MOOSEHEART, IL - One of the most-ancient of football adages is that you can’t win if you can’t score.

Mooseheart’s football team has allowed points this year, but has given them up in Scroogelike proportions.

That miserly defense was again at its best on Friday, when the Red Ramblers defeated Rockford Christian 14-13 to improve to 3-1 for the season.

“For some reason, the last couple of years, our defense have been really strong,” Mooseheart football coach Gary Urwiler said.

“Our motto has been that if our offense can score three touchdowns, which is 18 points without the extra points, we can win the game.”

Through four games, the Ramblers have allowed 35 points. And the defense certainly helped preserve Friday’s victory. “They had the ball with under 2 minutes left,” Urwiler said,. “Donald Niersbach chased down the quarterback and he gained 1 yard. The next two plays, (Niersbach) went in and sacked the quarterback twice - he chased him down from behind. He just took over that last drive and physically dominated his guy and sacked the quarterback.”

Mooseheart threw the football just three times in Friday’s contest, but one of those passes ended as one of the keys to the victory. Inside the final minute of the first half, Ramblers quarterback Chris Morones found Andy Greenaway on a crossing pattern. Greenaway caught the ball, took a hit but held on after being tackled just 1 yard from the Rockford Christian end zone. The Ramblers hurried to the line of scrimmage and scored with 16 seconds left to make the halftime score 7-7.

“That was when it was apparent that we were up for the game and that was when we started saying, ‘we can do this.’” Urwiler said.

Gabe Kendor scored on a 44-yard run 5 minutes into the third quarter to put the Ramblers ahead 14-7. Kendor had 109 yards on 16 carries. He has 339 yards on 48 carries this year.

“That’s the hardest I’ve seen him run,” Urwiler said. “He kept his feet moving and he kept driving even when he was in the pile.”

With Floyd Mays and Jonell Crump each over 200 yards rushing and Niersbach with about 100 yards as a wing back, the Ramblers have gained roughly 800 rushing yards in four games.

“When we do that, we find ourselves being successful,” Urwiler said.

Rockford Christian scored a touchdown and missed the extra point. The Ramblers' defense did the rest of the work to complete the victory.

Importantly, the Ramblers only committed two penalties and did not turn over the ball -- neither a fumble nor interception.

“This was one of those games where you left and you felt good about your execution,” Urwiler said. “We played smart football. People left thinking ‘these guys are good.' I was extremely impressed.”

Next, on Sept. 21, Mooseheart travels to Brookfield, WI to take on Brookfield Academy. The Blue Knights are 2-2 - losing their two most recent games after winning their opening pair of contests. Brookfield lost 33-21 to Alden-Hebron on Friday.

Key to the Blue Knights success is quarterback Andrew Oesterling. The senior has gained 526 yards and scored five touchdowns this season. Oesterling has passed for an additional 475 yards and three touchdowns.

“We’re always going to respect their quarterback and their offense,” Urwiler said. “That have that spread kind of offense. It’s going to be interesting. We’re going to have to contain him.”

Mooseheart, one of the smallest high schools in Illinois playing football (actual enrollment 116, IHSA-adjusted enrollment 181)*, seeks its second consecutive playoff appearance for the first time since Urwiler took the Ramblers into the postseason in both 1996 and '97.

* -- The Illinois High School Association, under the presumption that private schools can recruit from a wide geographic area, assigns a multiplier to private schools' actual male-and-female enrollment in an attempt to resolve perceived inequities in bracketing assignments for postseason playoff bracketing. No matter what, if Mooseheart reaches postseason play, the Ramblers will compete in the smallest-school category, 1A.