Monday, November 23rd, 2020
Comeback Cavs
Klingshirn's field goal gives Coldwater seventh state title
By Tom Haines
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Coldwater High School's Brady Klingshirn holds the Division VI state football championship trophy. His 26-yard field goal as time expired gave the Cavaliers a 38-35 victory over New Middletown Springfield in Massillon.
MASSILLON - Coldwater was looking ready to go to overtime.
Zack McKibben wanted to head home in regulation.
New Middletown Springfield was punting from the Coldwater 36-yard line with 27 seconds to go and the score tied at 35 and the Cavaliers kept the punt return team on the sideline.
But McKibben fielded the punt at the 17-yard line, rather than letting it bounce and going to overtime.
"I was going to let it go," McKibben said, "But I saw the time, thought maybe I could turn it into something."
McKibben caught it near the right sideline, cut back all the way across the field, and found a lane down the left sideline. Seventy-two yards later, the Cavaliers were starting in the red zone with eight seconds left.
"It was just our regular defense, because we wanted to play it safe," Coldwater coach Chip Otten said. "We thought, 'Shoot, we're going to overtime.' He's an amazing athlete, quickness and strength. He was cramping up a bit, (but said), 'Nope! I'm good. I can hang, I can hang'
"It's one of those plays that will go down forever, the punt return. I'm going to tease him a bit for not scoring on that though."
Brady Klingshirn hit a 26-yard field goal as time expired to give Coldwater a 38-35 victory in the Division VI state championship game at Paul Brown Stadium at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Sunday night.
Just 90 seconds earlier, the Cavaliers would've been plenty happy to get into overtime. Tigers quarterback Beau Brungard ripped off a 47-yard touchdown run to put up a 35-28 lead, and it looked like the Cavaliers were headed for defeat.
But Coldwater quarterback Myles Blasingame and the passing game got going for the first time all night, dicing up the Springfield's defense and marching down the field. On second down from the Tiger 36, Blasingame found Tyler Schwieterman on a deep post route for the tying score.
"We practice (two-minute drill) every Wednesday," Otten said. "Then again on Thursday, that one's usually just four or five plays. So we're pretty good at it. We run the same exact formation every play in two-minute (drill), but we have six or eight plays that we can run from it."
It was the first game Coldwater played all year that was decided in the final two minutes.
The defense did its part, forcing Brungard and the Tigers into a fourth-and-6 and setting up the Cavaliers win.
Up to that point, Brungard had pushed the Coldwater defense around all night. He racked up 271 yards and scored on a 42-yard run, a 46-yard run, an 18-yard run, and finally the 47-yard run with less than two minutes left to almost single-handledly will Springfield to victory.
"When 21 (Brungard) ran down that sideline, I just felt my stomach drop," McKibben said.
Brungard elicited high praise from Otten, who compared him to legendary Coldwater quarterback Brody Hoying.
"Similar type guy," Otten said. "A guy that's better than everybody else at the high school level. When your quarterback can run and throw like that, you saw it tonight. Probably had 300-something yards of offense by himself."
Trailing by seven in the fourth quarter, the Tigers tried to tie the game with a deep post route to the end zone. Brungard's pass led the receiver a little too much, and Coldwater safety Zach Hamberg was there to make the interception and snuff out the threat.
But Coldwater went three-and-out and gave the ball back with 8:20 left. With Brungard leading the way, the Tigers took three plays to get back in Cavaliers territory.
New Middletown Springfield strung together first downs to get into the red zone, and Brungard broke out for an 18-yard run and his third touchdown of the day to knot the score at 28 with 4:14 to play.
"No matter what happens, we're going down fighting," Otten said. "When you've got guys that just keep playing, you feel good about your chances. And if you don't win, you still feel good about it."
The momentum started to swing towards the Cavaliers late in the second quarter, when McKibben had just tied the game at 14 with three and a half minutes to go in the first half. Brungard fumbled on a designed run and McKibben fell on the ball to give the Coldwater offense a short field.
McKibben found Muhlenkamp on a double pass down the left sideline on first down, and four plays later Blasingame plowed into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown run.
After a strong start for Coldwater, the Tigers took their first lead early in the second quarter. Brungard took his third carry of the day up the middle, bounced off a tackler and found wide open space off to his right. The run went for 44 yards and gave New Middletown Springfield a 14-7 lead.
Coldwater, meanwhile, largely struggled on offense after its first drive, as the passing game fizzled out in the wet conditions. The Cavaliers saw several passes go through receivers' hands as three straight drives stalled.
"Wasn't our best game," McKibben said. "Just came out and worked."
Midway through the second quarter, Muhlenkamp broke a streak of seven straight incompletions with a leaping grab down the right sideline for 27 yards. The Cavaliers came to life, converting two more third downs as they drove down the field. Blasingame found McKibben on a screen to the left near the goal line, and McKibben beat the Tigers to the pylon for a five-yard score to tie the game.
Coldwater earned 112 passing yards in the first half, but over half came on the first passing play. Blasingame completed just five of 13 passes in the first half, finishing with 185 yards for the game.
McKibben was the star of the game, though, with 22 passing yards, 105 rushing and 76 receiving. When all was said and done, he racked up 374 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns.
"He's a 150-pound ball of muscle, I guess," Otten said. "He's got some athleticism, that's for sure."
At the start of the game, the Cavaliers struck almost immediately. Following a false start penalty that had them facing third-and-9, McKibben broke free deep down the middle and Blasingame hit him in stride with nothing but grass in front. McKibben streaked 59 yards for a touchdown to give Coldwater the early lead.
New Middletown Springfield responded later in the first quarter with a long bomb of its own. Beau Brungard's pump fake drew in the Coldwater secondary, leaving Nick Slike all alone deep down the right side. Slike waltzed into the end zone with a 46-yard touchdown catch to tie the game.
With the win, Coldwater earned its first state championship since 2016.
"During the summer, we were all asking the coaches every day, 'Are we going to have a season? Is it going to be worth it? Are we even going to play?' " McKibben said. "But here we are, and this is right where we should be."
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Coldwater players celebrate after winning the Division VI state football championship on Sunday. The Cavaliers' 38-35 win over New Middletown Springfield gave the program its seventh state football championship.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Zack McKibben's 72-yard punt return set up the winning score for Coldwater's 38-35 win over New Middletown Springfield.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Tyler Schwieterman heads to the end zone with the tying touchdown catch in the fourth quarter of the Division VI state championship game.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Justin Hartings (9) tackles Springfield's Beau Brungard during Sunday's game.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Coldwater quarterback Myles Blasingame looks for running room.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Jesse Meyer stretches out to make a catch against New Middletown Springfield.
