Marysville football runs by Dublin Coffman for 28-24 upset win to open OHSAA playoffs

DUBLIN, Ohio – Colton Powers understands that his days of playing fullback likely will be coming to an end relatively soon.

The Marysville senior is being recruited by several college coaches to play linebacker and he likely won’t get to carry the ball much at the next level. With that in mind, Powers ran hard every time he touched the ball Friday in the Monarchs’ Division I, Region 2 opener at Dublin Coffman.

And the 5-foot-11, 200-pound athlete’s ferocious effort paid dividends, as he rushed for a game-high 123 yards and three touchdowns on just 16 carries to lead the Monarchs, the No. 11 seed in the region, to a 28-24 upset victory over the sixth-seeded Shamrocks.

With the win, Marysville improved to 7-4 overall and advanced to a regional quarterfinal on Friday, November 4 at third-seeded Centerville. Coffman, which holds a 26-4 lead in the all-time series against Marysville, finished 7-4 overall. This is the first time that Marysville has beaten Coffman since winning 13-0 in 1982.

“Knowing that this is my last season playing fullback definitely played a part in me running hard every time I touched the ball, because you never know when it will be your last game,” Powers said. “For sure, I run more like a linebacker than a fullback. I’m not very shifty and I don’t do anything too fancy. I just run full speed downhill, and fight for every single yard I can get.”

Powers scored all three of his touchdowns on runs directly up the middle of the field in the first half.

His first touchdown run was from 16 yards out, capping an 8-play, 76-yard game-opening drive for the Monarchs. On that play, Powers was hit by a defender at the 5-yard line, but he still managed to dive over the goal line for the score.

“I took a big hit there, but I sacrificed my body to get into the end zone,” Powers said.

Powers was barely touched on his 10-yard touchdown run that put Marysville ahead 14-7 early in the second quarter. And Powers ricocheted his way off two defenders on the way to scoring from 5 yards out to give the Monarchs a 21-7 lead with just over two minutes left in the first half.

“We have a really good offensive line, and they did a great job of giving us lanes to run through the entire game,” Powers said.

But perhaps Powers’ most impressive run occurred with Marysville clinging to a four-point lead and facing a second-and-2 at Coffman’s 19 with less than two minutes left in the game. On that play, Powers fought his way through three tacklers to gain a first down at the Shamrocks’ 10, effectively icing the contest.

“I knew I had to get a first down there, so I tucked the ball away so they couldn’t strip it from me, and I just kept running as hard as I could until I got past the marker,” Powers said.

With center Morgan Kern, right guard Nick Johnson, right tackle Nathan Potter, left guard Evan Collins and right guard Braeden Gray paving the way, Griffin Johnson also rushed for 95 yards on 15 carries and Nascere Smith ran for 93 yards and a score on nine attempts.

Smith scored the game-winning touchdown on a 6-yard-run with 3:53 left in the game, capping an 11-play, 80-yard drive, which consumed 5:52 off the clock.

On that drive, quarterback Brady Seger connected with Micah Walls for a 33-yard pass to move the ball to the Shamrocks’ 47. And two plays before Smith spun his way out of the hands of a defender and over the goal line, Powers ran 13 yards on a fourth-and-3 play to give Marysville a first down at Coffman’s 14.

Seger finished 5-for-7 passing for 64 yards.

“Our line did a great job, and all three of our running backs got some tough, dirty yards for us,” Marysville coach Brent Johnson said. “That big pass that Brady threw over top their defense was huge for us because it gave us some badly-needed momentum, and Colton, Griffin and Nascere each had big runs to keep that drive going and get us the winning touchdown.”

Despite falling behind by two touchdowns late in the second quarter, Coffman rallied to score 17 consecutive points to take a 24-21 lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by Carson Cox with 9:45 remaining in the game.

Cox, who finished with 21 yards on five carries, also scored on a 1-yard run up the middle to tie the score at 7-7 in the first quarter.

The Shamrocks seized momentum heading into halftime, when quarterback Quinn Hart connected with receiver Braden Dougherty on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left in the second quarter to cut Coffman’s deficit to 21-14.

“They grabbed the momentum right before halftime with that touchdown, and we had trouble getting it back,” coach Johnson said.

Indeed, the Shamrocks outgained Marysville 99-26 in total yards in the third quarter and pulled within 21-17 after Matthew Schramm made a 23-yard field goal with 3:50 remaining before the start of the fourth quarter.

Cox then scored his second touchdown of the game to give the Shamrocks their first lead, before Marysville answered with its game-winning touchdown drive.

Hart rushed for 83 yards on 11 carries and was 7-for-16 passing for 85 yards and a score, and Daven

White rushed for 100 yards on 19 carries to pace Coffman’s offense.

“Marysville out-toughed, out-physicaled, out-disciplined and out-coached us,” Coffman coach Geron Stokes said. “That’s where we’re at as a program right now. A quality-coached team took out the weaker team.”

Photo Gallery (photos by Gabe Haferman)