MASON, Ohio – The Colerain Cardinals continued their quest of an Ohio Division I state title by defeating the Elder Panthers soundly in front of packed house at Mason High School, 41-11.
Colerain (12-1) registered 509 total yards of offense and ceded just one touchdown defensively. With the win the Cardinals advance to their first state semi-final game since 2006.
Elder (9-4) won the coin toss and deferred, giving the Cardinals the ball first. It would be a move that wouldn’t pay off.
Quarterback Deshaunte Jones ran for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and the Cardinals never looked back.
On the ensuing kickoff Robby Oswald appeared to have something solid going on the return, but his 20-plus return yards would prove meaningless after the senior fumbled and gave Colerain the ball back.
It didn’t take long before Monalo Caldwell would punch in a scoring run from three yards out and less than three minutes into the contest the Cardinals had a 13-0 advantage.
The Panthers got their first points on the board on their next drive, but they had to settle for a 35-yard field goal from senior Joe Ornato as Elder cut the lead to 10 points as the second quarter started with the top-seeded Cardinals on top 13-3.
Things slowed down a bit from there and after pinning Colerain deep on a pooch punt, Elder picked up their next two points on a safety that came from the Cardinals’ long snapper sailing one over the head of punter Christian Dinevski and out of the end zone.
Elder couldn’t do anything with the possession stemming from the free kick, but Colerain did capitalize with its next chance as Jones ran for a 6-yard TD with just 22 seconds left in the half to give the Cardinals a 20-5 edge at the break.
Quarterback Patrick Ramsey got Elder on the scoreboard in the first drive out of the locker room when he capped it off with a 15-yard TD run. It took the Panthers just over three minutes to get on the scoreboard to start the second half. They wouldn’t put any more points up over the next 21 minutes.
The Cardinals would add three more touchdowns to finish off the Panthers, including two more from Caldwell. The junior finished the night with 222 yards and three scores on 25 carries. Jones added 195 yards and two rushing TD’s on 15 carries.
Ramsey completed 14-of-28 passes for 129 yards and an interception. The senior added 80 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts.
Next up for Colerain is a match-up with the unbeaten Wayne Warriors, who knocked off Hilliard Davidson 20-6 on Saturday. The OHSAA DI state semi-final and Region 2 Championship game will take place at Mason High School next Saturday at 7 p.m.
Elder 3 2 6 0 – 11
Colerain 13 7 7 14 – 41
1st quarter
C- Deshaunte Jones 80-yard run (kick failed) – 11:46
C- Monalo Caldwell 3-yard run (Dinevski kick) – 9:26
E- Joe Onorato 35-yard FT – 4:32
2nd quarter
E- Team Safety – 7:49
C- Deshaunte Jones 6-yard run (Dinevski kick) – 0:21
3rd quarter
E- Peyton Ramsey 15-yard run (kick failed) – 8:55
C- Monalo Caldwell 7-yard run (Dinevski kick) – 3:28
4th quarter
C- Monalo Caldwell 1-yard run (Dinevski kick) – 7:21
C- Gunnar Leyendecker 80-yard run (Dinevski kick) – 5:57