LOMIRA — Sophomore running back Hunter Schaumberg ran for 212 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries, leading second-seeded Lomira past the third-seeded Cambridge football team 28-6 in a WIAA Division 6 Level 2 game on Friday.

"Lomira is a power-gap scheme team," Cambridge football coach Rob Nelles said. "Their quarterback Keegan Kell and Schaumberg are a good combination. Schaumberg by far was the best running back we've seen this year. We knew he wanted to bounce everything. When we kept him in between the tackles, we were fine, but when he bounced we were in trouble.

"We can't have three turnovers plus penalties and expect to win a round-two game. We took a step back from our first playoff game. We knew we probalby had to score 28 points to win this game."

The Lions forced an early turnover when senior defensive back Alex Zahn leapt in traffic to intercept a deep pass from junior quarterback Ian Nelles intended for senior wideout J'Kari Crawford. Lomira (11-0) produced a 12-play, 78-yard scoring march that lasted 7 minutes, 36 seconds and was capped by a Schaumberg 12-yard TD.

The Blue Jays, after their defense forced a turnover on downs at the Cambridge 37, caught wind in their sails late in the first half. Nelles lofted a deep pass to the end zone for junior tight end Evan Harbort, who snared a 26-yard TD pass over the top of the defender with 23.7 seconds left in the quarter.

"Ian threw that pass into double coverage, but Evan being the athlete he is came down with the score," coach Nelles said.

Cambridge opted for a trick play on the conversion attempt, which saw a double reverse end in a pass attempt by Crawford that was picked off in the end zone.

The second half belonged to the Lions, who upped their lead to 14-6 on a 4-yard Schaumberg scoring run with 7:03 left in the third quarter.

Cambridge seemed poised to answer back with a score of its own, driving to the Lomira 10 where it faced fourth-and-8. Nelles threw to the end zone in double coverage intended for Harbort, but Schaumberg came down with the interception.

Early in the fourth, Schaumberg helped his team build its lead by breaking off a 20-yard run before hesitating and bouncing out on a 35-yard scoring run with 10:18 to play that made it 21-6.

Cambridge engineered another successful offensive drive only to again get stonewalled in the red zone. On a fourth-down play at the Lions' 13, Lomira got its hands on a pass, forcing an incompletion and turnover on downs.

"If we're going to go back and review anything in the offseason, it would be first-and-10 plays inside the 20," coach Nelles said. "We did not feel comfortable running the ball in the red zone, but our struggles down there tonight are something we have to learn from."

Schaumberg's late 10-yard TD capped the scoring.

Nelles finished 19-of-28 passing for 189 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. The Blue Jays were outrushed by a margin of 300-34 and outgained 341-223.

"Lomira has some large humans compared to our guys," coach Nelles said. "Lomira runs a Cover-4 defense we are not quite used to. They'd drop seven or eight guys in coverage and still get a pass rush with three or four guys. They are huge up front and super athletic too. Their seniors were scout players when they won a state title in 2023."

Cambridge bids farewell to its 11-player senior class, which enjoyed a 29-12 record in the program while winning two conference titles (including this year) along with a runner-up finish and snapped the program's three-year streak of first-round playoff exits with a 30-25 come-from-behind victory over Marathon in Level 1.

"After the game, I congratulated the seniors for putting us on the map," coach Nelles said. "I told the seniors how much we appreciated them and thanked them for everything they've done for the program. They won't be forgotten and we hope to continue building off their success next year.

"Ian, as a first-year starter at QB, there was a lot to learn this season for him. We have a lot of players coming back, but it's going to be tough to replace our offensive line and some of our skill guys like J'Kari and Trevor Polster.

"It's been nice to see the community come together when our sports programs, including volleyball, basketball and baseball, are doing well. We all feed off each other because of the success we are having."

The Lions travel to face top-seeded Edgar next Friday in Level 3.

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