COLDWATER – Despite falling behind 28-0 in the early moments of Saturday evening’s Division 6 Region 24 playoff contest on the road the Delphos Jefferson Wildcats continued to scratch back against host Coldwater before falling 49-35 in a high scoring affair.
On the first play from scrimmage the Cavaliers grabbed the games first lead as a pass from QB Reece Dellinger found the waiting arms of junior wideout Marcel Blasingame who raced 77 yards down the sideline for his fourth score of the season with just :23 gone for a 7-0 Cavaliers lead.
Coldwater ran their lead to 14-0 on their second possession after forcing a three and out punt from the visiting Wildcats on a seven yard touchdown scamper by Luke Sudhoff to finish off a five play 75 yard drive with 7:59 left in the first.
Though able to pick up a trio of first downs on their third possession the Wildcats again were forced to punt away the football to pin the Cavs at their own 25 before a six play drive and an Isaac Fullenkamp one yard score made it 21-0 Coldwater.
Adam Hrycko’s one yard plunge with 9:51 sent the Cavs to a 28-0 lead with 9:51 to go in the opening half of play following the third Delphos Jefferson punt of the night.
Braylon Scalf derailed Coldwater’s plans on a five score lead after another Jefferson punt when he stepped in front of an intended Dellinger target in the endzone to snag his NWC lead tying seventh interception of the season.
Working methodically from their own five yard line the Wildcats picked apart the black and orange defense over the course of nearly seven minutes and 15 plays for their first score on a six yard hookup from Colin Bailey to Braylon Scalf with 53.6 left in the half.
Jefferson safety Andrew Miller gave the Wildcats new life deep in Coldwater territory moments later as he notched his fifth pick of the season and returned the ball to the Coldwater eight. Colin Bailey’s 17th rushing touchdown, a four yard jaunt sliced the lead in half 28-14 with 25.3 before the halftime stoppage.
Trent Teman’s fumble recovery of a Cavalier miscue with 16.6 seconds to go gave Jefferson a shot to cut the lead to just a single score but was unsuccessful before time ran out.
Eight second half combined possessions produced six touchdowns in what would quickly become an arena league inspired shootout starting with a 29 yard haul by Scalf of a toss by Colin Bailey to pull Jefferson within 28-21.
Five plays and 49 yards is all it would take for the Cavaliers to push their advantage back to 14 on their first touch of the football in the second half before Isaac Fullenkamp totaled his 12th rushing score of the season and second of the evening and a 35-21 lead.
Braylon Scalf entered the season with just seven catches for 56 yards but hauled his share on the night and finished with 10 catches for 161 yards as his second touchdown of the quarter, a 43 yard catch and run from Bailey capped off an 80-yard drive to make it 35-28.
Marcel Blasingame who ended the night with four carries for 96 yards and over 100 yards receiving raced 54 yards through the Jefferson defense with 3:59 left in the third to make it 42-28 Coldwater.
Starting from their own 20 and utilizing over four minutes the Wildcats again peeled the lead back to a single score on the back of a nine play drive that ended in the endzone on a 27-yard catch by Miller for his 11th marker of the season.
The final score of the contest pushed the final differential to 49-35 with 10:24 as Luke Sudhoff rushed in from eight yards away to end a three play, 51-yard drive for Coldwater.
Pinned to their own eight after a rain soaked football caused a slip and late start to a return the Wildcats found themselves faced with needing a pair of scores and a 92 yard trip to the endzone.
Fourteen plays came and went for Jefferson and included a successful fourth down conversion deep in Coldwater territory but ended when Bailey was stopped short on his 40th carry of the night at the Cavalier nine forced the visitors to give up the football on downs. Coldwater ended the evening by picking up five first downs across midfield and taking an eventual knee to secure the win.
Jefferson’s season comes to an end at 3-8 while the Cavaliers move to 9-2 and will play host to Deer Park next Saturday night in the second round at Cavalier Stadium.
Colin Bailey led the Wildcat offense with 40 carries for 146 yards and a score while orchestrating an air attack that totaled 344 yards and four scores. Jefferson ended the night as a team with 489 yards on 82 total offensive plays.
Isaac Fullenkamp paced the black and orange ground game with two scores and 179 yards on 15 carries for an offense that totaled 497 of the games combined 986 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“I was pleased with how well our offense moved the ball and Colin Bailey’s gusty performance. I’m proud of our kids tonight, they continued to fight even though we got down early. Coldwater ran the ball down our throats and the second half and we knew we couldn’t stop them, we stayed in the game because of the turnovers in the second quarter against a much more physical team up front” said third year Jefferson coach Ben Rahrig on his teams performance after the game.