Trailing 21-14 at halftime, Jed Leeper’s Hermann Bearcat football team was right there in striking distance for a Four Rivers Conference (FRC) road win last Friday night on the road against Pacific’s Indians.

Unable to overcome a pair of second-half interceptions, Hermann left Franklin County on the wrong end of a 42-14 final score.

Hermann struck first midway through the opening quarter when Kohlt Witthaus hooked up with Carter Humphrey on a 37-yard touchdown pass.

Roman Martin’s extra point gave the Bearcats an early 7-0 lead at the 5:59 mark of the first quarter.

Pacific answered just under two minutes later with a score of their own to tie the game at 7-7 after 12 minutes of football.

Seeing the Indians score a pair of touchdowns midway through the second quarter, Hermann closed the gap with :08 for the half when Witthaus and Humphrey hooked up this time from 23 yards away.

Martin’s kick left the Bearcats trailing 21-14 at halftime.

Surrendering three second-half touchdowns, Hermann will look to end their regular season on a winning note this Friday night on the road at Union against the Wildcats.

Through the air, Witthaus was 16-32 passing for 193 yards to go with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Witthaus also led Hermann on the ground with 61 yards rushing on 17 carries.

Aiden Eikermann added 31 rushing yards on nine carries while Trent Chasteen had eight carries for 11 yards rushing.

Humphrey led Bearcat receivers with four catches for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Tayven Hopkins caught eight passes for 37 yards.

Eikermann also caught two ball for 33 yards while Kyle Koch had a reception for 19 yards.

Sawyer Moore led the Hermann defense with two fumble recoveries and three tackles.

One of those fumble recoveries set up one of the scores for the Bearcats in the first half.

Eikermann added a fumble recovery and eight total tackles to his offensive numbers.

Witthaus kicked in seven total tackles on defense while Hopkins was close behind with six total tackles.

Corbin Sadler contributed five total tackles to go along with three apiece from Ashton Rucker, Humphrey, Koch and Moore.

Chasteen recorded two tackles to go with one each from Carter Baynes and Eli Pilger.

Currently sitting third in the MSHSAA Class 2, District 2 standings, Hermann is in good shape to score a home game for the first round of districts if not a first-round bye as one of the top two seeds depending upon the outcome of district action this Friday and Saturday.