'It cost us': Loudonville laments missed opportunities in KMAC loss to Centerburg

LOUDONVILLE — Centerburg High School football coach Andy Colella said it was simply a matter of making a decision and deciding to play in the second half.

Trailing 14-7 after three quarters, Centerburg scored 21 points in the final quarter to earn a hard-fought 28-21 victory over Loudonville in Knox Morrow Athletic Conference play Friday at Redbird Stadium.

“We’re more than capable of playing like we did in the second half and we’ve shown that the last couple of weeks,” Colella said. “And it really comes down to effort and energy, and there was just a different energy coming out of the locker room, we got a stop right away and we went and scored so it helped get the momentum back.”

“We’re more than capable of playing like we did in the second half and we’ve shown that the last couple of weeks,” Colella said. “And it really comes down to effort and energy, and there was just a different energy coming out of the locker room, we got a stop right away and we went and scored so it helped get the momentum back.”

Loudonville coach John Battaglia said it was a matter of taking things from your opponent when opportunities present themselves.

“It’s a competitive league, you’re always going to have good football teams, they’re going to be hard-nosed guys, tough kids, and it’s going to be a battle every game,” he said. “We’re getting better but we lost belief for maybe one second after the bad snap down there and they got the football.

"We just took our foot off the gas for one second, and in this league you can’t do that. You have to go take things, and it’s the same thing in life. Just for a half-second we lost that little mindset, and it cost us.”

On the momentary lapse Battaglia referenced, Loudonville (2-3, 0-2) had a second-and-goal at Centerburg’s 5-yard line but fumbled the ball and Trojans lineman John Geiger recovered it.

Centerburg (4-1, 2-0) scored three times in the final quarter as quarterback Tyler Johnson tossed a 34-yard TD pass to Mason Turske with 9:04 to play and Dominic Varfo’s PAT tied the score 14-14.

Loudonville came back with a drive as Peyton Regan hauled in an 8-yard TD pass from Matt Sprang at the 6:01 mark, followed by Aidan Neibert’s PAT, to move the Redbirds ahead 21-14.

That’s when Centerburg’s Caylan LeMaster came up big, bolting for a 53-yard TD run with 4:40 left and backing that with a 23-yard TD reception from Johnson when he got behind a Redbirds defender in the end zone. Vargo made both PATs to extend the lead for the Trojans.

“Having those two guys (LeMaster, Johnson) back there with the things they can do adds a whole different element to the offense,” Colella lauded. “It was pretty tight in the box there, although we were still able to run the ball pretty well. And that opens up those deeper shots later in the game.”

LeMaster rushed for 158 yards on 21 carries, with Johnson going 8-of-17 passing for 87 yards. LeMaster had three catches for 32 yards.

Sprang had 131 yards on 8-of-19 passing, with Zach Frankford (28 yards) and Micah Simpson (32 yards) each catching two passes. Sprang also rushed for 83 yards on 17 carries and Regan added 43 more yards on eight runs.

James Henley and Aidan Wolford recorded interceptions for the Redbirds defense.

“You have to play every play to the whistle, and I know our guys are all playing both ways, they’re tired, it’s a physical game,” Battaglia said. “I think our offense is starting to realize we can move the ball, we can score on anybody.

"Again, one snap where we don’t score — there’s the ball game.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Centerburg scores 21 fourth-quarter points to top Loudonville