St. Henry quarterback Charlie Werling runs through an arm tackle to score on of his four TDs on the night…in the Redskins’ 26-20 win over Versailles. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Not a thing of beauty, but they had enough of the right things for St. Henry to overcome a second half deficit, then hold off Versailles for a hard-earned season-concluding win.
Versailles, OH – Coaches will tell you that any win is a good win.
They’ll tell you that they sleep better on a win than the alternative.
Minster Bank proudly sponsors the best area sports coverage on Press Pros Magazine.com.
And Friday night, following St. Henry’s 26-20 win over Versailles St. Henry’s Josh Werling smiled at some of the issues that on a different, lesser night, might have cost him a good night’s rest and his team a win.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
A pair of interceptions, including a pick-six by Versailles on the first play of the second half.
A first half malaise that made the 9-1 Redskins look like they were sleep-walking.
A missed chip shot field goal in the first half.
A missed extra point in the second half.
Stuff about which Redskins quarterback Charlie Werling afterwards said, “Sometimes it’s just part of football.”
“It just shows that you don’t have to be perfect to win,” said Coach Josh Werling, adding his own interpretation to his team’s ninth win of the year.
“To start the second half with them having a ‘pick six’? Sometimes you have to find your spine,” he added. “We’ve leaned on our 13 seniors all year, and we didn’t panic after that interception. We stayed calm, and we found out who we are. Our game plan didn’t change. We had all kinds of time. We took things one snap at a time.”
Wilson Health/Orthopedics proudly sponsors the best in area sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Press Pros.
Write that down for when you need it..that sometimes you have to find your spine. Because in life, like high school football, there’s going to be mistakes.
And obviously, you really don’t have to be perfect to win. You just have to rely on what you do well. And for St. Henry…throughout the season when they had to rely on something they’ve leaned on those seniors and their running game. Put the ‘pick six’ behind you, and run the the football. And that’s exactly what Werling (A) & Werling (B) did on Friday, one snap at a time.
Lean on the running game…Redskins running back Drew Langenkamp charges through the line for a first down in Friday’s 26-20 win over Versailles.
From the outset Versailles made it look like something that might not be easy. Ethan Wilker took the opening kick down the field in 11 plays and scored 3 minutes and 50 seconds into the first quarter on a 2-yard run by Landyn Knapke.
Later in the quarter, while they were running the ball well with (Charlie) Werling and Drew Langenkamp, St. Henry answered resolutely on a ten-yard run by Werling with 9 seconds left in the quarter to tie the game, 7-7.
But in the second quarter the Redskins forsook the run in the shadow of the end zone, flummoxed a perfect opportunity to score when they botched a third down pass…and then missed a chip shot field goal from twenty yards that would have given them a 10-7 halftime lead. The kick was a shank, and Versailles went to the locker room no worse for the wear…7-7.
Momentum is a terrible thing to waste or give away. And when St. Henry took the second half kickoff out to the 37 yard line, they suddenly gave Versailles the key to their own destiny on the first play from scrimmage. Werling tried to thread a screen pass through traffic and Ethan Wilker jumped the route, intercepted the pass, and ran it 40 yards into the end zone untouched…a stunning turn of events that tested the challenge to stay calm, do what you do well, and take things one play at a time.
EB Real Estate, Darke County’s sales leader, proudly sponsors the best area sports on Press Pros Magazine.
But credit to Werling (A), that’s what they did. Werling (B) started the next series with a seven yard run. Then gave the ball to Drew Langenkamp for a first down. They he went back to the pass, hitting Brayden Heath and Owen Zimmerman for yardage and first downs. And just that quick, St. Henry was back on track, doing what they did well.
“Their quarterback is a really good athlete, and they’ve got that big physical line,” said Versailles coach Ryan Jones. “It was a challenge.”
Keith Siefring’s interception of a Versailles pass changed the momentum of the third quarter.
And six minutes after the ‘pick six’ Werling ran it in from three yards on the seventh play of the drive to tie the game, 14-14.
Post-game, Jones talked about the adversity that the Tigers had played through all year – injuries, the unexpected, and the inexplicable way the Marion Local game had ended. “I’m proud of them,” said Jones. “And I’m proud to be their coach.”
But there would be more adversity in the third quarter, when on the ensuing drive after Werling’s second score, Ethan Wilker was picked off deep in St. Henry territory by the Redskins’ Keith Siefring, only to get the ball back when St. Henry immediately turned the ball over on a pick of a tipped pass.
And then…Wilker threw his second interception in a span of two minutes when Brayden Heath picked him off at the 35 yard line.
Now Werling (A) would stick to his guns and run the ball. And this time it was the difference in the game…Werling (B), Lankenkamp, and a 25-yard romp by sophomore Will Speck.
Knapke Kitchens and Baths proudly sponsor the MAC on Press Pros Magazine.com.
And as time ran out in the third…and time opened in the fourth, Werling scored his third touchdown of the game at 11:56 to finally give St. Henry its first lead, 20-16. The PAT kick was blocked, amounting to four points lost so far as a result of the kicking game – forget about perfect.
On the following possession, the defense rose to the occasion, forcing a Versailles punt. And again, St. Henry – Werling, Langenkamp, Speck, et.al., ran the ball, killed clock, and with 3:09 left in the game…you guessed it…Charlie Werling ran for his fourth touchdown of the game to make it 26-14. At that point they chased the earlier missed PATs by going for two…and they missed that, too.
St. Henry’s Anderson Kramer chases Versailles quarterback Ethan Wilker on the Tigers’ final scoring drive.
To Ryan Jones’ point about playing through adversity, his offense got the ball back with three minutes left and promptly marched it down the field and into the end zone with 1:09 left, Wilker hooking up on a four-yard pass to Oliver Brunswick to cut the deficit to six, 26-20. And with a minute left, the Tigers were forced to attempt the onside kick to get the ball back…but kicked it out of bounds.
Charlie Werling took over at midfield, ran the clock out, and St. Henry concluded the regular season with a 9-1 record.
Charlie Werling would finish the night with 119 yards and four touchdowns…and a couple of throws he wished he hadn’t made. But that’s part of football.
Drew Langenkamp didn’t run for a hundred yards, but he ran enough to justify game plan. When things are going that well, lean on the running game.
“We’ve done that all year,” he said, post-game. “Lean on the offensive line. It’s fun to run the ball when they open up those holes.”
Technical Roofing proudly sponsors the Midwest Athletic Conference on Press Pros Magazine.com.
“Credit to our O-line,” added Charlie Werling. “I love those guys. Every Saturday I wear a hat around that says I Heart (Love) My O-Line. Those guys are my best friends. And the interceptions by Brayden Heath and Keith Siefring [in the third quarter] were big momentum turns. Those guys have been playing good football. Nothing but good things to say about them.
They didn’t need it a lot…but Owen Zimmerman gathers in a Charlie Werling pass during Friday’s win at Versailles.
“It wasn’t our best game tonight, but that’s football,” he added. “Stuff doesn’t always go your way. It’s rarely perfect. Just take it week by week. I haven’t thought about playoffs, or the regional finals. Just take things week by week and see where the season takes us. That’s what we’ve done.”
Ryan Jones’ Versailles Tigers would finish their year with five consecutive losses, something no one would have imagined after they played the first month of the season to a 4-1 record. The kind of adversity about which cliches’ are written. But no one was in the mood for a well-turned phrase as the Tigers trudged to the locker room, likely for the final time this season.
“What I love about tonight is that it gives us something to approach for next week,” added Josh Werling. “The bye week gives us time to see what tonight looks like on film and address that in practice. We’re not a perfect product, but we’re going to work to get there.
“We’re having to go on without Carter LaGuire (knee injury), and your heart breaks because he changes our offense and you feel like something got stolen from him. And he was just starting to get going. But I know it’ll be a motivating factor for his buddies and the other seniors.”
It’s not perfect, to be sure. Football is metaphor for life, itself. But when you can win without it – perfection – well, does it not give you hope?
One snap at a time? Of course it does!
It’s been a long time since St. Henry was 9-1.
The Phelan Agency, in Versailles, proudly sponsor Midwest Athletic Conference sports on Press Pros.