PIQUA – Coldwater quarterback Reece Dellinger threw for four scores on Saturday night as Coldwater dominated Mechanicsburg 42-6 to earn a spot in the regional finals.
Starting at the Indians 35 after a fumble recovery of a Mechanicsburg miscue the Cavaliers offense wasted no time hanging the first score on the board as Luke Sudhoff crashed in from a yard out at 8:35 to go in the opening quarter for a 7-0 lead.
Once again working from inside the Indians half of the field after a 12-yard punt the orange and black ran their lead to 14-0 after being assessed a penalty for an illegal shift when Dellinger tossed his 20th touchdown pass of the season, an eight yard effort to Marcel Blasingame to cap off a quick five play, 34 yard drive.
After a trio of punts pinned the Cavaliers back at their own 30 with 7:43 left in the half the Coldwater offense again worked quickly on their way to another score when a quick screen to Tanner Muhlenkamp resulted in missed tackles and a 43-yard jaunt and a 21-0 advantage.
Entering play this week Tanner Muhlenkamp had scored on just a pair of receptions but found himself equaling that total with 1:29 showing on the Alexander Stadium scoreboard when he and Dellinger hooked up for a 49-yard score and a 28-0 lead.
Opening the second half the Cavs wasted no time instituting the running clock rule as a strike from Dellinger found a home in the hands of Tyler Schwieterman who out raced a trio of Indian defenders 71 yards into the endzone to make it a 35-0 Coldwater advantage.
Mechanicsburg running back Jake Hurst who led the Ohio Heritage Conference in rushing this season with over 1800 yards to go along with his 25 scores picked up 10 yards on his first carry of the second half but was forced to watch as Aaron Conley booted a 51-yard punt just a couple of plays later to end the drive.
Coldwater, working from their own four yard line picked up a quartet of first downs on the ensuing drive inside the red zone but were unable to add another score as a screen pass by Dellinger was picked off and returned 94 yards by Hurst for the lone Burg score of the night. Danny Mascadri’s extra point attempt was blocked by Coldwater with 10:17 to go by Tanner Muhlenkamp to send the clock back to regulation timing at 35-6.
Three first downs and an extra 15 yards via penalty on Mechanicsburg pushed the Cavaliers quickly through a 53-yard drive and a touchdown, a 13 yard jaunt by Marcel Blasingame for the final marker of the night in a 42-6 victory,
Defensive back AJ Harlamert snared an Indian pass late in the game to help secure the win for the Cavaliers and help send the defending champions into the next round.
Reece Dellinger connected on 14 of 17 passes for 339 yards and four scores to go along with his lone interception while Muhlenkamp hauled in six passes for 142 yards and two scores and was joined by Schwieterman who finished with two receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown on the evening.
Offensively Mechanicsburg entered play averaging over 400 yards a game but were held to just 105 yards by the Cavaliers. Hurst and Conley, a duo that combined for nearly 3,000 yards rushing this year were held to a total of just 63 of those yards on 15 carries.
Mechanicsburg bows out at 12-1 while the Cavaliers run their record to 11-2 and will take on Allen East on Saturday night in the regional finals at Sidney’s 30 & 0 Field starting at 7:00 P.M. in a game that can be heard live on WKKI.