Nottingham tops Steinert to give McGuire first win
HAMILTON >> Probably the only thing more memorable than Milo McGuire’s first coaching win itself, was the exclamation point he put on the victory.
With Nottingham High’s football team holding a six-point lead, it was preparing to kick the ball away from the Steinert 39 and see if the Spartans could drive at least 80 yards in less than 30 seconds. But after a Nottingham timeout, punter Marc Kauffman took the snap and stunned the massive crowd by heaving a game-clinching touchdown pass to Chris Williams to secure a 26-12 Northstar victory.
“I was a little confused,” Kauffman said. “I was more nervous in myself. I was like ‘I don’t believe he’s gonna trust me throwing the ball’ and when he said ‘Just throw the ball up so he could catch it,’ I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ I felt like it was a good throw.”
It was a near-perfect throw, as Williams got one step on his defender and hauled it in before running the final 10 yards to seal the victory.
“When we lined up to punt, they were gonna try to block the punt,” McGuire said. “Nobody was deep. I said ‘That’s gotta get it done. If they’re not gonna put anybody deep, we gotta go deep.’ The ball was a little inside, but Chris Williams is a heck of an athlete and he got up and caught that ball.”
Kauffman then ran in the only successful conversion for either side to cap a banner day, as the junior rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown while punting four times for a 33-yard average. Ja’ier Nelson, who sat out last week’s opening loss due to a discipline issue from last year, complemented Kauffman by running for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Most of their damage was done after intermission, as Nottingham (1-1) had just 69 rushing yards at halftime but exploded for 202 after the break. The running game enabled the Stars to rally twice from sixpoint deficits.
Steinert (0-2) took a 6-0 lead on its first possession when Will Laster’s 29-yard touchdown run capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive. The Spartans’ passing game was clicking in the first half as Nick Wright was 8-for-10 for 135 yards, including a 72-yarder to Laster that Steinert couldn’t capitalize on.
A different Nottingham team emerged after halftime, as Kauffman went 58 yards on the Stars’ first play to tie the game at 6-6. Steinert got a break later in the quarter when a bad snap on a Northstar punt put the ball at the 5-yard-line, and Laster scored on a 4-yard run to make it 12-6.
Once again, the Stars struck quickly. After the kickoff, Nelson went 60 yards on the first play to tie it.
“In the first half, I wasn’t getting the carries I wanted,” Nelson said. “In the second half, I just cleared my mind and said I was doing something.”
Kauffman set up the go-ahead touchdown with a 54-yard run, which resulted in an 11-yard TD run by Isaiah Barnes on an inside reverse.
Then came the shocking game-breaker, giving Nottingham its fourth straight win in the Battle of Klockner Road and the first for its new head coach.
“We got off the schneid, got the ball rolling and it’s extra icing on the cake that it’s Steinert,” McGuire said. “I had a lot of practice last year as active head coach. I guess I’m more composed (about my first win) because I know how it’s supposed to be. I expect to come out with a win. I guess I’m more jumping around on the inside.”
Steinert (0-2) Nottingham (1-1) 6060—12 0 0 12 14 — 26
S-Laster 29 run (kick failed) N-Kauffman 58 run (pass failed)
S-Laster 5 run (pass failed)
N-Nelson 60 run (kick failed)
N-Barnes 11 run (kick failed)
N-Williams 39 pass from Kauffman (Kauffman run)
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