Instead, the Cardinals stopped senior running back Keyshawn Stephens inside the 1-yard line, preserving their 14-13 lead that became final minutes later.
“I’d go for two every day of the week for 30 years with No. 8,” Hamilton coach Nate Mahon said. “The fact that we were even in the game meant that we were playing with house money.”
Stephens scored one touchdown, senior Malik Verdon, playing quarterback for an injured Quincy Simms Marshall, gained 134 yards on 21 carries and scored the touchdown that set up the two-point try, and sophomore defensive lineman Gabe Verdon and junior linebacker Isaac Craft each recovered a Cardinal fumble but a rash of procedure penalties – false starts and offsides – frustrated Hamilton’s efforts. The Big Blue had 11 penalties for 75 yards.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” Mahon said. “It’s a sad thing. That’s definitely on me. We weren’t clean. We looked clean in practice. I don’t know what the deal was.”
Hamilton, now 5-24 all time against Colerain, went into the game with three straight wins after losing the first two games of a 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cardinals seemed to be hitting their stride after outscoring their previous two opponents, Middletown and Sycamore, by a combined 63-13.
Colerain’s second fumble gave Hamilton the ball at the Cardinals' 49-yard line. Junior wide receiver Kerry Ware kept the drive alive when he caught a tipped pass and got his feet down inbounds at Colerain’s 24-yard line for a 23-yard catch on fourth-and-eight.
“We were trying to find any way we could to move the ball against a very good Colerain defense,” Mahon said.
The Cardinals went into the game ranked first or second in the GMC in average yards allowed, average rushing yards allowed and averaged points allowed per game. Hamilton gained 208 rushing yards against a defense that was allowing 35.0 per game and 261 total yards agaist a team yielding 180.6 per game.
Colerain (4-2) had not recovered an opponent’s fumble all season until, according to the Cardinals' stat crew, sophomore linebacker Terrell Banks forced and recovered junior running back Kaleb Johnson’s fumble at the Hamilton 9-yard line 65 seconds into the second quarter. Junior running back M.J. Flowers made it pay two plays later with a four-yard run, and senior Jaden Fechiney’s point-after gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead. Flowers finished with 109 yards on 24 carries.
Senior Ronald Williams Jr. personally helped make it 14-0 by recovering a botched Hamilton shotgun snap in the end zone with 1:10 left before halftime.
“We gave them two scores,” Mahon pointed out. “You can’t give Colerain two touchdowns.”
Keyshawn Stephens scored on an 8-yard run up the middle for the Big Blue (3-3) as time expired. Erik Rios’s PAT cut Colerain’s halftime lead to 14-7.
Despite the loss, Hamilton still will make a bit of history on Friday when Moeller comes to Butler County for a Division I, Region 4 first-round game in the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s first-ever all-comers football tournament. The Big Blue is seeded sixth in the region. The Crusaders are seeded 11th.
The history?
“This will be the first playoff game ever hosted at our school,” Mahon said.
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