Photos by Ryan Kerwin, JTV Sports
By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
Brooklyn — He was mentally preparing for overtime, the coaching wheels spinning as to what choices would have to be made in the extra session, assuming the coming extra point would be good.
But Josh Kubiak never got the chance to work the overtime, because the extra point never got the chance to be kicked.
“The guys came running off the field saying, ‘let’s go it,’” the Columbia Central football coach said Friday night. “So, I looked at my coaches and said we were going to go for it.”
Go for it they did.
Win they did.
“It wasn’t the most logical decision, but that’s what they wanted to do,” Kubiak said with a smile following his team’s dramatic 29-28 victory over Hillsdale in the regular-season finale.
The Golden Eagles scored with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to pull within one point on a 12-yard scoring strike from Khol Partridge to Connor Davenport.
Instead of playing for overtime, Kubiak listened to his team, and his sophomore quarterback.
“Khol said he wanted to roll out, so we designed the play for him to role out,” Kubiak said. “I told him to be patient. Did I expect him to hold onto it all the way to sideline? No.”
Partridge rolled to his right, and held the ball all the way to the sideline before, at the very last second, flipping a pass to a wide-open Gehrig Elliot.
Hillsdale had just 20 seconds to work with and didn’t threaten before the clock expired.
“It was a team effort,” Kubiak said of the win. “The guys believed in themselves. We had guys step up all over the field to make this happen.”
Columbia got things going right away, taking the opening drive 65 yards before Micah Raby capped things on a 15-yard run and a 7-0 lead.
But after an interception late in the first quarter, Hillsdale got on the board on the first play of the second when David Beck scored on a 4-yard run.
Columbia’s next offensive play was another turnover, this time a Raby fumble. Just 59 seconds after scoring for the first time, Hillsdale was back in the end zone on a 35-yard run by Jake Lemerand.
Columbia’s offense got back on track later in the quarter, though, getting a 38-yard touchdown pass from Partridge to Elliot.
Hillsdale fumbled the ball away on its ensuing possession, and the Golden Eagles converted on a fourth down when Partridge hit Davenport with a 12-yard pass with just 30 seconds remaining in the half for a 21-14 lead.
Columbia’s offense went cold from there, though, and Hillsdale tied the game midway through the third on a 10-yard run by Lemerand, and then capped an 82-yard drive on the first play of the fourth with a 1-yard run by Connor McCosh and a 28-21 lead.
Hillsdale had a chance to essentially end the game with 2:15 remaining, but missed a 38-yard field goal, giving Columbia the ball at its own 20-yard line down by seven.
Four plays later the game appeared to be over after an incomplete pass on fourth down, but a late flag penalized Hillsdale for roughing the passer.
“That was something that helped the momentum, definitely,” Kubiak said.
Using just one timeout, the penalty energized the Golden Eagles, who marched right down the field and got the Davenport touchdown with 20 seconds to play, which gave way to the dramatic finish to the game and a 7-2 finish to the regular season.
“It’s a great year,” Kubiak said. “I told our senior class, who was 8-1 last year, they could walk out of here as one of the best classes ever in Columbia history. They heard all offseason that we graduated 19 guys and we weren’t going to be very good.”
Partridge completed 12-of-19 passes for 149 yards, while Raby finished with 122 yards rushing on 24 carries. Elliot finished with three catches for 72 yards. Davenport had four catches for 38 yards.
Hillsdale, which hadn’t missed the postseason since going 4-5 in 2000, finishes its season 4-5.
Columbia will find out Sunday night who it faces next week.
Kubiak was asked how he plans to get past this emotional win to refocus for the postseason.
“I don’t know if we want to forget it,” he said smiling. “I want to use this momentum going into next week.”
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu. He’s also the author of ‘Love, Defined; A Dedication to the Love, Sacrifice, and Magic of Motherhood.’
Love, Defined is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Tate Publishing or by contacting Mike directly.
Visit http://lovedefinedbook.weebly.com for more information.