STATE 1A QUARTERFINALS: Coeur du Christ comes up just short

By MARK NELKE 

Sports writer 

WORLEY — Trailing for most of the game, the Coeur du Christ Saints did all they could to set themselves up for a shot at upending the reigning state 1A champion Carey Panthers. 

The Saints converted one more two-point conversion than the Panthers. 

They gained an extra possession with a successful onside kick. 

Then, they got the stop they needed in the fourth quarter to give them one last possession to take the lead. 

But despite all of that, Coeur du Christ came up just short in a 40-36 loss in a state 1A quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon at the Marimn Health Coeur Center. 

"We had our chances,” Saints coach Kellen Clemens said. “That’s a very good football team. I loved how our boys played hard, for 48 minutes. There’s not a lot of energy left in the tank right now; they left it all on the field today. Unfortunately, we had some opportunities to make some plays we didn’t make, and against a good football team like that, that’s the difference.” 

Fourth-seeded Coeur du Christ, in its first state playoff game in its second year with a football program, finishes 7-2. Fifth-seeded Carey (9-1) advances to play top-seeded Council (8-1) next week in the semifinals.

"Carey played better, they deserved it; we should have capitalized  on the opportunities that we had,” said Coeur du Christ sophomore tight end/defensive end Eli Zember, who caught a pair of touchdown passes.  

Junior Jon Denke returned a first-quarter kickoff for a touchdown for Coeur du Christ, and rushed for 112 yards on 17 carries. Sophomore Grant Clemens passed for 155 yards and three touchdowns, including one to senior Greg Hayes. Junior Charles Jenne also ran for a score. 

"There were some big playmayers on the Coeur du Christ side; there’s some good young talent over there,” third-year Carey head coach John Saili said. “Their screen passes (caused problems). They’re very well-coached; they do all the small things the right way. They block hard; we couldn’t get into the backfield to put pressure on the quarterback.” 

Senior Stockton Sears ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries for Carey. Sophomore Jonah Saili was 16 of 19 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns, both to senior Will Parke. 

“28 (Sears) is better than we gave him credit for,” Zember said. “We knew coming in that he would be the guy to stop, and we still had a hard time.” 

With the exception of the last drive of the first half, with started with just 25 seconds left, Carey scored on its first six possessions of the game. 

“That center goes 270, so he’s a load to deal with,” Kellen Clemens said. “And 28 (Sears) is a heckuva back. We had a lot of chances to tackle him, and unfortunately we just didn’t. Couldn’t get him on the ground.” 

Coeur du Christ went three-and-out on its first possession, and Carey scored on its second play when Sears broke a 70-yard run. 

The Saints answered when Clemens rolled right and hit Zember for an 8-yard score.  

Carey scored on its second play after the kickoff, then Denke returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards for a score to tie it at 14. 

After that, Carey intentionally booted every kickoff out of bounds. 

"We knew early on that Denke was one of their best players,” John Saili said. “When he proved it to us, we made sure we didn’t give him another shot.” 

Carey led 34-30 at halftime, then scored on its first possession of the second half. 

Coeur du Christ pulled within four points on a 10-yard pass from Grant Clemens to sophomore Beckett Beyer with 3:28 left in the third quarter. It turned out to be the last score of the game. 

Coeur du Christ finally stopped Carey at the Saints’ 15 on fourth down, and took over with 5:26 left. 

Denke broke a 14-yard run on the first play. A holding penalty two plays later put the Saints in second and 17. On third down, Grant Clemens scrambled for 9 yards, setting up fourth and 3. Clemens was shaken up a bit on the play, and the refs blew the whistle for an injury timeout — which, by rule, meant Clemens had to leave for one play, though he insisted he was OK. 

“Very inconvenient situation,” Kellen Clemens said. 

On fourth and 3, the Saints were stopped just short. Carey ran for a couple first downs, then knelt out the clock. 

Carey outgained Coeur du Christ 464-299. The game’s only punt came on the Saints’ first possession. It wasn’t a typical eight-man track meet; it was more death by 1,000 6-yard runs, and/or short passes. 

Coeur du Christ, in particular, missed on a few chances at interceptions, and also had a hard time getting off the field on third down. 

Carey had 347 of its yards in the first half, Coeur du Christ 235. 

The second half, at least for the Panthers, was more about ball control. 

"That was the idea,” John Saili said. “Once we got out in the third quarter we said ‘we’re going to have to slow this down.’ We went into our four-minute offense early. We were just trying to make sure we held onto the ball, because they’re dangerous.” 

Carey     22    12    8    0    —    40 

Coeur du Christ    14    16    6    0    —    36 

First quarter 

Carey — Stockton Sears 70 run (Sears run), 10:04 

Coeur — Eli Zember 7 pass from Grant Clemens (run failed), 6:29 

Carey — Will Parke 64 pass from Jonah Saili (pass failed), 5:28 

Coeur — Jon Denke 60 kickoff return (Greg Hayes pass from Clemens), 5:14 

Carey — Parke 8 pass from Saili (Saili run), 3:00 

Second quarter 

Carey — Madden Perkes 26 run (run failed), 10:27 

Coeur — Charles Jenne 3 run (Beckett Beyer pass from Clemens), 4:53 

Carey — Sears 32 run (pass failed), 2:58 

Coeur — Zember 19 pass from Clemens (Beyer pass from Clemens), :32 

Third quarter 

Carey — Sears 6 run (run failed), 8:21 

Coeur — Beyer 10 pass from Clemens (pass failed), 3:28 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING — Carey, Sears 18-194, Perkes 9-72, J. Saili 6-7. Coeur, Denke 17-112, Jenne 12-28, Clemens 4-2, Hayes 1-2. 

PASSING — Carey, J. Saili 16-19-0-191. Coeur, Clemens 15-30-0-155. 

RECEIVING — Carey, Sears 5-43, G. Saili 5-32, Parke 3-77, Perkes 3-39. Coeur, Hayes 4-75, Beyer 4-10, Zember 3-33, Denke 3-16, Jenne 1-11.