CINCINNATI — The first round of high school football playoffs in Ohio did not disappoint.

In one of the best high school football games of the year, Colerain led Elder in the final two minutes of regulation. Elder advanced, though, with a triple-overtime win.

Watch the highlights from that game and others in the video player on this page.

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CINCINNATI — Elder High School football coach Doug Ramsey won his 200th career game during a Division I, Region 4 first-round playoff game Friday as the host Panthers defeated Colerain 55-48 in triple overtime.

Ramsey entered the Ohio High School Athletic Association records for the most coaching wins in Ohio.

Ramsey has a record of 200-93 since becoming the Elder head coach in 1997. He led the Panthers to back-to-back Division I state titles in 2002 and 2003 and two other state finals (2019, 2008).

He was presented the game ball by longtime assistant coach Craig James on the rain-soaked field Friday night.

"I told (the team), 'Could you guys have made it a little easier,'" Ramsey said. "What a way to get to 200 right? You know a game like that playing against a really good team...we just kept fighting."

Elder senior Drew Ramsey, Doug's son, scored four touchdowns and surpassed 100 receptions this season.

"It means everything," Drew Ramsey said of the milestone. "I'm glad I was here when he could do it. My brother [Peyton] is coaching. The whole family is around so it's really special."

Senior wide receiver Andrew Harp had three touchdown receptions including one in the fourth quarter, another in overtime and his third in the second overtime for the Panthers (6-5), who advance to play at St. Xavier (9-2) in a Division I, Region 4 quarterfinal Nov. 5.

Colerain (5-6) was led by sophomore quarterback Zae Jennings who rushed for five touchdowns including a 92-yarder, a 76-yarder and a 56-yard score.

He is the first Colerain player to score five touchdowns in a game since September 2018.

"Zae had a hell of a night and so did a lot of our kids," Colerain coach Shawn Cutright said. "They gave it their all and left it on the field. What more can a coach ask from their players. We will wake up tomorrow and be better men with the effort and attitude we have in the game tonight."

Former Colerain quarterback Deante Smith-Moore - then a senior - rushed for five touchdowns against visiting Princeton Sept. 7, 2018, according to the GMC website.

Colerain led 20-6 with 8:32 left in the second quarter but the Panthers rallied to tie the game at 20 at halftime. A dramatic second half saw the game tied at 34 at the end of regulation. Elder's defense stopped Colerain on fourth down in the third overtime to seal the victory.

"I tell these guys once we get to the playoffs it's one and done," Doug Ramsey said. "You don't think about anything else."

Ramsey discussed with WCPO this past summer about the significance of coaching Elder football while the program has had a strong connection to his family. He has coached three sons in the program including Tanner, Peyton and current senior Drew.

Peyton Ramsey was coaching from the press box for the Panthers on Friday night.

"I remember being a part of the 150th [win]," Peyton Ramsey said. "I remember coming around as a kid. We're talking this week it probably feels like a lot more than 200 — at least it feels like it. This place is special. It means a lot to our family and to do it in this kind of fashion is something special."

New York Giants tight end Kyle Rudolph, a 2008 Elder graduate, said Ramsey has impacted countless lives.

"As I'm sure Doug will say, it's a true testament to all the great players who've played for him and all the coaches who've coached with him, but it all starts at the top with Elder Football," Rudolph said. "The consistency he's shown for almost three decades is second to none."

Rudolph remembers going to an Elder football camp as a kid and idolizing all the players at the time.

The U.S. Army All-American football player was also a basketball standout and said he enjoyed playing both sports. Ramsey was always supportive of Rudolph being a multi-sport athlete.

"Now as a former player who's closing in on 15 years since my last season there, being able to watch the countless lives he's continued to impact as the head football coach, it's amazing," Rudolph said.

Dallas Cowboys long snapper Jake McQuaide, a 2006 Elder graduate, said Ramsey is all about the game of football and the student-athletes.

"Coach Ramsey has done an incredible job leading the program at Elder," McQuaide told WCPO. "The Elder fan base loves its Panthers. There are two sides to that coin though. As the head coach, you have tons of support to lean on, but you also have thousands of people critiquing your every move. Coach Ramsey has done a great job maximizing the former and minimizing the latter. He makes sure to keep it about the kids."

Elder athletic director Kevin Espelage said Ramsey's impact is remarkable in 25 years as a head coach. Ramsey was an assistant for several years prior to that.

"Like most good coaches, Doug will probably defer a lot of the credit to his players, past and present, and coaches and parents," Espelage said. "But Doug Ramsey is a great coach and even better father, husband and a tremendous teacher. Yes, the credit for 200 wins should be dispersed to all involved but Doug Ramsey is the 'face of the franchise' so to speak. His impact goes beyond just the 200 wins, four state title game appearances and two state titles."

Kevin Welch

Former Elder athletic director Dave Dabbelt hired Ramsey as the head coach in 1997. Dabbelt, who was the Elder athletic director from 1990 to 2017, said Ramsey's legacy goes beyond the success on the field.

"To me the key thing is he's always cared about all the kids," Dabbelt said. "It's not just the starters, it's not just the studs — it's all of them. It creates to me a great team atmosphere, a good feeling within the community. I think that's the piece that's gone well."

CINCINNATI — Taft High School football coach Tyler Williams held the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference championship plaque near the sideline Friday night and started the joyous celebration with his team.

"It's a special moment for my team, for my community, for my family," Williams said late Friday night.

"It's been a great, great journey with these young men right now. We dealt with a lot of adversity throughout this whole regular season, he said, adding, "Just seeing these young men continue to fight each and every day and continue to overcome the adversity that we had been faced with – it's been amazing to watch them grow as a team."

Taft defeated Woodward 34-20 Friday night to capture the CMAC Red division title in the first season for Williams as the Taft head coach.

"Coach Tyler continues to build on the football tradition here at Taft," Taft athletic director Romell Salone said.

"The kids have adjusted and are buying into what he is teaching on and off the field. Our kids are building life relationships and lessons and are really looking forward to the playoffs with hopes to build on the history."

The Senators (7-2, 5-0 CMAC) are projected to be the No. 1 seed in Division V, Region 20, according to Joe Eitel.

The Senators are projected to host No. 16 seed Madeira (4-6) in the first round at 7 p.m. Oct. 30. The Ohio High School Athletic Association plans to officially announce the playoff pairings Sunday afternoon.

Williams, a former Colerain High School star who played at the University of Akron and professionally in the Indoor Football League (IFL), was named the Taft coach in February.

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Williams was an assistant coach at Colerain and St. Xavier prior to Taft. His quick success at Taft this season is not a surprise to St. X head coach Steve Specht.

"Tyler has an innate ability to connect with kids and hold them to a higher standard," Specht said. "He's just scratching the surface. He'll be a great one."

Williams said the expectation this preseason was that winning the CMAC title is a "mandatory" step during the season for the program.

"We're winning it with structure, we're winning it with discipline, we're winning it with class," Williams said.

Taft had to overcome multiple injuries this season leading to the conference title, but Williams has emphasized a next player up mantra for the team to get stronger overall.

Williams mentioned multiple players who played well Friday night including junior running back Gavin Crawford, who had an estimated 200-plus yards rushing and five touchdowns.

Defensively, senior linebacker Everett Brown had a key interception. Senior Jakeim Sullivan has six interceptions this season while senior Keyandre Larry has eight interceptions.

Williams said his message to the team entering the playoffs this weekend is to stay patient before the official announcement on the pairings is made by the OHSAA on Sunday.

"Our kids are definitely putting themselves in a position to make a great run in the playoffs," Williams said.

CINCINNATI — The final Friday night of the high school football regular season was full of meaningful games.

Lakota West locked-up its second consecutive outright GMC championship with a win over rival Lakota East.

Princeton secured the second spot in the GMC with a win over Colerain.

Anderson was held to just two offensive touchdowns, but used a kickoff return touchdown to separate itself from Turpin in the Battle of Forest Hills.

Badin ended McNicholas’ unbeaten run to claim the top spot in the GCL-Coed league.

Elder jumped on La Salle early, and held-off the Lancers late to win the final GCL-South matchup of the regular season.

Reading beat Indian Hill for the first time in nearly a decade with a late touchdown.

Cooper crushed Highlands in a Northern Kentucky district showdown.

See action from these games and others in the videos on this page!

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CINCINNATI — It's Friday in late August so that means high school football is back in Ohio.

Some games are continuing as scheduled, like Lakota West at Colerain, but some teams had to cancel their games due to the pandemic.

Fenwick and Kings high schools both will not be playing in their games since they both had positive COVID-19 cases. However, the teams they were supposed to play, Edgewood and Winton Woods, will play against each other instead.

Ohio's Governor Mike DeWine gave the green light to high school football teams to play earlier in August, but he did give some restrictions in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

One of the changes will be that game spectators will be limited to players' parents, family members or those closest to the student-athlete. Teams are also only allowed to dress 60 players. High school marching bands will also only be allowed to perform at their home games.

While football starts in Ohio, Kentucky's Board of Education is supposed to meet virtually Friday with the Kentucky High School Athletic Association's Board of Control to discuss fall sports moving forward. The current plan is for Kentucky teams to start their seasons on Sept. 11.

CINCINNATI — The high school football scene was impacted by severe weather around the Greater Cincinnati area on Friday night.

Multiple games were in weather delays prior to scheduled kickoff times. Some games were scheduled to start later than the common 7 p.m. kickoff due to heat concerns. The lightning just added to the weather situation.

The Clinton-Massie (0-0) at Anderson (0-1) game was postponed until 10 a.m. Saturday.
The game had been a Spectrum News 1 game of the week in Southwest Ohio.

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"We fought through more adversity last year than ever before and we've been trained to be prepared for any opportunity at any moment," Anderson coach Evan Dreyer told WCPO.

"I think things like this make your program and teams better. We want to be a playoff team, so we must fight through adversity. We must adapt and overcome to be a great football team."

The Princeton (1-0) at Loveland (0-1) game is postponed until 10 a.m. Saturday. There was a power outage plus lightning on Friday, according to Loveland coach Andy Cruse.

The Lakota East (0-1) at Milford (1-0) game is postponed until 9 a.m., according to the Milford athletic department.

The Holy Cross (1-0) at Walton-Verona (0-1) game is postponed until 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Franklin (0-1) at Beavercreek (0-1) game is postponed until 10 a.m. Saturday.

WCPO will continue to update this story.

CINCINNATI — Tyler Williams can't wait to get started as the Taft High School head football coach.

"I love it," Williams told WCPO Friday night.

"It's just a great opportunity for me. It's an even better opportunity for these young men because I get to give all the knowledge that I've received over the past years at the programs I've been at."

Williams, a former Colerain High School standout who played at the University of Akron and professionally in the Indoor Football League (IFL), was named the Senators' coach on Friday night.

Williams succeeds Jeff Cargile, who was relieved of his duties earlier this school year.

Williams plans to meet the team next week. He said he's looking forward to engaging the community, too.

"Coach Williams' passion and energy for football and his focus on developing our student-athletes make him the ideal fit for our program, school and community," Taft principal Ceair Baggett said in a statement.

Taft, a Division V, Region 20 program, has six consecutive postseason appearances. Taft had a 4-2 record in 2020. All participating Ohio teams were eligible for the playoffs in 2020.

Williams said several family members attended Taft including his father, Terrell Williams, who is the halfbacks and strength training coach at St. Xavier. Tyler Williams also has grandparents, aunts and uncles who attended the school.

"They bleed green and gold and that's all I heard growing up," Williams said. "Having the opportunity to coach there - I had to jump on it. It's great for me and my family and I'm very excited to be a part of this success, this journey," Williams said.

Tyler Williams, a 2011 graduate, had been Colerain's offensive coordinator the past two seasons.

Prior to that, he coached the running backs and punt returners at St. Xavier in 2017 and 2018. Williams was also the Colerain quarterbacks and running backs coach in 2016.

Williams credited Lakota West coach Tom Bolden, Colerain coach Shawn Cutright and St. Xavier coach Steve Specht for helping him to be prepared to be a head coach.

"I think the world of Tyler Williams," Specht said. "He's a carbon copy of his father, Terrell. He cares deeply about people and understands kids. Taft is fortunate to have him. He will make a difference."

Williams earned several accomplishments as a high school, college and pro player. He earned several individual honors in high school and had a 30-5 record at Colerain during a time that included him playing quarterback and running back.

He was third in kick return yards in the Mid-American Conference as a true freshman at Akron in 2012, according to a news release.

He also had several postseason and career IFL honors. He had 2,554 all-purpose yards in the IFL in 2017 as a kicker returner and running back.

"His many accomplishments both on and off the field speak for themselves," Taft High School said in a statement Friday night.