A 38-yard field goal attempt with 16 seconds left by New Richmond freshman kicker Chris Kilgore fell about 10 feet short of the crossbar, letting Chaminade-Julienne escape with a 15-14 victory in the Division III regional semifinals Saturday night at Lockland.

        The loss ends what had been a perfect 11-0 season for New Richmond and sends CJ to a matchup next week against Portsmouth, which beat Purcell Marian 37-6 Saturday.

        Kilgore's game-winning attempt came after New Richmond took possession of the ball at its own 33 with 1:42 left in the game. The Lions' drive stalled at the CJ 21-yard line.

        “He's a freshman kicker who's never done this,” New Richmond coach Ron Bird said of Kilgore, whom he brought up to the varsity in the eighth week of the season for kickoff duties. “I hated to put him in that situation, but I had no other options to go to.”

        “It's just hard to lose this way,” said New Richmond senior quarterback Matt Armbruster, who scored both of his team's touchdowns, ran 21 times for 110 yards and threw for 78 yards. “We played a great game and had a great season. Any time you win 11 games, you have to call it a great season.”

        CJ took its first lead of the game midway through the third quarter on an 11-yard screen pass from Jeff Zolman to Andre Chattams. Zolman completed a two-point conversion pass to Andre's brother, Angelo, to put CJ ahead 15-8.

        New Richmond answered the score with a drive that began late in the third quarter and extended into the fourth. Facing 4th-and-3 from the CJ 10, Armbruster ducked around the right side and went 10 yards for a TD that pulled the Lions to 15-14. A two-point conversion try came up short when Matt Godsey was tackled at the 2-yard line.

        CJ coach Jim Place made a special trip across the field to address the New Richmond players after the game. “We've got nothing but respect for you,” Place said. “In all honesty, you outplayed us and deserved to win the game.”

        Cham.-Julienne ....... 7  0  8  0—15

        New Richmond ....... 0  8  0  6—14

        CJ—Angelo Chattams 52 run (Daniel kick)

        NR—Armbruster 3 run (Armbruster run)

        CJ—Andre Chattams 11 pass from Zolman (Angelo Chattams pass from Zolman)

        NR—Armbruster 10 run (run failed)

        Records: CJ 10-2, NR 11-1.

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