MiddletownJournal.com

COLERAIN TWP. — It went from bad to worse for the Middletown Middies Friday night.

After spotting Colerain High 14 points before advancing the ball for positive yardage, Middletown found itself spiraling out of control as the state's No. 2 ranked team in Division I devoured its Greater Miami Conference foe 63-13 on homecoming night.

Middletown (3-2, 1-1 GMC) punted on its first five possessions and fell into a 28-0 hole before finally putting a touchdown on the scoreboard.

"I couldn't be more disappointed," Middletown coach Ron Johnson said. "We had a good week of preparation, but we didn't match the level of intensity they had. I'm going to have to look at the film and our players in the eye and see what went wrong."

Johnson also pointed the finger at himself.

"The disappointment starts with me," he said. "We did a poor job of preparing these guys to play."

The disappointment didn't end there, however. Middletown was flagged seven times for 87 yards, including an unsportsmanlike conduct call that helped set Colerain up for its fifth touchdown after a fumble recovery by Middletown was reversed on a penalty.

Then, with 7:36 left in the third quarter, senior linebacker Da'Jouir Cornnielies was ejected from the game after being flagged for a personal foul away from the play. That penalty brought both teams onto the field for a brief skirmish.

"We lost our composure and our focus from the first snap of the game," Johnson said. "Things just spiraled out of control from there, and we couldn't regain it."

Colerain, known as a strong running team, actually opened its offense up in the first half, allowing Doug Reynolds to take on the Middies man-to-man coverage. He was successful completing 4-of-4 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns — both to Ravelle Sadler — in the first half.

"I've said from the beginning that Doug would be a weapon for us," Colerain coach Tom Bolden said. "He can make things happen with his arm and his legs."

Reynolds rushed the ball six times for 62 yards, while Dominique Sherrer led the Cardinals ground game with 123 yards on 15 carries and four touchdowns.

The Middies finally reached the end zone when Phillip Barnett caught a 53-yard touchdown strike from Caleb Watkins with 6:47 left in the first half. J.J. Greenwood caught a 38-yard pass from Watkins in the fourth quarter.

Colerain amassed 533 yards of total offense.