(11-10-20) Saturday night in Sidney in the D VI State Semistate game Columbus Grove will try to knock off Midwest Athletic Conference power Coldwater. Both teams enter the game without a loss.
Reynolds and Blasingame
The game features ‘mirror image‘ quarterbacks and both are their conference Offensive Players of the Year, the Bulldogs Blake Reynolds (Northwest Conference) and the Cavaliers Myles Blasingame (Midwest Athletic Conference).
| QB | ||||||
| PASSING | COMP | ATT | YARDS | TD | ||
| Blake Reynolds | 88 | 149 | 1,483 | 13 | ||
| Myles Blasingame | 97 | 159 | 1,272 | 16 | ||
| RUSHING | ATT | YARDS | TD | AVG. | ||
| Blake Reynolds | 99 | 465 | 16 | 4.7 | ||
| Myles Blasingame | 136 | 893 | 15 | 6.4 |
Each team has a go-to player they count on in multiple situations, the Bulldogs have Gabe Clement and the Cavs have Zack McKibben. Both can do multiple things to help their teams.
McKibben and Clement
| Rushing | ATT | YARDS | TD | AVG. | ||
| Gabe Clement | 17 | 125 | 2 | 7.4 | ||
| Zack McKibben | 71 | 536 | 8 | 7.5 | ||
| Receptions | ATT | YARDS | TD | AVG. | ||
| Gabe Clement | 38 | 720 | 9 | 18.9 | ||
| Zack McKibben | 23 | 252 | 2 | 10.3 | ||
| KICK RETURNS | RETURNS | YARDS | AVG | TD | ||
| Gabe Clement | 10 | 373 | 37.3 | 1 | ||
| Zack McKibben | 14 | 333 | 25.3 | 1 | ||
| PUNT RETURNS | RETURNS | YARDS | TD | TD | ||
| Gabe Clement | 8 | 294 | 36.8 | 3 | ||
| Zack McKibben | 12 | 109 | 8.8 | 0 |
It could come down to who makes the most defensive plays and stops…
Coldwater’s defense is led by Zach Hamberg who has 87 tackles and 2 forced fumbles, Justin Harting has 72 tackles and 6 forced fumbles. Connor Adams has 40 tackles, 10 for loss of yardage.
The Bulldogs ‘D’ is led by Ezra Jones with 76 tackles (16 solo) and 5 Sacks and Gunner King who has 74 tackles and 2 sacks.
If the game comes down to an extra point or FG, All-Northwest Conference kicker/punter Rece Verhoff is 50 of 52 extra points and 11 of 16 field goals. Verhoff also does the punting on 17 punts this season he averages 40.9 yards.
Coldwater’s Jesse Meyer was the MAC Punter of the Year, he averaged 41.7 a punt. Brady Klinshirn is 44 of 49 on extra points, he has 2 FGs on 4 attempts with his longest being 32 yards.
Both teams have had one game during the playoffs that could have ended their seasons, but both have what champions have…the will to win and keep on fighting.
In their game with Tinora, that went back and forth, Columbus Grove held on to win a nail biter 41-35. For Coldwater, they trailed most of their game with Ft. Recovery but would comeback late to pick-up a 28-26 win.
Both teams are capable of picking the win to the State Final game…it should be a good one.
A look at the TEAMS –
Coldwater the #1 seed in Region 24, Final AP Poll ranked #1
Columbus Grove the #4 seed in Region 22, not ranked in Final AP Poll
| Columbus Grove | |||||
| 41 | BLUFFTON | 7 | W | ||
| 52 | ADA | 18 | W | ||
| 30 | ALLEN EAST | 21 | W | ||
| 45 | DELPHOS JEFFERSON | 6 | W | ||
| 38 | CRESTVIEW | 31 | W | ||
| 27 | ALLEN EAST | 24 | W | ||
| PLAYOFFS | |||||
| 59 | OTTAWA HILLS | 0 | W | ||
| 41 | TINORA | 35 | W | ||
| 34 | ARCHBOLD | 20 | W | ||
| 42 | FAIRVIEW | 21 | W | ||
| Coldwater | |||||
| 21 | St. Henry | 0 | W | ||
| 49 | Minster | 14 | W | ||
| 51 | Ft. Recovery | 37 | W | ||
| 24 | New Bremen | 7 | W | ||
| 57 | Delphos St. John’s | 13 | W | ||
| 40 | Anna | 0 | W | ||
| PLAYOFFS | |||||
| 37 | Triad | 6 | W | ||
| 28 | Ft. Recovery | 26 | W | ||
| 42 | West Jefferson | 7 | W | ||
| 35 | Mechanicsburg | 14 | W |
Division VI State Semifinals
Saturday, November 14, 7 p.m. Home team listed first.
Beverly Fort Frye vs. New Middletown Springfield at Zanesville High School Sulsberger Memorial Stadium
Coldwater vs. Columbus Grove at Sidney High School Memorial Stadium
