Olpe Passing attack comes up short in semifinal loss to St. Marys
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, November 18, 2006
ST. MARYS — Although Olpe passed with relative ease against St. Marys in Friday night’s State semifinal matchup, it was quarterback Tanner Coble’s final pass attempt of the night that ended up being the difference in a 22-20 loss for the Eagles.
After two fourth-quarter St. Marys touchdowns turned a 14-8 Olpe lead at halftime into a 22-14 deficit with 3:15 remaining in the game, Olpe responded with a four-play touchdown drive that took less than two minutes off the clock.
The score came on a 35-yard bomb from Coble to Jordan Pargman down the sideline that drew the Eagles to within 2 at 22-20. With just 1:49 left, Olpe tried for the two-point conversion, but Coble’s pass — intended for Seth Pargman — sailed high and long out of the back of the end zone.
“(The play) was a fake to our fullback, which has been dominant for us all year,” Coble said. “It was a pass out into the flats, and we just couldn’t convert. I didn’t throw a very good pass.”
St. Marys (9-4) recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran the clock out after getting a final first down. The loss ended Olpe’s season at 12-1.
“They’ve just played their hearts out all year long, especially late in the season here in the last five games or so,” Olpe coach Mike Plunkett said of his team. “I really couldn’t be prouder of a group of guys. I’m so happy that they had an excellent year. This is certainly a tough one to lose, but I think when it’s all said and done, they can be proud of themselves. They had a heck of a year.”
The absence of a consistent running game forced Olpe to turn to its passing game early on, as Olpe went three-and-out on its first two possessions after gaining a combined three yards.
St. Marys took the lead on a 3-yard TD run by Derek Zemek — the first of his two scores on the night — capping an 13-play, 61-yard, all-rushing drive. Zemek finished the night with a game-high 182 rushing yards.
But Olpe went to the air to make its comeback, as the next Eagle drive found paydirt when Coble hit a streaking Seth Pargman down the middle of the field for a 68-yard touchdown run-and-catch that made it 8-7 with the extra point good from Dallas Burenheide.
“Nothing was really working at that time — nothing at all,” Coble said. “About the only option was for me to throw it to the big guy and let him go get it. Our coach called a great call there, and it was a big momentum-builder.”
A fumble on the next St. Marys drive gave Olpe good field position, and Coble went 3-for-4 passing for 35 yards before Drew Pettijohn took it in from 4 yards out to help give Olpe its first lead at 14-8.
“Our offense, we certainly would have liked to have run the ball better,” Plunkett said. “I thought it was going to be tough to move the football on the ground, but we were able to do a little bit in the air.”
The game went into halftime at 14-8, and after a third-quarter stalemate, St. Marys got the momentum-changing play it needed just two play into the fourth quarter when Zemek took a toss around the right side and darted in from 35 yards out to give St. Mary’s a 16-14 lead after the two-point conversion.
A three-and-out on Olpe’s next drive led to more anguish for the Eagles, as the Bears’ Michael Dieker blocked a Burenheide punt, which gave St. Marys the ball on Olpe’s 35. Twelve plays later, quarterback Adam VandeVelde scored from 9 yards out on a busted play to make it 22-20 after the two-point conversion failed.
Olpe finished with 161 yards passing to St. Mary’s 43, but the difference obviously came in the running game, as the Bears out-gained the Eagles on the ground 247-58. Pettijohn led Eagles with 52 yards rushing, while Seth Pargman finished with three catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.
“They had a real big line and they were stuffing a lot of holes, so we couldn’t do much on the ground,” Coble said. “We tried, and when it was there, we did do some, but the passing game worked pretty good for us. A couple more passes and we would have had it.
“It’s going to be tough to take for a while, but we really feel like we put it all out there on the field and worked our hardest, so we can’t really be down on ourselves. We wish the best of luck to St. Marys.”
St. Marys advanced to the State championship game next week, where it will face Smith Center.
Waverly meets Jetmore for 8-Man title
Waverly will play for its second State title in as many years at 2:45 p.m. today when it faces Jetmore in the finals of the 8-Man Division I playoffs in Newton.
The Bulldogs won the 8-Man Division II championship last year with a victory over 50-26 win over Palco.
Waverly coach Mike Hevel hopes his squad’s experience in such a game helps ease the butterflies that are bound to be in every players’ stomach before the game starts.
“I think it should be helpful for our players since we have been in this type of game before,” Hevel said.
“We went into last year’s game, got down by a couple scores, and fought back and got our offense going, and I would hope that we can learn something from that experience.”
Jetmore (12-0) enters the game as about a 4-point favorite.
Hevel said he knows Jetmore will more than be up to the task of facing his 12-0 Bulldogs.
“Jetmore is very fast and physical and they don’t make a lot of mistakes,” he said. “We’re going to have to play very solid football to beat them, because they have a good team.”