Coldwater’s quarterback Karsyn Homan had 142 passing yards, rushed for 99 yards with one touchdown. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie Wright-Daniel)
Coldwater avenged a 14-7 regular-season loss to Anna with a 14-12 win in the regional final. With points at a premium, the Cavs leveraged a long TD, a safety, and two stops on two-point conversions to claim the regional title.
PIQUA, OH – Touchdowns and field goals couldn’t settle Coldwater and Anna’s rematch. So Coldwater resorted to dominating the two-point plays to taste revenge and win a second straight regional title. The Cavs scored a safety and rejected both of Anna’s two-point conversion attempts to claim a 14-12 victory and advance to the state semifinals.
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“It’s disappointing somebody had to lose that type of game,” Coldwater coach Chip Otten said. “It was just great defense by both teams … I’m just proud of our guys.”
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Coldwater (10-4) plays Hopewell-Loudon (12-1) in next week’s state semifinal, and with a win, would play the winner of Kirtland and Colonel Crawford. The Cavs beat Kirtland 31-7 in last year’s Division VI state championship game.
The Anna Rockets finish 10-4 as not only one of the youngest teams in the area, but also one of the most improved teams from the beginning of the season to the end.
“Obviously you’re looking at two of the best schools in the state going at it, and that’s why it’s a two-point football game,” Anna coach Nick Marino said. “We came up on the wrong end of it, but the kids did everything right. You know, the ball bounces this way or that way, that’s life. But our kids fought really hard.”
Anna’s Tyson Vaubel intercepted Homan at the Rockets’ 1-yard line on the opening drive.
Anna’s young talent will look to reload for 2026 in an attempt to get past the hurdle that is Coldwater, which has ended each of Anna’s last two seasons in the regional final.
This time, they did it not only by winning the two-point plays, but also by finding a spark to light the offense on a soggy night. Quarterback Karsyn Homan took the top off with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Cadin Obringer on the second play of the second half.
“Coach said that was gonna be the driest the ball was gonna be all night, so we had to take a shot,” Homan said.
After four trips inside Anna’s 30-yard line yielded just two field goals, a long bomb was what the offense needed. And as it turned out, it’s all Coldwater needed. That score gave the Cavs a 14-6 lead the Rockets never recovered from.
Anna’s defense otherwise held Coldwater at bay, led by defensive lineman Ezra Egbert, and linebacker Landon Hewitt.
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“Couldn’t be prouder of the way our defense played,” Marino said. “We gave up one big play on the night … but I thought those guys played as hard as they have all year, and defended those guys as well as anyone else has all year.”
But Coldwater’s defense likewise held up its end of the bargain, and then some.
TJ Roberts tackled for a safety after Anna’s Tyson Vaubel intercepts on the one yard line.
The Cavs’ three linemen, Nolan Gruss, Braden Gerlach, and Colin Westgerdes, all sophomores, made Anna QB Logan Ziegenbush work for everything on the ground and in the air.
“Our whole thing this week for the defense was ‘do your job,’” Otten said. “Because Anna does all those options, and boots and sprintouts. And man, that quarterback is a slippery dude.”
Otten inserted all three sophomore linemen into the starting lineup after the week 4 game against Anna, and they made their presence known in the rematch. Penetration at the point of attack often set Anna behind the sticks, which was exacerbated by four or five muffs in the backfield, including one on 4th & 3. The Rockets converted just two of 13 third/fourth down attempts.
Anna’s Tyson Vaubel intercepted Homan at the Rockets’ 1-yard line on the opening drive, but Gruss turned a setback into an opportunity. Two of Anna’s backs bumped into each other, and Gruss barreled into the backfield, contacting the ball carrier two yards deep in the end zone, and driving him back from there to give Coldwater a 2-0 lead.
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Two field goals of 37 and 42 yards by Bryce Couchot built an 8-0 lead.
Despite down-to-down struggles, the Rockets engineered scores from outside the red zone twice. In the second quarter, Ziegenbush shook a defender with a fake option pitch, evaded two more, and finally dragged another pair across the goal line for a 47-yard touchdown run. Trailing 8-6, the Rockets opted for a two-point conversion, an aggressive but defensible decision in what promised to be a low-scoring game. But linebacker Derek Dues pressured and hit Ziegenbush, causing the pass to fall well short of the target.
Cadin Obringer had 91 receiving yards with one touchdown.
Dues played a vital role on both sides of the ball – running for 71 yards, and intercepting a pass.
Ziegenbush and Carter Edwards combined to make a tackle at Anna’s 1-yard line as the half expired to keep the deficit at 8-6. Coldwater responded after intermission with its 70-yard TD, but the wet ball caused an aborted extra point attempt, so Coldwater’s lead only stretched to 14-6, still a one-score game.
Anna’s offense stalled out for much of the second half, hindered by the rain that affected both handoffs and Ziegenbush’s accuracy. But with 6:16 to play, it broke through a second time. Sophomore wideout Tyson Vaubel beat two defenders downfield and reeled in a 36-yard touchdown throw to set up a chance to tie the game.
On the conversion, Coldwater’s defensive line broke into the pocket quickly, but Ziegenbush slithered out of the pocket to his left. Out of time, he heaved a pass to Jace Noll, but Nolan Mescher intercepted it to preserve the lead.
Tyson Vaubel beat two defenders downfield and reeled in a 36-yard touchdown throw to set up a chance to tie the game.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to question Marino’s decision to go for two after the first score. A pair of extra points would’ve ended up tying the game. But when you’re trailing 8-6 late in the first half, the rain is only getting stronger, and both defenses are playing lights out, you don’t know how many more chances you’ll get. It took a botched extra point to end up mattering. Amazon’s Next Gen Stats weren’t available to tell us what the analytics said, but when you’re trying to beat the big dogs, sometimes you gotta let your best player to try to make a play. This time, it just didn’t work out.
Anna got one more possession with a chance to take the lead, but the Cavs allowed only one yard on four downs.
“We really wanted to get back here and get another shot at Anna,” Homan said. “And we took advantage of it and played well.”
Well enough to punch their ticket back to the state semifinals with their sights on title number nine.
The Cavs’ three linemen made Anna’s QB Logan Ziegenbush work for everything on the ground and in the air.
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