ELIDA — Elida players were being mobbed at midfield as the clock read zero.
That’s when an amazing thought hit everyone at the same time: Elida is headed to the playoffs.
Elida quarterback Reggie McAdams hit Austin Etzler on a 68-yard touchdown with 2:08 to go to lift the Bulldogs to a 28-21 victory over Wapakoneta on Friday at Kraft Stadium.
With the victory, Elida (8-2, 7-2 Western Buckeye League) clinched its first berth in the playoffs since 1982. It was an incredible turnaround after fourth-year coach Jason Carpenter went 0-10 his first two years and 5-5 last year.
“My freshman year we were 0-10 and no one was excited or coming to the games,” Elida tailback Colin Blymyer said. “Now everyone’s here and everyone’s going crazy. No way did I (ever imagine this).”
After Carpenter spoke to his team, he was lifted upon a few players’ shoulders.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It makes all that hard work really worth it. … It goes to show you that hard work really does pay off and it’s a testament to these kids working hard. I can’t describe it.”
McAdams completed 14 of 25 for 281 yards and four touchdowns. With wide receiver Kevin Kraft out with an injury, Austin Etzler had six catches for 177 yards. Etzler had TD catches of 81 and 68 yards.
“Sometimes Austin does unbelievable things,” McAdams said. “I just threw him the ball and saw what he could do. It’s been 28 years (since the playoffs) and this has been our biggest goal.”
On the ground, Blymyer ran for 91 yards on 15 carries.
For the Redskins, Connor Pickens ran for 78 yards on 16 carries. Logan Erb had 46 yards on 11 carries.
Elida built up a 21-7 after three quarters. Etzler caught an 81-yard bomb from McAdams to make it 21-7 with 5:39 left in the third quarter.
But Wapakoneta (7-3, 6-3 WBL) had playoff visions, as well. Down by 14 in the final quarter, the Redskins were forced to do something they really didn’t want to do and that was to go to the air.
Wapakoneta quarterback Kyle Gibson was 12 of 24 for 155 yards. He threw one TD, but was picked off three times.
Pickens’ 2-yard run for a score brought the Redskins within 21-14 with 7:52 to go.
After holding Elida in check the next series, Wapakoneta went 68 yards in 11 plays to score on a hook-and-ladder play.
On a fourth-and-10 from the Elida 34, Gibson hit Johnny Crawford at the 25. He pitched back to trailing Cale Tabler, who took it 25 yards for a TD. That tied the game at 21 with 2:35 left.
Back two minutes and 35 seconds was plenty for the Elida spread attack.
On the second play of the drive from the Elida 32, McAdams scrambled right and hit Etzler on the right side near the 50. Etzler then zig-zagged his way all the way back across the field for the winning 68-yard score with 2:08 left.
“It was a flood,” Etzler said. “I was supposed to catch it 10 yards out, but I turned it up and made it more.”
Carpenter said, “He catches it in space and I don’t know how many guys he made miss. Rikki Le got a great block in there to spring him.”
After the game, Wapakoneta coach Doug Frye said his team needed help on several fronts to make the playoffs. But it was huge turnaround year after going 1-9 last year.
“Our kids, I can’t believe how hard they’ve worked and jumped on board,” Frye said. “We were just not a 1-9 football team, we were an atrocious 1-9 football team a year ago. … Just to be competitive this year and to squeak three or four wins out would have been progress. The credit goes to our assistant coaches and the caring of our seniors.
Week 10
CalPreps.com predicts: Elida 28 Wapak 26