Coshocton hammers Claymont
COSHOCTON - When it rains it pours, and it was pouring touchdowns at Stewart Field Friday night.
The Coshocton Redskins (8-1, 2-0) poured on six touchdowns in a 42-12 win over Claymont in a battle of East Central Ohio League teams. Coshocton is now 30-19-3 all time against the Mustangs.
With the win, the Redskins clinched a berth into the OHSAA playoffs.
Last week, Coshocton suffered its first loss of the season to Dover - and the Redskins were determined to rebound this week.
There was no first loss hangover.
"Tonight's game was for a lot of our goals," Quarterback Andrew Mason said. "We had to keep looking forward and get it done."
They got it done.
Coshocton scored on the opening play of the game with a 61-yard play action pass from Mason to Jordan Carkin. Two plays later, senior cornerback Andrew Kittell recovered a fumble by Xavier Grant at the Claymont 16-yard line. Kobie Means would eventually score from one-yard away, giving the Redskins a 14-0 lead just two minutes into the contest.
"I thought we came out right away and set the tone," Coshocton coach Jim Woodrum said. "It just seemed like we had more intensity than what (Claymont) had there at the beginning of the game. But we knew (Claymont) would come ready to play, so we had to get going early. We wanted to come out right away with a score."
The rout was on.
Four drives later, Coshocton scored its third touchdown of the game with a 6-yard pass from Mason to Zach Michael. After forcing another Claymont punt, it took the Redskins only one play to score once again - this time on a 34-yard catch and run by Kittell, giving Coshocton a 28-0 lead at halftime.
The second half was no different.
The Redskins scored on their first drive of the half in six plays. A 22-yard run by Michael set Coshocton up at the eight-yard line of Claymont. One play later, Means scored his second touchdown of the game - and the Redskins had a 35-0 lead with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter.
The Coshocton defense was solid all night long as the Mustangs couldn't find the end zone until the 9:58 mark of the fourth quarter with a four-yard run by Grant. Before the score, Claymont crossed into Redskins' territory just once - which was back in the first quarter.
The difference was the fact that Coshocton was able to win the fight at the line of scrimmage, holding the Mustangs to just 103 total yards through three quarters.
Claymont managed 155 yards in the final quarter of play with a 35-yard breakaway touchdown by Tarin Rouch, but with 2:51 remaining it was too late.
"I thought our coaching staff did a tremendous job of preparing our boys on defense," Woodrum said. "I felt like defensively we played very well because we were ready. Our kids tackled very, very well tonight in open space. We did a nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage. Our guys on defense were just great."
Against Dover in Week 8, Mason threw for only 48 yards and two interceptions. After the disappointing outing last week, the senior signal caller rebounded and finished the game 6-of-11 for 125 yards and three touchdowns along with 22 yards on the ground.
"Andrew (Mason) is a great football player," Woodrum said. "He's a great athlete. He knew what (Claymont was) going to do defensively and he does a great job of reading defenses. He had great touch on the football tonight despite the rain."
Dakota Bunting led Claymont with 100 yards rushing on 10 carries, while Rauch had 92 yards on the ground and one touchdown. Quarterback Thomas Edwards was held to just 47 yards through the air on 4-of-9 passing.
For Coshocton, Dallas Griffiths led the way in rushing with 95 yards on four attempts, while Means carried the ball 13 times for 57 yards and two scores. Michael ended the night with 32 yards on four carries and two total touchdowns, including a 17-yard run for Coshocton's final touchdown of the game.
Coshocton's final regular season game will be against River View next Friday.
ksiskin@gannett.com
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Twitter: @jaysiskin