PIQUA – Nearly as annual of a tradition as Thanksgiving itself the Coldwater Cavaliers are headed to the state finals as they dispatched West Jefferson Saturday night in Piqua 35-13.
West Jefferson’s high powered offense was able to quickly move the ball down the field on the opening drive after a big kickoff return by Adam Fry to the Cavs 45. Facing a third down deep in Cavalier territory Roughrider QB Tyler Buescher lofted a pass towards the endzone but saw it picked off by Tanner Muhlenkamp who raced 83 yards down the sideline to give Coldwater a 7-0 advantage.
After the defense forced a punt by the Roughriders the offense put together a 63-yard drive over 10 plays for a score when senior running back Isaac Fullenkamp sprinted in from four yards out for his 17th score of the year.
Trailing 14-0 with 3:35 remaining in the opening quarter the Roughriders offense was able to again effectively move the ball into opponent territory through the air but were forced to suffer for a 34-yard field goal from kicker Mason Cordetti when the drive stalled to cut the deficit to 14-3 early in the second quarter.
Buescher, who entered the game with 37 touchdowns to just nine interceptions would be picked off for the second time in the first half on the next West Jefferson possession by Tyler Schwieterman near the goal line on a throw deep down the sideline.
Coldwater over a four and a half minute span embarked on their second possession of 10 or more plays to take a 21-3 lead with 3:25 to go in the half on a 29 yard score from Reece Dellinger to Marcel Blasingame. On the play previous to the score an attempted pitch play that appeared as a possible fumble was ruled an incomplete pass and allowed the Cavaliers to keep the football and score on the ensuing play that followed.
West Jefferson after another big kickoff return from Adam Fry set up shop at the Coldwater 35 with 3:16 to go before the half but again were forced to settle for just a trio of points after three straight incomplete passes by Buescher to cut the lead to 21-6 just in front of halftime.
On their second possession of the second half the Cavaliers ran their advantage to 28-3 with 3:47 left in the quarter as Jesse Meyer snuck behind the Roughrider defense and sprinted 51 yards into the endzone to cap off a 73-yard drive.
West Jefferson moved the football effectively once again on their next drive but were stopped on fourth down short of the line to gain and forced to surrender the ball at their own five to the Cavs.
Starting with :35 remaining in the third the black and orange began what could be described as an all-time drive as they marched 95 yards over the course of 20 plays while taking 11:09 off the Alexander Stadium clock.
Isaac Fullenkamp rushed in untouched from seven yards out with 2:08 to put the Cavaliers on top 35-6 on the 20th play of the drive.
Five completed passes and a quick 70 yard drive for the Roughriders accounted for the final tally of the game with just :08 to go as Buescher connected in the back of the endzone with MJ Book to make it a 35-13 final.
West Jefferson sees their season come to an end at 13-2 and with both losses coming with their offense scoring 13 points.
Coldwater (13-2) will play in their 14th state title game in search of their eighth title on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 P.M. when they travel to Canton’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium to take on Carey.