Saturday, August 25, 2001

The finishing touch

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

Few people in attendance at Frost-Kalnow Stadium Friday night will argue the fact that Columbian's season got off to an electric start.

The lesson learned, though, was that it's the finish that counts.

Brett Krupp's two kickoff returns for scores in the first quarter got the Tornadoes off to a lightning-quick start, but Fostoria stole TC's thunder with an astounding finish to walk away with a 34-33 victory.

The last time the Redmen defeated the Tornadoes, in 1996, was also the last time TC dropped a non-league game.

"Three times we had a chance to put the game away and we didn't," Columbian coach Steve Gilbert said. "And a good team, which they are, will take advantage of that. They played hard and our kids played hard. We just didn't make the key plays when we had to. In games like this, with two good football teams, it's going to come down to who makes the key plays, and we didn't."

Fostoria found victory with 57 seconds remaining when Luis Campos snuck in from 2 yards out to bring the Redmen within 33-32. The Redmen were set to kick the PAT to tie the game, but after the Tornadoes jumped offside, coach Tom Grine elected to go for the win.

Junior tailback Lee Vitte (128 yards, 30 carries) scored the extras easily on a blast up the middle.

"My gut was wrenching there at the end, whether to go for one or two," Fostoria coach Tom Grine said. "I'm glad they jumped; that made it a lot easier. I thought we had the momentum, but I didn't want to go to overtime. Once they jumped it was automatic because they hadn't stopped us for less than four or five yards the last couple drives."

Unlike the first half when the Redmen couldn't stop, well, Krupp.

Krupp, who finished with 184 yards on 19 carries, provided an ideal start to the season when he took the opening kickoff and sprinted 92 yards untouched to give the Tornadoes a 6-0 lead.

Three plays later Fostoria quarterback Treyvon McBeth fumbled away an option pitch, which Columbian fell on at the Fostoria 9.

Krupp took a toss on the next play and, again untouched, reached the end zone for a 12-0 lead with 10:26 showing in the first quarter.

Fostoria answered two possessions later when fullback Jeremy Bennett put the finishing touch on a seven-play, 53-yard drive with a 4-yard TD blast, making it 12-6.

But Fostoria's inauspicious start wasn't over. Krupp struck again on the kickoff, this time sprinting 89 yards for a score, giving the Tornadoes a 19-6 lead without the benefit of a first down.

"I thought we could break one," Gilbert said. "In first games the special teams are usually the big question, and we broke two of them. So we did some things right, but we didn't capitalize when we needed to, and that's the thing that hurts. We could have put them away, but we didn't. We let them hang around. They're a good football team, and we're a good football team. We just have to get better."

The Tornadoes appeared well on their way to victory by halftime, taking a 33-19 lead on two more scores by Krupp, an 8-yard run and a 52-yard run before the Redmen grabbed the slightest measure of momentum.

It looked as though TC was going to take a 40-19 advantage in the second quarter when Krupp, who had 155 yards on 10 first-half carries, broke a 45-yard run to the Fostoria 2 with three minutes remaining.

But Steve Lee fumbled on the next play, and Fostoria recovered.

Columbian, though, never did.

"The frustrating thing is that we let it slip out of our hands," Gilbert said. "We're at point-blank range, and if we put it in we're up 40-19 at halftime. I think Steve just tried to do too much when he should have just went down."

The Redmen ran out the clock in the first half, then took the second-half kickoff and plowed 70 yards in 16 plays, chewing up 8:03 on the clock. Campos provided the points with a plunge from the 2 and Aaron Burch's PAT made it 33-26.

"It could have been 40-19 at halftime so that stop was huge because it gave ourselves a chance to stay in the game," Grine said. "We knew we could not get behind any more than we already were so, ideally, we wanted to come out and score to start the second. We did, and that was just huge.

"It was a fantastic effort by our defense in the second half," he said. "I just said a few words in the locker room and turned it over to our seniors because I have great faith in their ability and their leadership."

Columbian again had a chance to get some separation in the fourth quarter, but a 10-play, 41-yard drive fizzled out at the Fostoria 5 when the Redmen's Rene Martinez stopped Krupp for no gain on fourth-and-2 with 6:28 remaining. Krupp also got nothing on third down, the only two carries he had that didn't go for positive yardage.

"It bothers me when we're at point-blank and don't get it in," Gilbert said. "We had the play we wanted. We had them outflanked. Everything was there, we just got outhustled at the point of attack, and there's no reason for that."

The Tornadoes had a third opportunity to sew things up when Dan Lutz stepped in front a McBeth pass with 2:46 showing, setting up Columbian at its 20-yard line.

But on the next play, Krupp put the ball on the ground and again Fostoria was there to capitalize.

Vitte carried three times to the TC 3, setting up Campos for the game-winner.

"We told the kids that it's not where you start, it's where you finish," Gilbert said. "And we've got nine games to go, so what are we going to do? Those are the choices we have to make. We'll get it done.

"We needed a war and we got one," he said. "But we found out it's 48 minutes of football, not 47."