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Sophomore
quarterback Nick Campbell attempts a pass during a game
played earlier this season.
Campbell was forced out of the Tigers game
Friday against Coldwater due to injury. Versailles lost to the Cavs,
43-0, ending its season with a 9-3 record. Photo by Scott Langston,
Courtesy of the Versailles Policy.
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Coldwater routs
Versailles
Key injury hurts Tigers
By George Starks
DAYTON - Before the opening kick-off, everyone expected a dog fight
between Versailles and Coldwater in the D-V, Region 20 regional
semi-final football game.
No one could have predicted what was about to happen When Coldwater
kicked off to the Tigers to get things started, it was game on at that
point.
After that, everything that could go wrong did for Versailles as the
Cavaliers routed the Tigers 43-0 Friday night at Welcome Stadium in
Dayton.
Before the start of the game, Versailles coach Bob Olwin said two
things had to happen for Versailles to beat its MAC foe and advance.
First; Campbell had to stay in and lead his team. That didn’t happen.
Second; Versailles had make less mistakes than Coldwater to win. That
didn’t happen either.
With 8:23 remaining in the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Nick
Campbell was walked off the field with a possible concussion. At that
point, it was game over.
When Olwin was forced to make major changes to his offense, the
mistakes came early and often and the Tigers were in big trouble. With
Campbell out, Olwin was forced to put senior Will Borchers under center.
Like wild animals going after the same piece of raw meat, Coldwater
started to feast.
The Cavs defense made the Versailles make-shift offense pay in spades
as Borchers would throw one incomplete pass after another and would
eventually be picked off.
Olwin then turned to sophomore Damien Richard. That didn’t work either
as Richard was picked off three times.
“Nick is the key to the offense clicking,” said Olwin. “When he got
hurt things went downhill and when we knew he was not able to come
back, we were in trouble. Our offense centers around him.”
For the rest of the first half, it was the Austin Bruns/Calob Siefering
show. Bruns hit Siefering on a 75 yard touchdown pass at the 6:42 mark
of the opening frame and then the two hooked up again just two minutes
later on a 66 yard scoring strike.
By the end of the first half, Siefering had caught four touchdown
passes for 175 yards and picked Richard and returned the ball 47 yards
for the score. At the break, the Cavs led by what would eventually be
the final score of 43-0.
“Can’t take anything away from Coldwater,” said Olwin. “They were able
to take advantage of our misfortune and that’s what a good team does.
We played hard and my kids hung in there but we made too many mistakes
and could not recover. Losing Nick was huge. It made us do some things
we wouldn’t normally have to do and that hurt us.”
The 43-0 loss was the only time this season the Tigers were shut-out.
Versailles ends it season with a 9-3 record while Coldwater (9-3) will
move on to play the winner of the West Jefferson-Marion Pleasant game
next Friday at a site yet to be determined.
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