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[ PREVIOUS STORIES ]

10-04-03: Cavaliers hold off Cats

By GARY R. RASBERRY
grasberry@dailystandard.com

COLDWATER — All season it seems that the Coldwater defense has had the persona of that classic 1970’s toy Stretch Armstrong, the doll that one could stretch and stretch and could not break.
Friday night, the Cavaliers did a lot of stretching in trying to keep Minster’s Ty Parks from breaking off any big play.
The Minster junior had the opportunities, but not much comfort at the end of the night as Coldwater held on for the 21-13 win over the Wildcats at a rainy Cavalier Stadium. The Cavaliers improve to 7-0 on the season and 5-0 in the MAC while Minster drops to 3-4 and 2-4 in the MAC.
The Coldwater defense became very well-acquainted with the 5-7 Parks after he rushed 50 times for 226 yards in the contest.
The only thing that prevented Parks from having a strong night was the fact that with all the carries, only one resulted in paydirt, a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that resulted in the only touchdown for the Wildcats all evening.
“I am so proud of them,” Coldwater coach John Reed said of the defense. “We’ve got those little tackles out there trying to avoid those 260-pound tackles and holding their own out there. I can’t say enough on how hard they played. I really think we grew up in a lot of ways defensively. I think that’s the first time we’ve responded physically to a hard-nosed call.”
Parks did not get a chance to break open for some of the big plays he has made in the past. Save for a 40-yard run in the first half, Parks averaged just 4.5 yards per carry.
But when the yards were needed the most, Parks suffered an injury to his left knee late the fourth quarter. Parks missed several plays, came back in but did not carry the ball afterwards. Minster coach Whit Parks did not know the extent of his son’s injuries after the game.
As strong as the Cavalier defense was, the Wildcat defense (Continued from page 7B)
played just as strong, battled a Coldwater offense that made a point of passing the ball as much as possible. Coldwater just had six carries in the first half as senior quarterback Alex Hoyng completed 13-of-23 passes for 134 yards in the first half, connecting on two of the passes for touchdowns to Jay Miller and Craig Wellman respectively.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be a high ratio of pass,” said coach Parks. “That’s their style, and they’re very good at it. You can let them catch all those short things and come up and tackle them, but you just can’t let them have those long passes.”
Coldwater made it a point to pass from the start. The first 14 plays of the game for Coldwater came on the pass. On the second series, Hoyng worked the ball for a 59-yard drive that ended with Hoyng finding Wellman on a three-yard strike to tie the game at 7-all with 36 seconds left in the first quarter. After a Minster fumble, Hoyng needed just four plays to make it 13-7 on a 26-yard strike to Miller. Hoyng finished up completing 17-of-31 passes for 192 yards. Miller snagged nine of the passes for 146 yards.
Minster was unable to get near the end zone again after the opening score. Brendan Whitford hit field goals of 27 and 25 to make the score closer.
One big key to the Wildcats’ woes was field position. Coldwater punter Nick Rengers came up with a strong game, averaging 42.3 yards in four punts, getting a touchback on one and getting quick special teams’ action to down another at the two. The other two punts saw Minster start at the 19 and 30-yard lines.
“Several of those punts were into the wind, and he punted the ball into the sidelines where Parks (who ran the punt returns) did not get a chance return it,” said Reed. “Ryan Lefeld had a perfect snap for him every time and Nick pinned them down in there.”
Minster was driving late trailing 21-13 when Parks went down with the injury. The Wildcats had trouble moving the ball deep in Cav territory and settled for Whitford’s second three-pointer. After a Coldwater punt with 4:41 to go, Minster lost possession on a fumble, allowing the Coldwater running game to step up and burn the clock. Ross Homan rushed for all of his 36 yards in the final series and picked up three first downs to keep the drive moving.
Coach Parks was pleased with how his team battled.
“We moved the ball well, but turnovers hurt us,” said coach Parks. “How many times can you tell your team they played but didn’t come away with anything? They played hard against an excellent football team and fought until the end. I’m proud of them.”
Coldwater faces Versailles on Friday in a battle of not only the remaining unbeatens in the MAC but also the top two teams in Division IV in the state football poll. The game will be at Hole Field in Versailles. Minster returns home to face St. Henry.

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