BOARDMAN, OHIO- October 4, 2024: Warren G. Harding Raiders vs Boardman Spartans at Spartan Stadium 2nd qtr., Harding's Chaz Coleman (1) picks up 6 yards as Boardman's Anthony Nespeca (32) makes the tackle. MICHAEL G. TAYLOR | TRIBUNE-VINDICATOR

BOARDMAN — Warren G. Harding needed its best player to rise to the occasion on Friday night to get past Boardman.

Chaz Coleman, a Division I recruit with a myriad of offers from Power Four programs, scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:33 left to lift the Raiders to a 19-14 victory over the Spartans in a key conference and playoff seedings matchup.

With Harding down several players due to injury, including running back MiKing Adair, the Raiders leaned heavily on Coleman, especially in the run game, and he answered the call. Coleman completed 7-of-8 of his passes for 84 yards, while also carrying the ball 24 times for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

“The game plan will always be, find a way to win,” Harding head coach Matt Richardson said. “We needed Chaz to carry the ball tonight. Tomorrow or next week, we might need (Stephen) Sims to carry the ball. The next night is just whatever. We’re just going to try to find a way to win the football game.”

The Raiders were hurt by mistakes throughout the game, including nine penalties, a couple of botched snaps, a fumble and even a blocked punt.

Still, Harding weathered the early storm in the first half, made the necessary adjustments in the second half and came back to win the game in the second half.

“We are not a good enough team to play a perfect game,” Richardson said. “We made some mistakes, but we hold our hat on just effort.”

Boardman capitalized on a pair of Harding’s mistakes in the first half.

After a sluggish start offensively for both teams, the Spartans blocked a Coleman punt in plus territory. Boardman then took advantage of the short field and drove down for the opening score, punching it into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run by Keith Smith Jr. near the end of the first quarter.

Needing a score, the Raiders converted a third-and-long with a 25-yard pass play from Coleman to Airiz Coleman Bey. After another pair of passes across the middle of the field from Coleman moved the ball to the 1-yard line, he piled into the end zone early in the second quarter on a quarterback keeper to tie things up.

However, on its next drive, Harding’s Marcus Crum Jr. was stripped of the ball by a Boardman defender after hauling in a screen pass from Coleman. The Spartans recovered the fumble and drove down to score a few plays later on another short touchdown run from Smith Jr. — this one from 4 yards out.

At halftime, Boardman led 14-7. The second half, however, belonged to Harding.

“We made some adjustments at halftime,” Richardson said. “Really, we’re having a little bit of personnel issues just because we’re down a couple guys and we’re mixing guys in and out. So it messed us up a little bit in the first half. We got it together in the second half.”

After giving up a pair of scores in the first half, the Raiders’ defense held Boardman scoreless after halftime. Harding limited Boardman’s Wing T run game, while also driving down the field for a pair of touchdowns themselves.

“With the type of offense they are, it’s just grind, grind, grind,” Richardson said. “(You gotta) keep playing, make plays. They’re going to keep giving you the same thing. They do a great job.”

The Spartans finished with just 127 total yards and averaged only 3.4 yards per carry.

“I think we hurt ourselves in the run game,” Boardman head coach DJ Dota said. “I felt like we could have run the ball better. We got some guys banged up, so we had to maneuver some guys around in the second half. We had five or six guys that are starters sitting on the sidelines in the second half. But that’s not an excuse. All the guys know they gotta step up. We just gotta execute better.”

Coleman Bey darted down the left sideline for a 33-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter. But after Harding failed on the two-point try, the Raiders still trailed.

Harding got the ball back with about six minutes left and drove down the field all the way to the goal line, bleeding clock in the process, where Coleman’s 8-yard touchdown run with 1:33 to go gave the Raiders their first lead of the game.

Boardman got the ball back with 1:28 left with a chance to drive down and win the game, but quarterback Zach Haus was intercepted by Coleman Bey on 4th-and-long to seal the deal for the Raiders.

“We’re always going to be in football games like this every week,” Dota said. “We’re in the same scenario where it comes down to the last series of the game, whether we’re trying to stop somebody or we’re trying to score. So our guys know that it’s always going to be a four-quarter game. We just gotta finish it better.”

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