XENIA, Ohio — The "Ice Man" was clutch yet again.
Little Miami freshman kicker Gunnar Hoffman kicked a game-winning field in double overtime as the visiting Panthers upset previously undefeated Xenia 27-24 Friday night in a Division II, Region 8 first-round playoff football game.
"Everybody is through the roof excited," Little Miami coach Caleb Jones said. "Fans, Panther nation is out there. Our school administration, coaches — everybody has just got a bolt of energy into our system right now."
Little Miami was the only No. 15 seed to defeat a No. 2 seed during the first round across the state on Friday night, according to the Ohio Fantastic 50.
"Unbelievable," Jones said Saturday morning. "Just really excited for our program and our kids that stepped up to prove to everyone that we deserve to be in that playoff spot. The coaching staff is ecstatic; the kids executed our game plan to a tee and couldn't ask for anything better. Everybody is riding high right now."
Little Miami (4-7) advances to play at Anderson (6-5) No. 4 in a Division II regional quarterfinal Nov. 4.
Friday night was the second straight week that Hoffman made a game-winning kick. His 36-yarder at Walnut Hills on Oct. 21 gave the Panthers a 24-21 win in the regular-season finale.
Hoffman made two field goals Friday night — both in overtime. Jones couldn't be more proud of Hoffman.
"We just call him the Ice Man now," Jones said. "He just steps up when he's out there ready to kick the ball at any point. If somebody wants to call a timeout on him, it doesn't faze him at all."
Jones, who went to bed at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, said the Panthers will continue to cherish the memorable victory from Friday night before looking ahead to its second matchup with Anderson this season.
Jones emphasized it was a collective effort on Friday night on both sides of the ball.
Several players have stepped up in the latter half of the season including senior quarterback Grant Maupin (1,747 yards passing entering Friday), senior wide receiver/defensive back Brayden Bischoff (820 yards receiving and 71 tackles entering Friday), sophomore linebacker Eli Schoellman (79 tackles), junior running back Will Rom among others.
"There is no secret we've taken our lumps this year as far as our program and our wins and losses," Jones said. "But our program is still really good. Our kids are still bought in. It's Week 11 — a lot of kids could've shut down and not continued to play for us with the season we've had. But the leadership we have in our program - kids stepped up to rise to that occasion. We play tough competition week in and week out."
