Brookville gave Coldwater its best shot in a Division V, Region 18 final before about 6,000 spectators at Piqua’s Alexander Stadium. It was one of only three games this weekend that featured a showdown of unbeaten teams and like so many others the Cavaliers have played, the Blue Devils were dealt a 31-13 loss.
The victory vaults Coldwater (13-0) into next week’s D-V state final four against any one of three other regional final winners Canton Central Catholic (10-3), Milan Edison (12-1) and Wheelersburg (13-0). The Ohio High School Athletic Association will announce state semifinal matchups and neutral sites on Sunday.
That’s become the norm for Coldwater, which owns more state championships (three straight) than MAC titles in the same window. Besides, the Cavaliers have won eight straight regional titles and are 8-0 in playoff games at Piqua.
Brookville (12-1) was Coldwater’s last area challenger and hung relatively tough, trailing just 17-7 at halftime after Cavs’ kicker Kyle McKibben’s 20-yard field goal as time elapsed.
But all those Brookville two-way starters eventually wore down in the second half. That’s why Coldwater was able to mount a 15-play drive that covered 79 yards and took 7:30 minutes to clinch the win on Chris Post’s 1-yard plunge.
Coldwater was just too deep, too skilled and too experienced at this level.
“They’re a tough, hard-nosed team,” said Coldwater QB Jack Hemmelgarn, who completed 14 of 21 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. “They can play. We just did what we had to do to win the game. Our defense played tough and the offense was efficient.”
Aaron Harlamert had five catches for 110 yards and a score for the Cavs.
As usual, Brookville leaned on running backs Bailey Wallen (70 yards rushing) and Terry Hall (57). But it was senior QB Justin Heck who accounted for its two scores, completing 7 of 12 passes for 127 yards and tossing TD passes to Austin Delk (24 yards) and Michael Lander (19).
Coldwater still hasn’t been scored upon in the first quarter. Other than a 17-14 win at Marion Local in a battle of the state’s No. 1 teams in Week 7, this was Coldwater’s closest margin of victory.
“That was a good team,” Coldwater coach Chip Otten said. “We knew they were two teams with a lot of really good high school players. I’m sure all their kids grew up together and all our kids grew up together. They had a lot of seniors really invested and so do we. It was good high school football.”
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