TriStateFootball.com

Colerain easily advances past Moeller

Colerain, OH – The Colerain Cardinals rolled past the Moeller Crusaders 45-0 Friday night at Cardinal Stadium in the opening round of the Ohio Division I playoffs.

Early on in this contest Moeller was able to make it a game however after halftime Colerain separated themselves with a 21 point third quarter to end any thoughts of this game going down to the final minutes.

“It was a hard fought game in the first half we made some good adjustments at halftime and that’s the great thing about these guys we grabbed that momentum and didn’t let it go,” said head coach Tom Bolden.

The Cardinals were terrific on both sides of the ball, out-gaining the Crusaders 391 yards to just 148.

Leading the way for the shutout was senior linebacker Dan Bolden with 13 tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, and two interceptions.

Dan Bolden’s second interception led to a short field that his offense converted into a touchdown while his first interception he returned for a touchdown himself.

“Our end got to the quarterback and made him throw it early and I dropped right underneath the slant, picked it off and it was clear to the end zone.

Junior linebacker Luke Bolden, Dan’s cousin, also played a key factor in the game by forcing a fumble to go along with seven tackles.

Also big for the defense were senior defensive lineman Ethan Stout with eight tackles and junior linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. with six tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble.

Pace was also a key contributor on offense with a team high 17 carries for 67 yards.

No player shined brighter on offense than senior quarterback Gunnar Leyendecker who carried the ball eight times for a career best 133 yards and added 36 passing yards and two touchdown passes.

“The thing about the triple option is it’s really hard to stop all three and all our guys have been playing so well so they were trying to take that away and I just stepped up,” said Leyendecker.

The win for Colerain will be the final game at home for the Cardinals this year as the remaining rounds of the playoffs are played at neutral sites and for the seniors it was their final time ever playing at the Cage.

Next week Colerain will face a Mason team that the Cardinals knocked off in the regular season 36-10 but since then the Comets have won five straight games by a combined score of 132-14.
“It’s a brand new season and everyone is 1-0 now and we have to reboot and forget about what happened in the regular season,” said Dan Bolden.

Postgame Audio Interview: Dan Bolden

Moeller 0-0-0-0-0
Colerain 7-7-21-10-45

C: Jones 9 run (Mangold kick)
C: Hicks 30 pass from Leyendecker (Mangold kick)
C: Ponting 6 pass from Leyendecker (Mangold kick)
C:Bolden 23 interception (Mangold kick)
C: Pace Jr 1 run (Mangold kick)
C: Mangold 27 field goal
C: Waheed 1 run (Mangold kick)

RECORDS: Colerain (9-2); Moeller (4-7)
UP NEXT: Colerain vs Mason (9-2)

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