Colerain (12-0) remained unbeaten and moved on to the Division I regional final after disposing of the Moeller Crusaders (7-4) by the final score of 27-7 on a beautiful day at Paul Brown Stadium.

Unlike last year's regional quarterfinal game that produced a triple overtime thriller won by Colerain 34-31, this year’s game was more of a defensive struggle.

Colerain came into the game without their leader at quarterback, Doug Reynolds, whose season ended prior with a shoulder injury.  Backup senior QB Quentin Sims has filled in running the offense, relying on the offensive line and a potent running game.

The Cardinals racked up 355 yards rushing while attempting just two passes.  Joseph Harrison led the attack with 160 yards on 28 carries.  Sims added 118 yards on 18 carries while Dominique Sherrer finished with 76 yards on 21 carries.

Moeller drew first blood on a 4-yard TD pass from Ross Oltorik to sophomore TE David Schneider.  A 14-yard pass from Oltorik to Tony Rack on fourth and eleven down to the Colerain 7-yard line set up the score.

Colerain answered on their next possession on a 3-yard touchdown run by Sherrer as he powered into the end zone off the left side while running over Kelly Barnes in the process.  The extra point was blocked and Moeller led 7-6 with a little over eight minutes left in the half.

Colerain would score the go ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run by Harrison capping a 16 play, 91-yard drive that consumed more than six minutes.  The extra point was good and Colerain led 13-7 at the half.

The Cardinals picked up in the second half just like they ended the first half on a long drive down the middle of the field as Sims, Harrison and Sherrer took turns churning up the turf.  Sims made a nice run on a quarterback keeper to score Colerain’s third TD of the afternoon.  Sims would punctuate the drive with a pass to Dominique Sherrer for the two point conversion.  Colerain led 21-7 at the mid point of the third quarter.

“Moeller has a great team on both sides of the ball and we wanted to keep Oltorik and their offense off the field as much as possible so we dedicated ourselves to the run,” said Colerain Head Coach Tom Bolden.

The Crusaders finished with 226 yards of total offense.  Oltorik was 20-of-38 passing for 181 yards and also had 25 yards rushing on seven carries.

After recovering a fumble at the Cardinal 37-yard line late in the third quarter the Crusaders managed to move the ball inside of the Colerain 5-yard line but the drive stalled which resulted in no score as Colerain took over on downs.

Harrison would score his second touchdown on the afternoon on an 8-yard scamper to put the Cardinals up 27-7.  The extra point was no good.

The final score didn’t reflect the hard fought game between the two teams.  It was a lot closer than the score would indicate and both teams raised the level of high school football in the Cincinnati area.

“Colerain is a great team, they are every year.  You can’t afford to make mistakes and you need to execute with excellence to beat them.  We didn’t do that today.  They are a great team” said Coach Crable of Moeller.