By By DON EDEN / Edwardsburg Argus
COLOMA – Bigger proved to be better for the Lakeland Conference championship as Coloma dominated Cassopolis 50-8 Friday evening in a battle of unbeatens.
The chilly night took the breath out of the Rangers, ranked No. 2 in Division 7, from the beginning as they received the kickoff and the Comets, ranked No. 7 in Division 4, stopped sophomore DaShaun Curtis on a fourth down sweep two minutes into the contest.
"We had only punted three times all year and had faith in our defense," explained Cass coach Andy Hubbard on going for the fourth down attempts, which were unsuccessful on all five tries.
Coloma had too many weapons on offense however, as they scored touchdowns on both possessions in the first quarter – on a 10-yard run from junior Matt Kiser with 8:34 on the clock and a 7-yard sweep after a nice fake from senior quarterback Alex Garrod at the 2:33 mark, which Garrod scoring the 2-point conversion after being stopped after the first touchdown on the same play.
Curtis was instrumental on the lone touchdown drive for the Rangers in the second quarter as he was responsible for 40 yards on five carries, capped off when junior quarterback Nick Davis threw a 7-yard completion to senior tight end Mike DeGraff with 3:40 remaining in the first half.
Curtis was determined to score the 2-point conversion on a hard run, which cut the Comets' lead to 14-8.
Cassopolis could not stop Coloma from scoring before the half ended though as senior Nick Mannino scored standing up with just over a minute remaining on a 3-yard off tackle play.
The kick was unsuccessful and both teams went into warmer confines with 20-8 showing on the scoreboard.
Championships are won in the second half and Coloma proved to be worthy as it scored on all three possessions and stymied the Rangers' potent running, and with every pass being overthrown, to the dismay of the overflow Cassopolis faithful.
Garrod's ability to both run and pass effectively gave Coloma a 43-8 lead with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter and the running clock was the only thing to cheer for the rest of the way as the Comets quarterback had five completions for 113 yards in the stanza.
Junior Andrew Saltzman finished the scoring, dragging four opposition defenders on a 5-yard run with 7:23 left to stop the scoring barrage.
Saltzman had 10 totes for 89 yards with two touchdowns and two, 2-point conversions, while Curtis was held to 54 yards on 13 carries.
"Curtis is a tremendous back and we are glad to slow him down and we did not expect that at all, with Cassopolis being a tremendous team and wish them well in Division 7," an elated Coloma coach Mark Eddy said. "Senior free safety Joe Richardson did an outstanding job stopping them with everybody else and very happy to be undefeated and win the conference for the first time since 2003."
Hubbard was proud of his players and knew it was tough to play a school twice their size and the playoffs will be against teams with an enrollment like Cass.
"Our season is not over and we need a good week of practice with a challenge next week playing a school almost triple our size in Edwardsburg," Hubbard stated. "Coloma is a very good team and we need to learn from our mistakes since we did a lot of bad things tonight."
The Rangers will play host to the Eddies in the regular season finale Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
Cassopolis 8 0 0 0 – 8
Coloma 14 6 23 7 – 50
Co – Matt Kiser 10 run (run failed)
Co – Alex Garrod 7 run (Garrod run)
Ca – Mike DeGraff 7 pass from Nick Davis (DaShaun Curtis run)
Co – Nick Mannino 3 run (kick failed)
Ca – Garrod 6 run (Andrew Saltzman run)
Co – Saltzman 1 run (Garrod run)
Co – Mannino 9 run (John McCormack kick)
Co – Saltzman 5 run (McCormack kick)