High school football: Shawnee slips past Elida in double OT
Oct. 23—SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — Both defenses bent a little, but did not break.
Fortunately for Shawnee, Elida's defensive unit bent just a little more, as Shawnee slipped out with a hard-fought 23-17 double-overtime victory over Elida in a Western Buckeye League football matchup at Shawnee Friday night.
With the win, Shawnee ends the regular season 6-4 overall and 5-4 in the WBL. Elida slips to 4-6, 3-6 in the WBL.
Elida led 14-7, heading into the fourth quarter.
However, Shawnee battled back and forced overtime.
In the second extra session, Shawnee finally put the game away with a 1-yard TD run by Tommy Spyker to give the Indians the thrilling overtime win.
"Our kids — down 7-0 at halftime — they fought and kept battling," Shawnee head coach Jerry Cooper said. "They found a way to win. Give our kids credit. .... But give Elida a lot of credit. They came in here and played their tails off."
Both teams moved the football in the first half. However, both defensive units made the plays when needed.
Right before the break, Elida finally managed to find the end zone.
The Bulldogs mounted a 9-play, 52-yard scoring drive, capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jackson Covault with 24 seconds left in the half. With the extra point by Grant Hardeman, the Bulldogs led 7-0. Elida went into the halftime break with that seven-point lead.
The first quarter was plagued by miscues.
On Shawnee's first possession in the first quarter, Elida recovered a blocked punt and took over the football on Shawnee's 36-yard line.
However, the Bulldogs could not capitalize. Four plays later, Elida fumbled the football, giving the ball right back to the Indians.
For the half, Shawnee rushed for 30 yards, and passed for 57 more.
Elida rushed for 60 yards. Covault was 7 of 9 passing for 78 yards, and had an interception. Covault's favorite receiver in the first half was Gunnar Kuhn, who hauled in seven passes for 48 yards. For the night, Kuhn caught nine passes for 108 yards.
For the game, Covault was 12 of 22 passing for 142 yards with two interceptions.
Elida running back Brady Kirk rushed for 49 yards on nine carries in the first half. Kirk ended the night with 106 yards rushing on 27 carries.
Shawnee came out of the break on a strong note.
The Indians promptly mounted a 12-play, 78-yard scoring drive, that was capped off with a 1-yard run by quarterback Tyler Windau. With the extra point by Tyler Kimmet, the score was knotted at 7 with 6:10 left in the third quarter. On that scoring drive, Shawnee moved the first-down chains four times.
But Elida had an answer.
On Elida's next possession, Covault connected with Kuhn for a 44-yard pass play, that put the Bulldogs deep into Shawnee territory.
A little later, Covault found Kuhn again — this time, a 16-yard TD pass. With the extra point, Elida led 14-7 with 2:02 left in the third quarter. That scoring drive for Elida traveled 65 yards on nine plays.
"They made a couple nice catches on balls that we thought we had pretty well covered," Cooper said. "They went up and got control of those 50/50 balls."
Shawnee had an answer of its own.
On the ensuing possession, the Indians marched 73 yards on seven plays to knot the game at 14 each. Windau ran it in from seven yards for the Shawnee score with 10:58 left in regulation.
"We didn't get much going in the first half," Cooper said. "We were moving the ball really well, toward the end of the game."
Late in the fourth quarter, Elida's offense was marching down the field.
However, Shawnee's defense stepped up and got the ball back for its offensive unit.
But now it was Elida's turn to make a big defensive play.
Early into Shawnee's ensuing possession, Elida defensive back Kaliq Wash intercepted a pass from Windau to stamp out the Shawnee drive.
The game went to the first overtime.
Shawnee had the football first on Elida's 20-yard line.
On seven plays, the Indians cashed in.
Tyler Kimmet kicked a 22-yard field goal to give Shawnee the three-point lead.
The Bulldogs could not find the end zone on its possession in OT. So, Hardeman booted a 27-yard field goal to knot the score at 17.
For the game, Shawnee amassed 304 offensive yards.
Windau was 15 of 20 passing for 218 yards.
Shawnee will compete in the playoffs, but are not sure how it will end up with the pairings.
"We'll just have to see where it shakes out," Cooper said. "We just have to get ready to play. ... We'll see who we have to play, and figure out where it is at."
Cooper was especially pleased at how his program made some history this season.
"I'm happy for our kids," Cooper said. "Shawnee has had one qualifying playoff team in the school's history. And I think this is the first winning season since 2009. Our kids are playing hard. Our seven seniors — every one of them are out there, competing their tails off. Give our kids a lot of credit."
Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
