By BRIAN SMITH
Sports Editor

PIQUA — It’s tough to get a laugh from a businesslike head coach of Coldwater’s John Reed’s ilk after a game.

But ask him if his team actually was hoping to play Kettering Archbishop Alter in another postseason game and he’s more than willing to chuckle incredulously.

Good stand-up comedy routines were built on less fantastic material.

It’s no joke — the Cavaliers will again play the Knights in the playoffs, a year after a 59-52 triple overtime thriller that paved the way for the Cavaliers’ magical run to the Div. IV state championship.

The thriller that featured 980 yards in total offense and 15 touchdowns was a tough pill to swallow for an Archbishop Alter team that ran the table in the 2007 regular season,  only to cough up a 21-point lead to the lower-seeded Cavaliers and ultimately lose the game in the third overtime.

If he and his team could have avoided a Knight’s team ready for revenge, Reed would have picked that road.

“You don’t want to play Alter after last year and the motivation they’ll have,” Reed said. “Beyond that, they have great talent. It will be a big test for us. We don’t have to get our kids ready for this. They know they have to be ready.”

There’s no other path back to state, though.

Before Knights to remember, there were first some Lumberjacks to cut to size for Reed’s bunch on Friday night.

The No. 1-ranked Cavaliers (12-0) didn’t look ahead, methodically beating up on Dayton Oakwood 35-7 in a Div. IV regional semifinal playoff game at Alexander Stadium in Piqua.

Alter advanced with a 42-7 win over Hamilton Badin on Friday night — setting up a rematch of one of the postseason’s best games from a season ago.

The Cavaliers got two touchdown receptions from Adam Rammel along with three touchdown tosses and a running touchdown from quarterback Cory Klenke. Klenke threw for 355 yards along with those three touchdowns on 15-of-24 passing.

Coldwater opened up a 21-0 lead in the first half and then held the shutout with a strong goalline stand in the second quarter, spearheaded by a big third down tackle at the one yard line by Rammel.

As Oakwood running back Damian Rudy took an option pitch outside the left tackle, he looked to be headed for a score that would make it a 21-7 game.

But Rammel sliced through and took out Rudy at the shins, upending the running back and forcing a fourth and goal from the one yard line.

“That was an unbelievable stop,” Reed said. “We had a bunch of guys make big plays there. That’s a great testament to the will of our defense. We do not want to let anyone in the endzone. So far it’s been successful.”

It was a shattering blow to Oakwood’s already-fading chances in the game. On fourth down, a fumbled snap snafu forced a turnover on downs.

“We had a couple of chances to get into the endzone and couldn’t do it,” Oakwood coach Paul Stone said. “They tighten up when you get it near their endzone. That’s a forbidden place for them.”

Klenke started the scoring in the first quarter with a 16-yard scamper with 3:20 left in the first quarter. Dusty Rutschilling hauled in a 64-yard strike from Klenke early in the second quarter to make it 14-0. Tony Harlamert finished off a four-play touchdown drive in the second quarter to make it 21-0 at the half.

But the Lumberjacks (8-4) stayed in the game with a strong rush defense that held leading rusher Harlamert to just 37 yards on 22 carries. “I told their head coach, I think you get every ounce out of every one of your players that you can possibly get,” Reed said.

But there was too much power in the Coldwater air attack and too much starch in the Cav defense for the Lumberjacks to move any closer.

Rammel caught his first touchdown with 10:44 left to play in the game on a 31-yard catch and run for a score.

Following a Will Ganer Oakwood touchdown to put a crooked number on the board for the Lumberjacks. Klenke found Rammel on a 90-yard connection. Rammel caught the ball at midfield, made one move to shake the defensive back and strolled into the endzone to end the scoring for the night.

In the 2007 match-up between Alter and Coldwater, Cory Klenke threw for 431 yards and 7 TDs on 50 passing attempts. He led the Cavaliers back from a 21-point deficit, as well.

Alter did almost all of its damage on the ground, pounding out 360 yards rushing.

Alter’s mindset going into next Friday’s game was voiced by Alter head coach Ed Domsitz after that game.

“It makes it more difficult to take. You see all the great things we did and it makes it more difficult to accept the fact we didn’t win,” Domsitz told Miami Valley Sports Magazine just minutes after the excruciating loss. “I know some people will say this was the greatest game they’ve ever seen. A great game to me is a game we win, whatever the score.”


CW    7     14     0     14   -   35
DO    0       0     0       7   -     7

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
CW - Cory Klenke 16-yard TD run, CW 7-0, 3:20 (10-play, 28-yard drive).
Second Quarter
CW - Dusty Rutschilling 64-yard TD reception from Klenke, CW 14-0, 11:27 (4-play, 78 yard drive).
CW - Tony Harlamert 2-yard TD run, CW 21-0, 8:07 (4-play, 46-yard drive).
Fourth Quarter
CW - Adam Rammel31-yard TD reception from Klenke, CW 28-0, 10:44 (8-play, 61-yard drive).
DO - Will Garner 6-yard TD reception from Bobby Sherk, CW 28-7, 5:19 (5-play 33-yard drive).
CW - Rammel 90-yard TD reception, CW 35-7, 4:35 (1-play, 90-yard drive).

                        CW        OAK
First Downs        23           9
Rushing        39-149        27-46
Passing        15-25-355    9-21-185
Total Offense    504          231
Turnovers           1            1
Penalties         4-19         1-15

Team Leaders
Passing — CW - Cory Klenke 15-24-355 3TDs, 1 INT, DO - Robby Shenk 7-14-140-1 TD.
Rushing — CW - Klenke 8-56, Tony Harlamert 15-34, Trent Muhlencamp 5-25, Adam Homan 4-20. DO - Robby Shenk 22-37.
Receiving — Adam Rammel 3-127, Dusty Rutschilling 2-75. DO - John Whalen 2-86.