BRODHEAD — The Brodhead-Juda Cardinals celebrated their Week 6 Homecoming in the best way possible — a convincing shutout win over New Glarus, 18-0.

“I’ve been saying this: The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place. I’m enjoying where we’re at,” first-year coach Gus Wedig said. “Honestly, the biggest thing is the timing on our pass plays. Gabe Bockhop is doing a great job in practice, and our receivers are doing a great job running full speed. That means that our timing isn’t different on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday than it is on Friday.”

Both teams expected a high scoring game, but instead a defensive battle ensued.

“We made mistakes. I’m not going to take anything away from Brodhead — they made less mistakes than we did,” New Glarus head coach DJ Schuett said. “All year I’ve asked them of three things: Do your job, play hard, and don’t give up. Sometimes you do that and you lose.”

In the first half it was anyone’s ballgame, momentum shifted in the closing minutes before halftime.

A 12-play, 62-yard drive that utilized a balanced rushing and passing attack with some no-huddle mixed in helped get the Cardinals on the board. Facing a third-and-10 late in the second quarter, quarterback Gabe Bockhop connected with Brody Riese for an 11-yard score with 1:12 left in the half.

New Glarus forced the issue on its end, quickly moving the ball up the field. The Knights had four snaps from the Cardinals’ 14-yard-line in the final 30 seconds but failed to connect for points.

“The momentum at the end of the half was crucial,” Wedig said.

After halftime, the Cardinals dominated the line of scrimmage and time of possession, and it all started with a fourth-down stop on the Glarner Knights’ opening possession of the third quarter.

On that drive, New Glarus drove 55 yards on 11 plays, though a flag for holding on a would-be 31-yard screen to Charlie Sarbacker changed the entire complexion of the drive. The penalty took away a first down deep into the red zone, instead pushing the Knights backward and facing a third-and-27 from their own side of the field — a 41-yard swing in field position. A big 19-yard run by Milo Johnson put the Knights back into striking distance, but Matt Roth’s pass on fourth down hit the turf and gave the Cardinals the ball.

Brodhead-Juda then marched 66 yards in eight plays, culminating with a 5-yard TD run by Grayson Arn with 3:37 left on the clock. Two plays into the Knights’ next drive, Roth’s pass was intercepted by Riese. Brodhead-Juda held the ball for another five minutes, running 10 plays for 77 yards. The possession was capped by a David Masloske 3-yard TD run with 8:46 left to make it 18-0.

“The halftime adjustment was really just talking to the O-line and telling them, ‘the game is yours in the second half. We’re going to grind. Don’t do anything we haven’t done, and we’ll start to wear them down in the third.’ We didn’t need to score pretty points, we just needed to wear them down,” Wedig said.

The drive faced a crucial moment just three snaps earlier. New Glarus had forced Brodhead-Juda into a fourth-and-3 at the 8-yard-line, but a Glarner Knight jumped offsides, giving the Cardinals a free first down. It wasn’t the only offsides call against the Knights on the evening, something Schuett knows his team needs to clean up.

“I thought even in the second half we did some things that were really good. We moved the ball, and we got ourselves into a spot where we could potentially get a scoring drive going, but we just made mistakes. We did things that are not characteristic of us this year,” Schuett said. “We tried to control things we couldn’t control, and we were worried about everything but our job. That’s not a recipe for winning.”

Bockhop was 20-for-27 passing with 261 yards, a TD and an INT. Arn had 52 rushing yards, though it came after 20 attempts (2.6 ypc). The Cardinals gained just 78 yards on 28 rushes (2.8 ypc). Riese led the way on the receiving end with six catches for 104 yards.

“It’s huge to have Gabe. Not only is he a senior leader, but he’s a student of the game. He’s the same way in football and baseball — when the lights are off, he’s indoors putting in the work,” Wedig said. “Along with him, his attitude is contagious to the other guys. They see him do it, and they think, ‘Well, now I have to do it.’ That’s what’s really starting to fall into place.”

Roth finished 13 of 26 for 164 yards and a pick. Johnson had 65 yards rushing on nine carries (7.2 ypc), but the Knights finished with 80 yards on 26 total rushes (3.1 ypc). Will Pinnow had six catches for 88 yards to lead the Knights.

Up next for the Cardinals (2-4, 2-2 SWC) is a road game at conference leader and seventh-ranked Prairie du Chien (5-1, 4-0). New Glarus (4-2, 2-2), meanwhile, hosts Platteville (3-3, 3-1).

“Obviously we’re looking uphill next week at Prairie du Chien, but I’ve seen crazier things in football,” Wedig said.