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For the second straight game, the OHSAA State Championships saw an instant classic take place with Lake Catholic and Van Wert going at it in a battle of the Cougars. In the end, it was Van Wert taking down Lake Catholic 31-28 in a come from behind thriller!
In a battle of two of the greatest Division IV quarterbacks any of us have ever seen, it was Owen Treece of Van Wert and Joe Malchesky putting on a show for the ages! Treece picked up 274 yards passing, on a 27 of 44 throwing with 3 touchdowns and a pick. He also ran for 89 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. Meanwhile Joe Malchesky was not to be outdone as he went off for and insane 232 yards rushing on 30 carries with 2 touchdowns while also passing for 55 yards. These two young men put on a clinic that led to an instant classic!
The Lake Catholic defense stood tall on the game’s opening drive as they held Van Wert from scoring on their own two-yard line. It was a big stop as perhaps Van Wert should have settled for the field goal. It wasn’t too long after that however that a Van Wert blocked punt of Lake Catholic gave them the ball right back on the Lake 21-yard line in prime position to score.
Yet again Van Wert would go for it on the fourth down and goal in the red zone and yet again it was Lake Catholic getting the big stop! Van Wert was leaving points on the board early, but would eventually get it rolling and find the endzone at a regular pace along with Lake Catholic.
The first quarter would end scoreless but with Lake Catholic setting up shop to score with their own fourth and goal. The drive was set up with a long completion from Malchesky to Vincent to put Lake Catholic in prime position. They would score on a trick play that saw a Nick Brandt to Brady Bowser touchdown pass wide open in the corner of the endzone. Everyone was fooled on the reverse toss.
From there, Van Wert wasted no time responding only a minute later with a Maddix Crutchfield touchdown catch from Owen Treece that saw him just break the plain of the goal line. It also looked from an angle that he may have not caught it but it happened directly in front of the referee, so it must have been good. Regardless, it was a great catch to get them on the board!
The big game for Malchesky for Lake Catholic would continue, as a few drives later he picked off Treece after Owen had scrambled for what seemed like 30 seconds before getting picked off. It was the start of a wild sequence of turnovers that saw Lake fumble it back to Van Wert. Then moments later it was Van Wert fumbling it right back to Lake Catholic. 40 seconds of game clock that saw 3 turnovers. You have to love wintertime football in Cleveland.
Lake would capitalize on the flurry of turnovers with a 1-yard touchdown carry by Ryan Joy to place Lake Catholic back on top. The score would stay 14-7 as the teams headed to the locker room for halftime. From there the rain would start to fall, but neither team’s offense was affected as the points began to come fast and furious.
The half would start with a Joe Malchesky 53-yard touchdown run for Lake Catholic. The young man continued to have a stellar game. Down 21-7, Van Wert would begin their comeback and score the games next 14 points.
Owen Treece would find the endzone with his legs first to make it 21-14 after scrambling to keep a play alive and finding Maddix Crutchfield for a huge third down conversion just prior to the touchdown. He then found it through the air with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Connor Pratt to tie the game at 21 with 11:46 to go. Treece was red hot when Van Wert needed it the most!
After a couple of solid stops by each team in a pouring rain, it was Lake Catholic signal caller Joe Malchesky continuing to have a monster game himself. This time he would give his team the lead with a fabulous 50-yard dash to pay dirt! Lake Catholic now led 28-21 with 5:25 to go. It would prove to be far too much time left for Treece and Van Wert.
With 2:30 to go, Treece would scramble all over the backfield again, for no less than 9 seconds before finding a Ten Lords of Leaping Nathan Jackson in the back of the endzone to tie the game! From there it was Malchesky making an errant pass that led to an interception near midfield with a minute to go.
Van Wert took advantage of it’s great defensive play and marched into field goal range in no time flat. With 9 seconds left in the game Damon McCracken hit a 25-yard field goal to make it 31-28 and secure the State Championship.
It what can only be described as irony, the games two best players combined for the last play of the game as Treece picked off a Malchesky heave to end the game as time ran out.
