Cole leads Webster past Parkway Central
Cliff Ice says Michael Cole is a special player.
Thursday night at Parkway Central, Cole showed everybody why.
The speedy sophomore had two long punt returns and returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown as Webster Groves left Central with a 24-6 Suburban South Conference victory.
“Special teams came up huge for us,” Ice said. “We kind of had some hiccups last week with a kickoff return and a punt blocked. One thing we wanted to do was dominate on special teams, and they came through.”
The Statesmen, ranked No. 1 in the most recent Class 5 state poll, overcame those mistakes in the 49-14 win over Eureka the previous week.
They had no such problems last Thursday, as the Statesmen (3-0, 2-0 Suburban South) blocked a pair of field goals, and got a blocked extra point from Cole.
Already up 7-0 thanks to a 34-yard touchdown pass from Derrick Dilworth to Brad Bozoarth, Cole’s 39-yard punt return to the Parkway Central 14 set up a 30-yard Conor Barker field goal.
“People are going to have to start kicking away from him, and game plan for him,” Ice said of Cole, who added a 37-yard punt return in the fourth. “It’s nice having one more weapon on the field.”
Cole even caught a Derrick Dilworth pass for 19 yards and a first down, but it was his blocked field goal return that was the deal breaker.
Lining up for a 37-yard field goal with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth, Central’s Cameron Berra had his third kick of the game blocked. While most players headed for the sideline – holder Matt Robinson nearly kicked the ball as he walked by it – Cole picked it up and started running the other way.
“All we do in practice is play to the whistle,” Cole said. “I didn’t hear a whistle, so I picked up the ball and took off.”
When he was done running, he had himself a 65-yard return and gave his team a 24-6 lead.
“He was about the only one who had the presence of mind out of 22 kids,” Ice said. “We’re yelling at our guys to get on the football, and we even pulled a couple of guys off the field as they were running down the sidelines. We’re lucky it didn’t get called back.”
The 10-point swing late in the game deflated the Colts (3-1, 1-1) and cleared out about half the fans from the home side.
“They’re a pretty darn good football team,” Central coach Mark Goldenberg said of the Statesmen. “They’re extremely well-coached. They finished their drives, and we couldn’t finish ours.”
Robinson, a junior making his first varsity start at quarterback in place of senior Michael Daniels, was inconsistent against the state’s top-ranked team.
He finished 12 of 25 for 145 yards and a touchdown. That score came late in the third when a 35-yard pass Mikquel Johnson set up a 15-yard scoring strike to 6-2 sophomore Brandon Sheperd. Johnson finished with two catches for 39 yards while Sheperd led the Colts with six receptions for 88 yards.
Dilworth and Bozarth hooked up late in the third for another score – this time from 29 yards out. Dilworth, who finished 6 of 13 for 118 yards, pumped once before laying a perfect touch to Bozarth, who caught the pass in stride. The senior totaled four catches for 83 yards.
Cole was a freshman starter for the Statesmen, and Ice said he and Sheperd are “going to be a handful in the next couple of years.”
The Statesmen face another big test Friday against Parkway North, but Ice said his team is a confident group.
“They think they can win every week,” Ice said. “They’ve got enough talent to do it. We’re just going to have to limit the mistakes. We’ve got to learn to line up and play more disciplined, because against the good teams those things are going to come back and haunt you.”
Webster had lost to Central each of the previous three meetings, so Thursday’s win was especially sweet.
“It’s a big win,” Cole said. “We came out here, and we had to have it in our mind that we were going to win first. That’s all we do every week, go hard, come out and play.”
If the Statesmen live up to their top ranking by finishing the season in the Edwards Jones Dome, it would mean the junior varsity team would face Kirkwood on Thanksgiving Day.
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Cole said. “That’s what we’re trying to accomplish. That’s our goal.”
