before Dicke drove New Bremen back down the field for a field goal as time expired, sending the Pirates to the locker room ahead 20-13, the Chronicle reported.
New Bremen carried that momentum into the second half. Senior running back Jacob Kelly broke through multiple tackles for a touchdown in the opening minute after halftime, tying the game at 20-20, the Chronicle reported. What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: the 40-33 final and the 40-second winning score are confirmed across the Chronicle’s game report and three statewide lists; the OHSAA’s neutral-site announcement for the regional finals is still to come on Sunday, Nov. 15.
The last 20 minutes had nearly everything: two missed extra points, a botched snap and a muffed onside kick, the Chronicle reported. Junior fullback Gunner Carpenter stretched across the goal line on a fourth-and-goal plunge to put Riverside back in front, and after senior Drew Wilson delivered a key defensive stop, Carpenter broke a long run down to the 2-yard line to set up Trimble’s third touchdown of the night — but the extra point sailed wide left, the Chronicle reported.
New Bremen pulled within one point on a touchdown drive, then botched its own extra point on a high snap and fell short on the scramble for two, leaving Riverside ahead by one, the Chronicle reported. Throughout the night, Riverside head coach Bryce Hodge preached one message to his team, the Chronicle reported: “Next play.”
With roughly three minutes remaining, Riverside needed only to recover the ensuing onside kick and earn a first down to drain the clock. Instead, the onside kick was muffed and New Bremen recovered, the Chronicle reported. The Pirates’ defense appeared to stop Kelly short on a fourth-and-2 outside the red zone, but the officials discussed the spot — the two sideline officials appeared to have different marks, the Chronicle reported — and awarded the Cardinals a first down without a measurement.
On the very next play, New Bremen found the end zone with 40 seconds remaining to take the lead for good, the Chronicle reported. Riverside drove into Hail Mary territory and threw two final passes toward the end zone; neither found its target, the Chronicle reported. “Man, what a story this is about to be,” Hodge said as his team prepared for its final possession, he told the Logan County Chronicle.
Riverside finishes 9-3, a season that included a first-round bye and a 49-13 quarterfinal win over Cincinnati Country Day, a result listed in The Columbus Dispatch’s second-round scores. New Bremen’s run is its own story: the Cardinals entered the bracket 7-5 and have now won three straight playoff games, including a 27-13 quarterfinal win over Ansonia listed in the Dispatch’s second-round scores.
The Region 28 final pairs New Bremen with a familiar Midwest Athletic Conference power. Read our coverage of Marion Local’s 27-9 win over Minster, the Flyers’ latest step toward another deep November run, and of Hopewell-Loudon’s 33-0 shutout of McComb, the other half of the Division VII picture in northwest Ohio.
After the game, Hodge left his younger players with the standard he expects them to carry, he told the Logan County Chronicle: “Younger classmates, we will win one of these things, but it is up to you guys and how you prepare in the offseason.” The Pirates’ 2026 story ended 40 seconds short, but by their coach’s account the bar in De Graff has been raised.
What happens next: New Bremen (8-5) meets Marion Local in the Division VII, Region 28 final on Friday, Nov. 20, at a neutral site the OHSAA will announce on Sunday, Nov. 15. The winner advances to the state semifinals on Nov. 27.