Wayne tops Colerain in state semifinal
The Colerain football team left everything on the field at Mason Saturday night.
“The kids never quit,” Colerain coach Tom Bolden said. “I’m proud of them. I’m always proud of them of how they battled. The seniors know we will be back next year. We have a lot coming back.”
Huber Heights Wayne scored three second-half touchdowns as the Warriors defeated Colerain 28-21 on a rainy Saturday night in a Division I regional final/state semifinal.
Related: Colerain results, stats
Wayne (14-0) plays Lakewood St. Edward (13-1) in the Division I state final at 3 p.m. Dec. 5 at Ohio Stadium. St. Ed’s is the reigning Division I state champion.
Saturday marked the fifth time Colerain was in the state semifinals and the most recent appearance since 2006, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
Colerain (12-2), the No. 1 seed in Region 2, had won 10 consecutive games entering Saturday. The Cardinals were The Enquirer Division I area coaches’ poll champion.
Colerain certainly made it interesting late in the fourth quarter. Senior quarterback Deshaunte Jones scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to help close the gap to 28-14 with 3:38 left.
Junior Amir Riep took a pass from Jones and ran 68 yards for a touchdown to help make it 28-21 with 1:03 left.
Colerain attempted the onside kick but the Cardinals touched the ball before it went 10 yards. Wayne took over with under a minute left.
Colerain was troubled by miscues on Saturday.
The Cardinals fumbled three times and errant punt snaps cost Colerain.
“All the things you can’t do in a big game we did,” Bolden said. “We turned the ball over twice offensively and put our defense in a bad spot. The two bad snaps – that stuff just kills you. But, the kids did good. They didn’t mean to fumble or to have bad snaps. It’s just part of football. Hats off to Wayne.”
With Wayne leading 14-7 early in the fourth quarter, senior Daryl McCleskey returned an interception 33 yards at the 9:18 mark.
The next play, Wayne senior quarterback Messiah DeWeaver found junior Matt Wilcox for a 26-yard touchdown pass connection to help make it 21-7 with 8:27 left.
Wayne went ahead 14-7 at the 8:52 mark of the third quarter when McCleskey scored on a 10-yard touchdown carry.
The Warriors set up that scoring opportunity after a low punt snap by Colerain and a block gave Wayne the ball at the Colerain 10.
Fenwick loses to Bishop Hartley in state semifinal
The game was tied at 7 at halftime. Colerain had just 148 yards of offense in the first half while Wayne had 81 yards of offense. The Cardinals fumbled three times in the first half and lost two of those.
Both defenses shined early in the first quarter. There was 89 yards of total offense from both teams in the first quarter.
Colerain tied the game at 7 when Jones found sophomore Gunnar Leyendecker for a 12-yard touchdown pass connection at the 1:10 mark of the second quarter. Senior Christian Dinevski added the extra point.
The Warriors converted on Colerain’s errant punt snap in the second quarter when junior running back Fred Pitts scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal to help give the Warriors a 7-0 lead at the 3:03 mark.
Pitts scored his second touchdown with 6:44 left in the fourth quarter to help give the Warriors a 28-7.
Jones completed an excellent career at Colerain. He rushed for 1,786 yards and 28 touchdowns entering Saturday. Jones, the Associated Press Southwest District Division I offensive player of the year, had thrown for 639 yards and seven touchdowns entering Saturday.
Jones had 25 carries for 74 yards Saturday.
“He will always have a special place in my heart,” Bolden said. “Like all these seniors, I’m proud of them.”
Colerain junior linebacker Kyle Bolden – Tom’s son – tied a game-high with 12 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Dan Bolden, Kyle’s cousin, had seven tackles. Senior linebacker Darryll Gardner had six tackles.
The Colerain versus Wayne game was named one of the nation’s Top 10 games this week by MaxPreps. The game was televised live by Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.
Colerain is ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps Midwest Computer Rankings and No. 3 nationally in the computer rankings. Wayne, the 2014 Division I state runner-up, is No. 3 in the Midwest rankings and No. 8 nationally.
Colerain is No. 6 nationally in the USA Today Computer Rankings. Wayne is No. 5.
Saturday was the first meeting between the two schools since the 2008 playoffs. Colerain leads the all-time series 4-2.
Wayne 0-7-7-14--28
Colerain 0-7-0-7--14
W-Fred Pitts 1 run (Strong kick)
C-Leyendecker 12 pass from Deshaunte Jones (Dinevski kick)
W-McCleskey 10 run (Strong kick)
W-Wilcox 26 pass from DeWeaver (Strong kick)
W-Fred Pitts 4 run (Strong kick)
C-Deshaunte Jones 4 run (Dinevski kick)
C-Riep 68 pass from Deshaunte Jones (Dinevski kick)
Records: C 12-2, W 14-0