Coal City surges past Reed-Custer

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October 18, 2009

By BILL SCHEIBE bscheibe@scn1.com

COAL CITY -- Helmets are worn in football for various reasons, including the players' safety and protection. Coal City defensive end Kyle Krause came up with another application during the fourth quarter Friday.

After Reed-Custer senior quarterback Derek Albin and senior wideout Jake Jedrych hooked up for a huge 12-yard touchdown pass at 9:03 remaining, the Comets were looking at completely erasing their 14-13 deficit with the extra-point kick.

But the concept of "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" became the Coalers' theme when Krause executed his leap of faith. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior guessed correctly and blocked the kick to preserve the 1-point edge.

And the helmet? Key.

"I just jumped the snap count," Krause recalled. "We work on our technique for that in practice, and I got my hands down in there and blocked it. That is what you've got to do. I knew that I had it, too, because it hit me right in the head -- right in the head."

That's using your head never sounded better to Coal City coach Lenny Onsen, whose Coalers iced a 21-19 Interstate Eight Large win over Reed-Custer with a 2-point conversion stop by middle linebacker Tiger Onsen.

On a cold, muddy, wintry night, Coal City (6-2, 3-2) prevailed over Reed-Custer (5-3, 3-2) in the Interesting-to-the-End Conference as Onsen, a 6-1, 195-pound senior, thwarted bullish 6-2, 215-pound Comet fullback Jim Benson at the goal line.

So, kudos to the Coaler coach's son for the biggest of his 10 tackles, the drama building with only 54.5 seconds to play. However, the turning point for both sidelines emerged on Krause's stunning smother of that earlier PAT boot.

"It was a big momentum swing," Lenny Onsen said. "We could have put our heads down after allowing that score, but we got fired up and Krause did it. Again, what a heckuva high school football game, and we were fortunate to come out on the good end."

"That set us up and that's why we won," Tiger Onsen said of Krause's near-KO punch. "If they got that extra point, you don't know how the momentum might go. You don't know if we're going to score again or not. Kyle made a really big play."

Remember those really crazy sack-dance celebrations by New York Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau? Krause reacted to the block by going all Gastineau on the moment, but in a good way -- believing in the joy of six.

"When they score, they don't get seven points," he said. "They get six points. You want to do what you can and not allow them to get that seventh point easily. Every time, you only want to allow those six, and that's what we want."

"It sure did," Reed-Custer coach Dean Cappel said, referring to the momentum change. "It's something you go over every week in practice, and somebody didn't step down. We wouldn't have had to go for two if we'd have made the extra point."

Instead, the Comets faced a 21-13 deficit for the two-minute drill as Albin (6-of-18, 164 yards) worked downfield, completing an extra-extra-large 17-yarder on fourth down to senior wingback/receiver Steven Davis. Three plays later, Benson scored from the 2.

Benson, who finished with 3 catches for 60 yards on the brunt of a 41-yard jump-ball reception, then took the handoff on the 2-point conversion attempt and headed toward the left side. He ran into Tiger Onsen and seemingly the entire town of Coal City.

Good thinking.

"We figured they would give it to their big workhorse, and he's a big boy," Onsen said. "I got through the hole, met him there, got in the double-leg takedown and spun him to the ground. He's tough. He kept charging, and it takes a lot to bring him down."

"We knew who was getting the ball," Lenny Onsen said of Benson. "He's definitely 'The Man' for them, and that kid played his tail off all night long. We were very impressed. Every week in this conference, it's good, hard-nosed football, and you better bring out your 'A' game."

Besides Krause and Tiger Onsen earning those "A" stripes for effort, senior cornerback Kyle Shugart contributed a strip that led to Onsen's second-quarter fumble recovery. Four plays later, the Coalers scored the go-ahead TD.

"Our coaches have taught us that strip, we were prepared for it and I saw the opportunity," Shugart said. "Krause's block was one of the biggest plays of the game, and stopping that 2-point conversion was the biggest."

Defensively, Reed-Custer also received mighty big plays from middle linebacker Benson (interception, 2 tackles for loss), senior safety Ryan Garbin (3 tackles for loss) and junior defensive end Brandon Cunning (2 sacks, tackle for loss).

However, while math may or may not be Krause's favorite subject, he realized how well the numbers added up for Coal City after the blocked extra point and Onsen's snuff.

Sixes? Always key.

"It was a great play by Tiger, that was the game, and it was perfect," Krause said. "We finished. And it was really important to finish because to us, it was six and in. We wanted to get our sixth win to get into the playoffs. That's what we say and we got it."

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