The Chillicothe Cavaliers handed the state ranked Jackson Ironmen their first loss of the season in a 30-27 double overtime win to claim the undisputed Frontier Athletic Conference football championship.
Jacob Coffland etched his name into Cavaliers sports lore with a 42 yard field goal in the second overtime, to win the game and the league title.
After a scoreless first quarter, Jackson got on the board first at 11:56 of the second period on a 1 yard run from Evan Spires. The PAT kick from Isaac Kuhn made it 7-0 Ironmen.
The Cavaliers tied the game at 7-7 when Kamron Smith connected with Jaden Cain on a 47 yard TD strike with 4:27 left in the half, followed by Jacob Coffland's PAT kick, which was the score at intermission.
The third quarter looked as if Jackson would run off and leave the Cavs, scoring two unanswered TD's for a 20-7 advantage. The Ironmen made it 14-7 at the 6:13 mark when Jacob Winters hit Holden Blankenship on an 11 yard TD pass, followed by Kuhn's PAT. The score went to 20-7 when Cade Wolford darted 57 yards for a TD with 1:35 left in the third. The PAT kick was missed, which would come back to be a key in Jackson's loss.
In the fourth quarter, trailing by two scores, Chillicothe scored twice to even the game at 20-20, starting with a Maxwell Lee 6 yard TD run, but Coffland's PAT missed the mark to make it 20-13.
The Cavs tied the game 20-20 when Lee ran 12 yards for a TD, followed by Coffland's PAT kick to even the game at 1:51 remaining in regulation.
In the overtime, Chillicothe took a 27-20 lead on a Maxwell Lee 2 yard run with Coffland's PAT kick.
Jackson evened the score at 27-27 with Jacob Winters' 5 yard run and Kuhn's PAT kick.
In the second overtime, Jackson got the ball first, but Chillicothe's Xavier Doss intercepted Winters' pass to give the Cavs the ball and a chance to win the game.
But, the Cavs marched backwards due to miscues, and were forced to attempt a 42 yard field goal to try to win the game. That's when Jacob Coffland stepped up an nailed the field goal with room to spare, giving the Cavs the undisputed FAC title.
Jackson rolled up 428 total yards with 233 on the ground, led by Jacob Winters 96 rushing yards. Cade Wolford added 75 yards. Winters also threw 17/30 for 195 yards, but the Cavs intercepted 4 of his passes.
Chillicothe compiled 364 total yards with 214 rushing. Tylin Scales ran for 91 yards and Kamron Smith added 71. Smith also connected on 10/19 passes for 150 yards and 1 TD.
Jackson turned the ball over 4 times while the Cavs gave it away only twice.
The undisputed title gives the Cavs a (5-0) league record, to go along with a (5-1) overall mark, as they now move to the Division 3 Playoffs at home against FAC foe Miami Trace at 7pm, October 9th. News Radio WBEX airtime will be 6:40pm. Chillicothe beat Miami Trace two weeks ago, 41-3.
Jackson drops to (4-1/5-1).
Listen to replay of the game, including the exciting finish, in our WBEX replay with Greg Bigam and Dana Cousins in our podcast link found below....