Cavs fall on road at Kenton

KENTON - Both Coldwater and Kenton had plenty of offensive burst, but the host Wildcats had just a little more.

Kenton junior Maty Mauk passed for five touchdowns and ran for two more as the Wildcats snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Cavaliers with an overwhelming, 50-31, win in the season opener at Robinson Field.

"They have a great team and played a great game, made some plays and made some catches," said Kenton coach Mike Mauk of Coldwater. "We were fortunate to make some plays to win the game."

The loss snapped the Cavaliers' streak of opening-game wins. The last time Coldwater lost its opener was 2001, falling to Kenton 31-16.

Mauk completed 38-of-59 passes for 437 yards and five TDs in the contest while rushing for 73 yards and two scores.

Coldwater started out strong, holding a 13-8 lead after one quarter as Austin Bruns found Reese Klenke twice through the air for touchdowns. Kenton came back with two scores in just over 3 1/2 minutes to start the second quarter as Mauk ran for one and then found Dustin Howell for a 44-yard score to make it 22-13.

Coldwater cut it to 22-19, but Andrew Tillman snagged a scoring pass with 22 seconds left in the first half to make it 30-19 at halftime.

The Cavaliers, playing without key players Aaron Rammel and Kurt Schoenherr in the second half, suffered another tough break as the Wildcats snagged an on-side kick to start the second half. Mauk moved Kenton 55 yards on six plays, finding Max Morrison for a 14-yard TD.

"There were a few periods in the game where we had some chances," said Cavalier coach Chip Otten. "(Kenton) ran a fake punt. We kind of had it covered. We had a (tackle) on the guy and they made a nice play. Opening kickoff of the second half, it hits our guy in the foot. We didn't do well on our extra points (1-of-3 with no two-point conversions)."

Coldwater was able to get to within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter on Ross Wermert's nine-yard touchdown catch, but Mauk engineered two scoring drives over the final five minutes to give Kenton the cushion of a double-digit lead.

"They're good. They put a lot of pressure on you," said Otten. "We had a lot of young guys, really first-game players out there. Other than 2-3 guys, defense was guys starting their first game against, obviously, a quarterback that's pretty dang good."

Bruns, making his first career start, was solid, going 22-of-46 for 229 yards and five touchdowns. Klenke was the primary beneficiary of Bruns' passing, snagging 13 catches for 204 yards and four touchdowns.

"Their quarterback did a nice job of getting (Klenke) the football," said coach Mauk. "(Klenke) made some nice catches. ... We were doing everything we could to defend him and he continued to make plays and kept them in the ballgame."

Tillman had 11 catches for 146 yards and two scores with Howell adding 141 yards on eight catches and two scores to pace the Kenton receiving corps.

Both teams have home games in week two. Coldwater opens its home schedule with Benjamin Logan while Kenton starts Western Buckeye League play against Van Wert.