But Lions coach Dan Scholz was having none of that.
“We resolved to do what we said we were going to do all year long, finish strong,” said Scholz, who wrapped up New Richmond’s first state Division III playoff berth since 2001 with Friday’s dramatic 14-13 win. “We went out there afer the goal line thing and I said, 'We are going to win.'“They scored and we never wavered. We had about two minutes and 30 seconds left and I told Mike Maupin ‘We are going to score and I’m going to run the fake extra point and you are going to win the game.’ And old Mikey did it just like we practiced and got it into the end zone.”
Actually it was 2:47 left when the Lions put the ball in play from their 20-yard line. Led by junior quarterback Garrett Myers and senior fullback Andrew Nealan, the Lions ran offensive coordinator Chuck Warden’s 2-minute spread option drill to perfection, marching the 80 yards in the next 2:07 for a touchdown to draw to within 13-12 of the Green Wave. Nealan ran 5 times for 51 yards and Myers ran three times for 29 yards, the last 14 resulting in a touchdown.
"The last drive of the game is something we practice pretty consistently. I think we caught their defense off guard a little because we're not a spread team.," noted Warden. "But we can execute a hand full of plays out of the spread . . . and under the conditions of the game -- the wet field, the wet ball, the pressure of the game -- our kids executed.
"When you get into the 4th quarter in week 10 and you have to make plays, seniors have to lead and that's exactly what happened. Andrew Nealan on the last drive did a great job and the offensive line did a great job. You execute at the end and you give the ball to seniors who can make plays.
"The last play was a great read by Garrett who cut it back in when the defense over pursued and got it into the end zone."
Scholz then sent in his kicking team with senior Mike Skaggs as the holder and Mike Maupin lined up as the kicker for what everyone thought would be a game-tying PAT. Skaggs, who started the year as the starting QB until an injury in the team’s first scrimmage, ran the option-left to perfection, keeping the ball until the defender committed to him and then pitching the ball to Maupin who went untouched into the end zone.
“What a blessing Chuck Warden has been to me,” said Scholz. “I ask him about every decision that is made except for the extra point.”
The win put the Lions into next Friday’s Region 12 playoffs as the fifth seed at fourth seed Logan Elm. It means another 2 ½ hour bus trip for the Lions, but no one will be complaining. It’s been three years of hard work under Scholz to get to the 11th week of the season.
“Two things were on my mind this week,” said Scholz in his postgame interview. “I never won a week 10 as a coach here and I always felt like I did something wrong. Both years we should have won. We were able to do that this time.
“The other thing for this team is I felt I never prepared this team for a close game. We either won by a blowout or we lost. In my opinion that’s a coaching thing not a player thing. They believed and they cared and it was a fun thing to finish strong like we wanted.”
In Logan Elm (located south of Circleville) the Lions will be facing a playoff tested team that finished 12-1 last year after reaching the regional finals and 8-2 this season. The Braves, who were defeated by New Richmond 42-14 in their first ever playoff game in 2000, are led by senior Johnnie Brown, a 5-10, 181-pound double threat at quarterback. Brown has completed 76 of 131 passes for 1137 yards and 9 EDs and has ran the ball 167 times for 828 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Score by Quarters
1 2 3 4 Total
New Richmond 0 6 0 8 14
Greenville 0 7 0 6 13
Qtr Time Scoring Play V-H
2nd 10:39 NR - McCabe 41 yd pass from Myers (Ritter kick failed), 5-42 2:48 6 - 0
01:03 GR - Watkins 21 yd run (Navas kick), 7-55 3:01 6 - 7
4th 02:47 GR - Ramjattan 7 yd pass from Burk (Navas kick failed), 17-94 8:40 6 - 13
00:40 NR - Myers 14 yd run (Maupin rush), 8-80 2:07 14 - 13
RUSHING: New Richmond-Nealan 15-91; Myers 18-53; Maupin 9-27; Warden 2-2. Greenville-Zimmerman 16-51; Burk 11-50; Watkins 10-47; Ramjattan 4-18; Sxhricker 2-1.
PASSING: New Richmond-Myers 3-4-0-54. Greenville-Burk 5-8-1-36.
RECEIVING: New Richmond-McCabe 2-43; Hamilton 1-11. Greenville-Belew 2-15; Watkins 1-9; Ramjattan 1-7; Guillozet 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS: New Richmond-Hamilton 1-0. Greenville-None.
FUMBLES: New Richmond-Myers 1-0. Greenville-Burk 2-1; Zimmerman 1-0.
SACKS (UA-A): New Richmond-None. Greenville-None.
TACKLES (UA-A): New Richmond-Case 7-5; Gundler 7-0; Mahaffey 5-3; D.Scholz 4-4; Branson 4-3; Deller 3-5; Maupin 5-0; Warden 3-4; Mazzaro 2-0; M.Skaggs 2-0; Hamilton 2-0; Chesney 1-0.
Greenville-Shields 8-2; Sxhricker 4-5; Adkins 5-1; Bricker 5-0; Belew 3-4; Barger 3-1; Guillozet 3-0; Holzapfel 3-0; Trent 2-1; Flynn 2-0; LeGrand 2-0; Goehrich 1-2; Houdeshell 1-0; 26 1-0; Keaser 1-0; Kolling 0-1.
You can listen to the game broadcast and postgame interviews with players and coaches at Newrichmond.localsportsradio.com along with complete game stats.
