COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio - With two weeks left in the regular season, Colerain clinched a tie for first place in the GMC with a 28-0 win over Fairfield on Friday.
The Indians held the the state's No. 1 team to seven first-half points, but Colerain found the end zone once in the third frame and twice more in the fourth to seal it. The Cardinals held Fairfield to 147 yards of offense, including just 54 on the ground on 30 carries.
“We knew there were two great defenses,” Colerain coach Tom Bolden said. “It was billed up to what it was, and (Fairfield) has got a tremendous defense, and it was a battle.”
Monalo Caldwell rushed 21 times for 141 yards and a touchdown, and Deante Smith-Moore gained 86 rushing yards and scored once in 14 carries for Colerain.
“(We) let Monalo do his thing, and he’s 217 pounds of muscle, and that wears on teams after awhile,” Bolden said.
J.J. Davis also scored a rushing TD, and Keontae Jones returned a punt 72 yards for the other Cardinals' touchdown.
“At halftime, Coach B gave us a great speech, and we had to do our thing and run the ball,” Caldwell said.
Defensively, the Cardinals recorded five sacks including two by Kawantay Stanley, and they intercepted two passes – one by Kyle Bolden and the other by Amir Riep.
It was the second shutout of the season for Colerain, and the fifth time this year it has held an opponent to single-digit scoring.
“If we don’t score, we know our defense can stop anybody so we just keep our heads up because we know we’ll get another series,” Caldwell said.
The Cardinals, who are 8-0, are two games away from their first unbeaten regular season since 2013 and will travel to Lakota West next week.
Five teams are two games back of the Cardinals in the conference, including Fairfield, Mason and Lakota East. Colerain has beaten the former two and does not play the latter.
Fairfield dropped its second straight game after a 5-1 start and will host Lakota East next week in a battle of teams tied for second place in the GMC.
LISTEN: The TriStateFootball.com crew chats with Colerain linebacker Kyle Bolden after the win.
