Coffman has no answer for Trojans

Dublin Coffman beat Huber Heights Wayne last week with a 47-yard Hail Mary pass of the final play of the game.Against Findlay's defense on Friday, the Shamrocks didn't have a prayer.Findlay allowed just 230 yards total offense, stopped Dublin Coffman on five of its six fourth-down plays, and shut the Shamrocks out for all but the final five minutes of the game and in posting a 38-8 victory in a Division I, Region 2 playoff game at Donnell Stadium."I told our guys we're not losing in the second round. We worked too hard for this," said senior linebacker Sam Weihrauch, one of 18 FHS seniors suiting up for their final game at Donnell Stadium."We wanted to come out and show people we have a special team here. We were taking this one no matter what."Unofficially, Weihrauch went into Friday's game needing nine tackles to break the Findlay High single-season record. He got 10, and a lot of help from a group that in the first half held Coffman three times on fourth-down plays. The Trojans also forced a punt and a turnover — an interception by senior defensive Terrion Ross.Feeding off the defense, Findlay's offense was unstoppable in the first half.Findlay covered 53 yards in 10 plays and Trace Robinson capped the Trojans' first possession of the game with a 37-yard field goal.When quarterback sacks by Connor Harp and Luke Montgomery and Weihrauch's pass break-up snuffed Coffman's opening drive, senior running back Isaac James raced 88 yards on Findlay's first snap following the punt.Ryan Montgomery fired 10- and 29-yard touchdown passes to Ben Ireland to put Findlay ahead 24-0 at the half, and James would add 2- and 30-yard TD runs to make it 38-0 and trigger a running clock four minutes into the fourth quarter."It was great coaching by my staff, great execution by the kids ... I'm extremely proud of all of them," said FHS coach Stefan Adams."Sometimes it just comes down to executing and wanting it more that they do, and I feel our guys showed that tonight. They absolutely dominated."Friday's win was the seventh straight for Findlay and sends the Trojans, 9-3 and the No. 6-seed in Region 2, to Friday's semifinal game against No. 2-seeded and No. 5-state ranked Springfield (11-1), which blanked Dublin Jerome 34-0 in another Region 2 quarterfinal matchup on Friday. The regional semifinals will be played at neutral sites to be announced by the OHSAA on Sunday.Friday's win over Dublin Coffman was bullet-point worthy on other levels as well because:— (1) It marked only the second time in FHS football history the Trojans won a second-round playoff game. That last time was in 2002 when Findlay went 12-2 and reached the Division I state semifinals.— (2) It completed an unbeaten home record for the Trojans, who were 2-3 in road games this season but a perfect 7-0 at Donnell Stadium. "Great support, great atmosphere, it all came together," Adams said.— (3) And it may have salved some old wounds. Findlay and Dublin Coffman squared off 11 times in regular-season play from 1996 through the 2006 season, with the Shamrocks dominating the series 10-1.Friday, Findlay never allowed any lingering spark from Coffman's stunning win over Wayne to smolder into anything combustible."Give credit to those guys. They were awesome tonight," said Coffman coach Geron Stokes."When it gets cold like this and it's November football, your best players have to be your best players, but we didn't play well tonight. When you come here and you don't execute and you get drilled like this, it's a good lesson for us."Despite having half the time of possession as Dublin Coffman (32 minutes to 16), Findlay's offense generated almost twice as much total yardage (412-217).James had 189 yards on 13 carries and became the first FHS running back in several years to surpass 1,000 yards in a season."(Dublin Coffman) beat a good team to get here, so even with their record (4-7) we couldn't overlook them," James said."We had to go out and get after it like it was any other big school."Montgomery completed an efficient 14 of 18 passes for 186 yards and two TDs. Ireland caught six passes for 76 yards, including his 11th and 12th TD receptions of the season. Max Roth also caught six passes for 76 yards. In addition to Weihrauch's 10 tackles, Kam Stagnoli had seven stops, Ross and Brayden Layne six each, and Luke Montgomery five.Mason Maggs and Trey Hedderly, who hooked up on Dublin Coffman's Hail Mary victory over Wayne, hooked up for the Shamrocks lone TD against Findlay, a 19-yard connection with 4:30 left in the game. Maggs was 13-of-28 passing for 100 yards and added 67 yards on the ground. Hedderly snared six passes for 59 yards. Dublin Coffman 0 0 0 8 — 8Findlay 10 14 7 7 — 38First QuarterFIN — FG, Robinson, 37 yardsFIN — James 88 run (Robinson kick)Second QuarterFIN — Ireland 10 pass from R. Montgomery (Robinson kick)FIN — Ireland 29 pass from R. Montgomery (Robinson kick)Third QuarterFIN — James 2 run (Robinson kick)Fourth QuarterFIN — James 30 run (Robinson kick)DC — Hedderly 19 pass from Maggs (Maggs run) DC FINFirst Downs 15 18Rushes-yards 32-130 24-226Passing Yards 100 186Comp-Att-Int 13-28-1 14-18-0Punts-Avg. 2-31.0 2-36.5Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1Penalties-Yards 1-5 3-27INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING — Findlay, James 13-189, R. Montgomery 4-3, Theis 7-34. Dublin Coffman, Anderson 15-53, Moloney 5-10, Maggs 12-67.PASSING — Findlay, R. Montgomery 14-18-0, 186 yards. Dublin Coffman, Maggs 13-28-1, 100 yards.RECEIVING — Findlay, Ireland 6-76, M. Roth 6-82, Harris 1-16, Ross 1-12. Dublin Coffman, Hedderly 6-59, Anderson 3-19, Moloney 1-3, Smith 1-12, Dogherty 1-1, McClain 1-6.