Coldwater quarterback Karsyn Homan takes off on a 49-yard second-half run to set up his touchdown that gave the Cavaliers breathing room. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Jeff Gilbert)
Karsyn Homan threw the go-ahead TD pass and ran for another score, but the Coldwater QB was injured late in a win over Clinton-Massie.
Clarksville, OH — Coldwater made the two-hour trip to Clinton-Massie on Friday night for a classic matchup of two programs with state championship pedigrees.
For neutral observers, the game lived up to the hype, a clash of styles that saw the Cavaliers and the Falcons both get their licks in in their own specific ways, be it ground and pound or spread and shred.
Charles Dickens himself could hardly have come up with a tale of two halves any more different as both teams pitched 24-minute shutouts.
The Falcons held the Cavaliers scoreless in the first half before the Cavaliers returned the favor in the second, but the difference turned out to be one team’s ability to finish drives in the end zone while the other settled for field goals.
The final score was 14-6 in favor of the visitors, but it was the type of game — especially in August — that can send both teams home with plenty to feel good about, as first-year Massie coach Kevin Scholz confirmed when it was over.
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“It’s extremely valuable to embrace those challenges, and if we say that we want to continue the tradition of being one of the better teams in the state like Clinton-Massie has been for a long time here, these are the type of games that you play and that you look forward to,” said Scholz, whose team fell to 0-2 on the season the same night its 2021 state championship team was honored for its five-year anniversary. “And one of the things that we talked about was, ‘Man, that was fun.’ The score didn’t end up in our favor, but our kids had fun on the sideline all game long up until the very, very end when the score wasn’t in our favor, but nobody was backing down from the challenge of a high-quality opponent, and we were just enjoying the opportunity to compete.”
Ironically, the results could be viewed as more mixed for the winners than the losers on this night.
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Coldwater coach Chip Otten got the win, but he admitted it could be somewhat bittersweet as senior quarterback Karsyn Homan hopped around on one foot during postgame handshakes.
“So sometimes we call these games win-losses, you know, when one of your better guys gets hurt,” Otten said. “You’re happy, but you’re not happy.”
It was too early to tell if — or how long — Homan could be sidelined, but Otten said he would get it checked out as soon as possible.
After scoring a touchdown, Karsyn Homan is helped from the field by Charlie Stammer (72) and Griffin Lefeld.
“Knowing him, if it’s not broke, he’ll give it a shot,” Otten said.
Homan, who also plays defensive back when needed, had done all that was necessary for the Cavaliers to get this win and improve to 2-0, including throw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Bennett Spriggs in the third quarter before running for a 6-yard score in the fourth.
Homan set up both scores with explosive plays, first a 47-yard pass to Alex Lefeld, then his own 49-yard run on the second touchdown drive.
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Karsyn Homan celebrates a fumble recovery.
But what about that ankle?
It’s a question that undoubtedly troubled Cavalier fans for every mile of their trip back to the north, where the MAC schedule awaits in a week.
He got it twisted up in tacklers while going into the end zone with 9:09 to go, then had to be helped off the field before the hurried PAT kick made it an eight-point lead for the visitors.
After the Cavaliers forced a punt, Homan came back in to lead the offense for one play before deciding that wasn’t going to work.
Junior Hugh Hemmelgarn came on in relief and executed the offense, which in that situation meant getting the ball to running back Braxton Taylor, who served as the closer with Homan sidelined.
Braxton Taylor is grabbed and eventually pulled down by Clinton-Massie’s Ty Martin short of a first down in the first half.
Taylor was bottled up most of the night but ripped off a 39-yard run on the final drive and a pair of nine-yard runs that put the Cavaliers in position to run out the clock.
On the bright side for Coldwater, Homan has far from a one-man team. Talented skill players are all over the field, as was seen Friday night.
Taylor finished with 70 yards on nine carries while Derek Dues picked up 16 yards on four totes.
Otten said with those two and senior Karter Freed, the Cavaliers feel they have three reliable running backs.
The show must go on, and this is still at team to be reckoned with no matter who is running it.
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“Now Hugh’s a really good thrower, so that might put us in more passing situations,” Otten said. “He’s not used to taking snaps under center, though, so obviously we’ll practice that a lot because we like those three backs we’ve got.
“He was a really good JV quarterback last year, so it’s not like he hasn’t played a lot of quarterback, but it’s hard when you go in there in a tight game.”
Coldwater’s Josh Schroer hits Clinton-Massie quarterback Brody Webb on one of the Falcons’ few pass attempts.
Coldwater had three possessions and no first downs in the first half. While penalties plagued the Cavaliers, Massie made few mistakes and put together a pair of long scoring drives.
First the Falcons went 50 yards in 13 plays, using 7:21 of the clock, to set up a 25-yard field goal by Jace Horner.
Then they went on a 67-yard drive late in the second quarter but were forced to settle for a 20-yard field goal rather than risk time running out on the half.
That left the door open for Coldwater, and the Cavaliers wasted little time taking advantage.
On the second play of the third quarter, Homan fired a pass deep over the middle to Alex Lefeld, who caught the ball on the run and raced down to the Massie 20.
Clinton-Massie’s Cash Burton intercepts a pass in the second half in front of Braxton Taylor.
Four plays later, Otten rolled the dice on fourth-and-4, calling a play-action pass for Homan, who found Spriggs with a fade ball in the end zone for the touchdown.
Andrew Myers’ PAT kick put Coldwater on top 7-6 with 9:23 left in the third quarter.
The teams then traded turnovers before Massie mounted another long drive, this one from their 20 to the Coldwater 31.
That’s where it ended, though, when a botched handoff ruined any chance the Falcons had of converting a fourth-and-4 with just under 11 minutes to go in the fourth.
That set up Coldwater’s second touchdown drive.
The Cavaliers, who play New Bremen next week, ended up with the advantage in total yardage 242-235.
Homan completed 5 of 9 passes for 89 yards and ran for 67 yards on seven attempts while fullback Ty Martin led Clinton-Massie with 104 yards on 18 carries.
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