Karsyn Homan ran for 139 yards and four touchdowns, completed 12 of 20 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown in the Cavaliers overtime win against Valley View. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Seldom has there been a more auspicious debut in area football, nor has it come at a more fortuitous time. Coldwater’s Karsyn Homan did both in Friday night’s thrilling 49-48 overtime win against Valley View.
They say that timing is everything, along with another well-used phrase, that it’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, but rather…the size of the fight in the dog.
All that said, consider the newly anointed Coldwater quarterback Karsyn Homan, a junior, who made his varsity debut at the position Friday night with both timing, and numbers that truly bespeak not only being the right dog at the right time…but apparently just the right size. In his first varsity start he rushed for 139 yards and four touchdowns, threw for 220 yards and a touchdown, and at 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and 180 pounds, proved his canine qualities above reproach to garner this week’s ‘Who’s Hot’ recognition from Press Pros.
He scored his fourth, and deciding touchdown on the Cavaliers’ first possession in overtime, a two-yard run that gave Coldwater a 49-42 lead.
Valley View, on their overtime possession, promptly scored to pulled within a point, at 49-48, promptly coach Matt King to go for the two-point conversion that would have ended the game with a Valley View win.
But Coldwater defender Derek Dues shot through the line of scrimmage, untouched, and forced Valley View quarterback Brody Gibbs to rush his delivery of a short pass over the line of scrimmage to a wide-open receiver. The ball fell harmlessly to the turf, incomplete, and Homan, Dues, and coach Chip Otten had the area’s most thrilling, and talked-about season opening win.
Homan won the quarterback job in fall camp after playing the position all of last season on the JV team. A natural-enough athlete, Otten was confident in the ability of a smaller player doing big things from his own experience. Otten was a smallish running back at Coldwater and Bowling Green State University during his playing days. But no one could have foreseen such a performance from Homan in his first varsity starting experience. Otten, known for his aggressiveness as a play caller, had Homan go for the jugular on Coldwater’s first play from scrimmage, completing a 69-yard touchdown bomb to teammate Cadin Obringer.
“Sometimes you just roll the dice…because you think it’s going to work.” – Chip Otten
“Sometimes you just roll the dice,” said Otten. “Because you think it’s going to work.”
But the 139 yards rushing on 18 carries, the four rushing touchdowns, and the kind of tough running style that the 5’8″ Homan showed…well, no one could have anticipated that, except for a coach that trusted his own intuition.
“He runs like a bowling ball,” said Otten. “That’s how his position coach describes the way he pings around in traffic…like a bowling ball.”
Homan’s performance certainly answered some early questions about how Coldwater would navigate the loss of state champion quarterback from ’24, Baylen Blockberger. And once again the Cavaliers have given those accustomed to the yearly drama of MAC football reason to anticipate the competition for supremacy between Coldwater and Marion Local…who debuted its own new quarterback, but without near the drama and impact.
Our congratulations to Karsyn Homan, this week’s ‘Who’s Hot’ honoree on Press Pros…with appreciation for one heckuva’ front page story on opening night!
On behalf of sponsor, the St. Henry Bank, Press Pros is happy to recognize this week’s ‘Who’s Hot’ honoree, Karsyn Homan, from Coldwater High School.