Playoff victory a highlight for Eagles football program

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

It’s one of those the community will remember for some time.
The Eastwood football program has had postseason runs that went further than this one did, but the memory of the Eagles’ 56-49 win over Creston Norwayne on the road in a Division V second-round playoff game is arguably one of the biggest moments in program history.
Holding a 7-point lead with just seconds remaining, Eastwood made three straight tackles at its 1-yard-line to turn the Bobcats away and hold on for the victory.
The stops on second and third down, respectively, were made by Kadyn Donnell, and Paul Lautzenheiser had the game-saving tackle on fourth down.
It was a game that had five ties with the final score coming on a 59-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Cam Schumaker with Mason Chaffee kicking his eighth extra point to close out the scoring.
Eastwood coach Sam Cotterman referenced the Eagles’ 38-35 comeback win over Kenton in week one as a learning experience that helped them in win over Norwayne.
“We were kind of in the same position against Kenton in week one. We were up, and Kenton fought back and we were actually losing, and we had to make a last-minute drive, and scored a winning touchdown with about 15 seconds left,” he said. “We had been in that position before.”
Needless to say, it made for a pleasant drive from Norwayne to Pemberville, which is 97 miles.
“We almost had to keep pinching ourselves. We struggled to have that feeling after giving up that many points on defense,” said Cotterman. “It was a great win, and it made for a nice drive back. It was exciting to take another step forward. We set a goal of practicing on Thanksgiving this season, (and) we took it one week further than last year. This will give the next group something to work for.”
Eastwood jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter, saw the Bobcats tie the score, 21-21, before recovering to take a 35-28 lead into the half.
With the score tied, 35-35, midway through the third quarter, Brock Messinger caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Drew Luidhardt, but Norwayne rallied to score a touchdown, ending the third quarter with the score tied, 42-42. In the fourth quarter, Daquan Oliver caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Luidhardt, pushing the lead back to seven points before the Bobcats scored again to tie it up, 49-49.
Luidhardt finished 17-of-28 for 330 yards and five touchdowns and one interception, Kevin Lewis ran nine times for 100 yards and a score, Schumaker caught four passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, Andre Lewis had six catches for 91 yards and two scores and Oliver caught three passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.
Things didn’t go so well in the regional semifinals, where the Eagles lost to Edison, 49-28.
Eastwood fell behind early and was unable to stop the Chargers’ rushing attack, which gained nearly 500 yards. “I don’t think we did a good job of handling the pressure in the regional semis. We had things we practiced, and our offense went out and made some bonehead mistakes and (Edison) was able to score and get up on us,” said Cotterman. “That got us out of our run game, and we had to throw the ball. We just couldn’t stop their offense. We did an onside kick that surprised them, that would’ve cut it to one score if we scored a touchdown, (but) we had a mistake and threw an interception — it was a wrong route run by the wide receiver.”
The Eagles, who finished 11-2 and went 6-1 in the Northern Buckeye Conference, had some big wins over Maumee (28-15), Otsego (35-20), Genoa (42-27) and Archbold, (41-0), in the first round of the playoffs.
The 31-27 loss to Oak Harbor in week nine cost Eastwood the league title.
The Eagles got to the Rocket 4, but two consecutive passes fell incomplete, giving Oak Harbor the win.
“I think it’s about the kids knowing how close they were. We were four yards from beating Oak Harbor,” said Cotterman. “The smallest of details, and one play, here or there – it can be a total game changer. We had our opportunities against Edison, too, and they could’ve been huge momentum-changers. I hope the kids know how close they were and so it motivates them in taking that next step.”
The unsung heroes of the team were the offensive line, which from left to right, started with Lautzenheiser, Jack Sensenig, Jason Young, Ethan Recker and Colton Oberhaus.
Cotterman will have to say goodbye to 16 seniors — Messinger, Young, Donnell, Aystry, Lautzenheiser, Oliver, Oberhaus, Recker, Kevin Lewis, Andre Lewis, Connor Norton, Colton Woodward, Gael Mauricio, Cooper Dierksheide, Logan Perry and Sawyer Mason.
“I’m proud of them,” said Cotterman. “They left the program in better shape than they found it.”
Cotterman talked about some of the hardships the team had to overcome.
“I like that we were able to handle some adversity. Early on, we lost our tight end and defensive lineman Hunter Lauer to a broken forearm in our first scrimmage. We lost him for seven to eight weeks until the Fostoria game,” said Cotterman. “We had to shuffle some guys around — Cam Schumaker, we moved him to tight end, and he did a nice job for us. We lost Wyatt Aystry to an injury, and we get into our first game, and Kadyn Donnell broke his pinkie, so we had him play middle linebacker. Drew Luidhardt stepped in for us and did a great job. It’s hard to find depth. The kids showed some great resiliency, and the kids stepped up and did a great job.”