Cavs blow out Kenton

COLDWATER - Coldwater came out ready for the start of its title-defense campaign.

The Cavaliers' defense suffocated Kenton from the first snap, the offense scored on its first two drives and Coldwater continued to push the Wildcats around the field in a 44-14 win in a non-conference football game at Cavalier Stadium on Friday night.

"Kenton's really, really young, and they played hard the whole time, battled, and we're a pretty veteran team," Coldwater coach Chip Otten said. "Felt like we did what we were supposed to do that first half."

Coldwater (1-0) got two tackles for loss and Josh Kaup sacked freshman quarterback Korbin Johnston on third down on the opening drive. The punt failed to get out of Wildcats territory, and eight plays later, Luke Sudhoff turned in a bruising five-yard touchdown run to put Coldwater ahead.

"Sets the tone, right?" Otten said. "Our old guys, that's what we're supposed to do when they play a really young team. Makes everybody relax, say, 'We can do this,' and play."

Kenton got nine yards on the next drive but had to punt, and after a 10-play drive senior quarterback Reece Dellinger punched it in with a two-yard run to make it 14-0.

Just before halftime, the Wildcats briefly seized momentum after the Cavaliers failed a fourth-down conversion at the Kenton 10. Three plays later, Johnston found Jarrett Jolliff down the right seam and the Cavaliers were caught with no one deep, leaving Jolliff to dash down the field for a 66-yard touchdown with 5.6 seconds left in the half.

But with the play clock running down, Kenton rushed the extra point, ultimately leading to a failed two-point run to keep it 21-6. On the kickoff, Tanner Muhlenkamp bounced to the right sideline, stayed inbounds after a shove from a Kenton defender, and raced to the end zone for an 83-yard return that gave Coldwater a 28-6 lead.

"Tanner just made a heck of a play," Otten said. "My guess is they weren't trying to kick it back that far, to one of our better guys. Kicked it a little too hard, and Tanner's fast. He's got some juice."

Dellinger, taking over for Division VI state co-Offensive Player of the Year Myles Blasingame, was efficient in his 2021 debut. He slightly underthrew two early deep passes that were broken up, but was sharp in the short-to-intermediate range and kept the Cavaliers' offense moving.

Dellinger's best throw came at the start of the third quarter, when he threw a dart to Jesse Meyer on a crossing route just past the fingertips of a diving defender. Meyer took the ball another 30 yards downfield and tumbled into the end zone to set up the running clock.

"We like to take shots on those big plays and they weren't going to let that happen," Otten said. "We had a couple long ones and they made some really nice plays on a couple long balls, and so we felt like, let's throw some shorter stuff and run the ball and chunk away at it."

Coldwater will get the chance to stretch the winning streak to two when it travels south to face Oak Hills next Friday.