Saturday, October 15th, 2022
Improbable rally
Harlamert's heroics help Cavs beat Tigers
By Tom Haines
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Braylen Harlamert jukes past Versailles' Mitchell Bey at H.B. Hole Field on Friday. Harlamert, in relief of quarterback Marcel Blasingame, helped Coldwater overcome a fourth-quarter deficit to beat Versailles 35-34 in overtime.
VERSAILLES - Though on the verge of a two-score lead, Coldwater's hopes took a major hit when star quarterback Marcel Blasingame was helped off the field in the second quarter.
Backup Braylen Harlamert threw a touchdown pass two plays later and found a groove late, leading a game-tying touchdown drive and two-point conversion before scoring the winning touchdown in overtime. Coldwater's defense stopped Versailles' Michael Osborne short on a two-point try to walk off a 35-34 win in a Midwest Athletic Conference football game on Friday.
"I've been coaching a long time, and I always think, 'That might be a top-five one,'" coach Chip Otten said of the win. "But that might be a top-five one."
Harlamert wasn't the backup to start the year - that was senior Braxton Howell. He didn't get much of the mop-up work in big wins - that was sophomore Baylen Blockberger. But Otten didn't want to throw Blockberger into the fire, so he had Harlamert penciled in if anything happened to Blasingame.
Per Otten, Harlamert had only seen about three reps in the Thursday walkthrough, and Harlamert said he had only taken about 20 snaps of game action in junior high. He finished with two touchdowns and 163 yards passing in his first extended varsity action at quarterback.
"Just trying to get the feel of things, calm myself down as the game went down," Harlamert said. "But at the beginning, I was quite nervous."
The win keeps Coldwater, ranked No. 1 in Division V, undefeated, and it has a shot to win a MAC title if it outduels undefeated Marion Local next Friday.
But the loss of Blasingame, a candidate for MAC Offensive Player of the Year, changes the complexion of the Cavaliers' season. Otten said Blasingame will be likely be out at least a few weeks, leaving the offense in Harlamert's hands entering the tournament.
"Braylen's just dependable and a tough little dude who understands football really well," Otten said. "We'd just say, 'Braylen, can you do this, can you run this, can you do this?' And he'd say, 'Yep, I got it.' "
In overtime, Harlamert threw a nine-yard pass to Blade Buschur, then ran the ball twice before Jack Ebbing took it up to the 3. On third down, Harlamert sprinted left and dove over the goal line.
Kicker Justin Kaup, who missed his first PAT attempt and had another one blocked, hit the PAT perfectly for a seven-point lead.
"Normally our kicking's really good," said Otten, on why he didn't consider going for two. "I typically don't like to win or lose it on one play."
Versailles (6-3, 4-3 MAC) scored on its second try from the 1, and the Tigers lined up for a 2-point try. Otten called timeout to get the defense set, and Osborne took the snap, started left and rolled back to his right, looking for Joel Gehret in the right flat.
But with Gehret covered, he had to run for it, and Cody Depweg and two other Cavaliers brought him down short of the line to secure the win.
"I don't do much with the defense, but I'm sure it was probably something fairly basic," Otten said. "We felt like it was either going to be a throw to 30 here (6-8 senior Connor Stonebraker), just because of the height, or him keeping it and kind of doing what they did."
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Evan Homan makes a tackle against Versailles at H.B. Hole Field on Friday.
Blasingame's passing prowess was on display early. On the Cavaliers' second play from scrimmage, he stepped up in the pocket and fired downfield for Curtis Duerr. The ball dropped over Duerr's shoulder, and Duerr juked to the middle of the field to drop Osborne before sprinting for an 83-yard touchdown to make it 6-0 with 9:57 left in the first quarter.
Early in the second, Blasingame led a more methodical drive, with a 15-yard pass to Evan Harlamert and a 23-yard pass to Braylen Harlamert to put Coldwater in the red zone.
After Blasingame broke three or four arm tackles on a carry down the right hash, he started to walk off the field and went down around the left hash, bringing out the trainer. Blasingame was helped off the field without putting weight on his left leg and spent the rest of the game on crutches on the sideline.
"I knew right away when he went down," Harlamert said. "I was like, 'All right, let's get it together, I've got to go.'"
Harlamert stepped in at quarterback and threw a seven-yard pass behind Buschur at the goal line that Buschur tipped up and gathered in for a touchdown. Harlamert ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-0 Coldwater with seven minutes left in the half.
"I saw the ball tipped and I was scared," Harlamert said. "Obviously our receiver, Blade, fortunately came down with it, and that gave me a big boost, gained me confidence going forward."
Versailles came back with a six-play, 68-yard scoring drive, with Connor Stonebraker finding Osborne over the middle for a 21-yard touchdown. Coldwater's next drive went backward 18 yards, and a penalty on the punt gave the Tigers the ball at the Coldwater 35.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Andrew Jones tackles Versailles' Joel Gehret at Hole Field on Friday.
Five plays later, Stonebraker found Osborne down the middle for a 23-yard touchdown, and Gehret's extra point tied the game with 1:06 to go in the half.
"That they wouldn't quit, that was the most important thing," Otten said. "There were times we could've gone in the tank. We call it breaking, and we could've broken, we could've gone in the tank. We could've said, 'Our quarterback's hurt, we can't win this game, and they're a good team. Let's just throw in the towel.' We just played hard and didn't do that."
After a Cavaliers punt, Gehret burst through the line for a 64-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers up 21-14 just 1:15 into the third. Harlamert responded with a beautiful 42-yard touchdown pass to Blade Buschur down the sideline, but the extra point was blocked to keep the Tigers ahead by one.
"That was a great call by Blade," Otten said. "The play before, we ran what we call a read, and then Blade says, 'I can beat the outside linebacker.' So we just repeated it and threw it to Blade."
"I just threw it, and luckily it landed right in his arms," Harlamert said. "He ran it in, and I felt that really helped me out."
Osborne ran for a touchdown to stretch the lead to eight late in the third, and after three turnovers, Will Fox made a third-down tackle to give Coldwater the ball with 4:22 to play.
Buschur came back to the ball to snatch away a near interception and turned it into a 35-yard catch-and-run into the red zone, and two plays later, Harlamert fell backwards over the goal line for a touchdown. On the two-point try, he fired a pass to AJ Harlamert, who made a sliding catch to tie the game.
"It was an everybody streak (play), and I'd seen him half-open, so I just threw it as hard as I could," Harlamert said of Buschur's grab. "Fortunately he jumped in front of it and caught it and brought it down."
Harlamert also finished with a team-high 76 rushing yards, while Buschur led the way with 93 receiving yards on four catches. Evan Harlamert nabbed two interceptions.
Next up: the winner-take-all battle with Marion Local at Cavalier Stadium.
"We're here to stay," Harlamert said. "That's all I've got to say. We're here to stay."
