Risk and Reward: CC wins Homecoming

Comets’ gamble pays off,  propels them past Vikings, 27-12

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Ancient-school coaches will claim that more potential bad things happen than good whenever you dare to go to the air.

Imagine what they think about throwing two passes on one play.

“It’s a little risky,” Charles City head coach Darren Bohlen said about the 36-yard scoring pass play that went from Drew Mitchell to Mike Cranshaw to Tre Walker at the end of the first half to give the Comets a 14-12 lead at intermission and ultimately propel them to a 27-12 homecoming win over Vinton-Shellsburg on Friday.

“We wanted to try it earlier, but we were a little too deep down field then,” Bohlen said. “We were a little flat at the end of the half, and we thought the rewards out-weighed the risks.

“And it may have taken some of the wind out of their sails.”

On Charles City’s first possession, it drove 50 yards all the way to Vinton-Shellsburg’s 13 only to turn the ball over with a fumble. The Vikings took advantage and scored on a 24-yard up-the-gut run by Wes Edwards.

After the PAT kick failed, Comet senior Jaden Foster returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards that — with Derek Milligan’s successful PAT kick — put Charles City up 7-6.

The Vikings regained the lead early in the second quarter when Edwards capped another long drive with a 3-yard TD run.

With time running out in the half, the Comets rolled the dice. Out of the shotgun, Mitchell threw in essence a 20-yard pass to Cranshaw near the sideline. Except, of course, it wasn’t a forward pass, rather a lateral that if dropped or knocked away by a defender, it would be a live ball.

Cranshaw was able to secure the lateral and then throw a pass to a wide-open Walker.

Early in the third quarter, Cranshaw helped the Comets break another big play as his down-field block gave Zion Jordan a seam down the sidelines, which was all he needed to outrace the remaining Viking defenders all the way to the end zone on a 61-yard TD run.

Down by two possessions due to failed PAT attempts, the Vikings put up a fight until the end. But when a 69-yard drive stalled after taking nearly six minutes off the clock, and then another Viking voyage into the red zone ended with an interception by Foster, Vinton-Shellsburg was running out of chances.

Still, when Charles City had to convert a fourth-and-8 snap with a little more than three minutes remaining in regulation, the Vikings still had a chance with all of their timeouts remain.

But Malik Knighten was able to make a brilliant catch of a Mitchell pass along the sidelines for a first down. Soon after, Dylan Koresh scored from 1 yard out to cap the scoring.

Knighten also recovered a fumble to foiled what would have been a big catch-and-run play from Edwards, who was stripped of the ball from behind by Foster.

Foster had another interception to halt the Vikings’ desperate two-minute drive at the end of the game.

“We studied and watched a lot of film, and we were able to anticipate what they going to do,” Foster said.

Jordan had 125 yards on 19 carries for his second-straight 100-yard game for the Comets.  Senior linebacker Alex Koehler had a season-high 15 tackles (13 solo and three for a loss) to lead Charles City’s defense.

“After first half of the Xavier game we realized we weren’t playing Comet football,” Bohlen said of the loss two weeks ago to Class 3A top-ranked Xavier. “Since then, we’ve gotten much more physical.”

The win evens the Comets’ overall record at 3-3 while improving their Class 3A, District 3 record to 3-1.

“Most likely we’re going to have to win out if we want to get that second playoff spot,” Bohlen said as Xavier currently is undefeated in district play (4-0) as well as overall (4-0).

“It’s going to be tough … they’re a lot of evenly matched teams trying to get that spot,” Bohlen said. “We even knew playing these guys was going to be a tough game. They have a lot of great athletes.”

The Vikings, who boasted two 100 yard rushers in running back Edwards (21-128) and quarterback Blake Bohnsack (11-106) fell to 1-4 and 0-4.

The Comets’ next game is away against Benton on Friday. The Bobcats are also 3-1 in Class 3A, District 3 play.

CHARLES CITY 27,
VINTON-SHELLSBURG 12

Scoring By Quarters

Vinton-Shellsburg 6 6 0 0 — 12

Charles City 7 7 7 6 — 27

Scoring Summary

VS — Wes Edwards 24 run (Kick failed) 6-0, 2:19 1st.

CC — Jaden Foster 75 kickoff return (Derek Milligan kick) 7-6, 2:05 1st.

VS — Edwards 3 run (Run failed) 12-7, 9:38 2nd.

CC — Tre Walker 36 pass from Mike Cranshaw (Milligan kick) 14-12, :24 2nd.

CC — Zion Jordan 61 run (Milligan kick) 21-12, 11:02 3rd.

CC — Dylan Koresh 1 run (Pass failed) 27-12, 2:01 4th

PASSING — CC — Drew Mitchell 4-9-0 58, Mike Cranshaw 1-1-0 38 TD, Jaden Foster 0-1-0 0; VS — Blake Bohnsack 5-13-2 71.

RUSHING — CC — Zion Jordan 19-125 TD, Dylan Koresh 11-34 TD, Tyreque Baker 3-11, Jaden Foster 3-16, Drew Mitchell 4-8; VS — Wes Edwards 21-128 2 TDs, Blaek Bohnsack 11-109, Will Edwards 3-13, Tanner Davis 7-8, Justin Coots 1-1.

RECEIVING — CC — Tre Walker 2-42 TD, Jaden Foster 1-18, Malik Knighten 2-34; VS — Nathan Struve 2-39, Will Edwards 2-29, Tanner Davis 1-3.