LEROY – Turnovers caught up to the top-seeded LeRoy-Ostrander Cardinals as they saw their season come to end in a 44-18 loss to No. 5 seed Houston in the Section 1 Nine Man semifinals Saturday.

L-O (9-1 overall) missed out on its first trip to the Section title game in 15 years as it committed five turnovers, including an on-side kick recovered by Houston that swung the game in the first quarter.

L-O had taken a 12-6 lead when Chase Johnson, who ran for 129 yards and two scores, scored on a four-yard run. The Hurricanes followed by putting together a five play, 57 yard drive that was capped by a Wyatt Walters five-yard TD. Houston recovered an on-side kick and wide receiver Alex Van Gundy threw a 43-yard TD pass to Caiden Olson on a trick play that made it 20-12 Hurricanes with :28 seconds left in the second quarter.

L-O head coach Trevor Carrier said that mistakes hurt the Cards, but he doesn’t want his team to forget that they put together L-O’s best football season in 15 years, which was the last time the Cardinals went to state.

“The onside kick hurt us. We had some turnovers and we had some drives end. It’s tough and our kids gave it everything they had,” Carrier said. “Those things happen in life. We’ve been on the high end of the turnover margin (throughout the year) and the boys have always played extremely hard. It’s not every day that football team can bring a community together and these kids did that. I love all of these kids. It’s very emotional.”

The Hurricanes (7-3 overall) scored 38 points in a row after trailing 12-6 early. Houston had also scored 40 straight points in a win over Southland last week.

The Cardinals limited Houston’s passing attack, but the Hurricanes racked up 335 yards on the ground.

“They won the line of scrimmage,” Carrier said of Houston. “They did a good job of imposing their will with the power I. They didn’t go down on the first contact and they broke a lot of tackles. They’re dangerous.”

Senior Carter Johnson ran for 80 yards and a TD in his last game for the Cardinals.

Carrier said he has nothing but respect for his players.

“They’re just good kids. I wouldn’t trade them for the world,” Carrier said. “Only one team doesn’t go out with a loss at the end of the year. We might’ve lost at the end of the day, but we won a lot of things by bringing this town together.”

SCORING SUMMARY
Houston 20 0 8 16 – 44
LO 12 0 0 6 – 18

First quarter
(LO) Chase Johnson 4 run (pass failed) (5 plays, 56 yards) 9:58
(H) Wyatt Walters 5 run (run failed) (7 plays, 57 yards) 6:30
(LO) Chase Johnson 1 run (run failed) (9 plays, 67 yards) 2:21
(H) Wyatt Walters 3 run (Walters run) (4 plays, 53 yards) :37.8
(H) Caiden Olson 43 pass from Alex Van Gundy (Walters run) (1 play, 43 yards) :28

Second quarter
No scoring

Third quarter
(H) Wyatt Walters 5 run (Gunderson from Mikkel Schutte) (13 plays, 50 yards) 5:19

Fourth quarter
(H) Wyatt Walters 10 run (Walters run) (5 plays, 99 yards) 10:17
(H) Gunderson 5 run (Schutte run) (6 plays, 41 yards) 4:44
(LO) Carter Johnson 6 run (run failed) (16 plays, 76 yards) 1:02

LO STATS
Rushing: Chase Johnson, 18-for-129, 2 TDs; Carter Johnson, 18-for-80, TD; Riley Olson, 2-for-15
Passing: Chase Johnson, 9-for-22, 100, 3 INT
Receiving: Riley Olson, 5-for-66; Tanner Kasel, 2-for-28; Carter Johnson, 1-for-13; Andrew Lohuis, 1-for-3
Defense: Chase Johnson, 1 interception; Brodi Nesler, 1 fumble recovery
Penalties: 3-for-30

HOUSTON STATS
Rushing: 335
Passing: 82
Penalties: 0-for-0