Cole Reise scores last-second TD as Rainier shocks Toledo

Rainier High School football coach Terry Shaw was asked if he’d ever won a game where his team shot itself in the foot more often than his Mountaineers did Friday night.

They lost two fumbles, threw two interceptions, had a drive soured by an unusual penalty, and lost yardage on a punt play.

His answer was simple: No.

Well, now he has.

Taking over at their own 26-yard line with less than four minutes remaining, the No. 10 Mountaineers drove 74 yards on eight plays, scoring on a 6-yard run by Cole Reise with six seconds to play, stunning sixth-ranked Toledo, 12-7, in Rainier.

“That was a warrior effort,” Shaw said. “Toledo’s got some dudes over there. We weren’t supposed to win this game.”

For much of the way, it didn’t look like the Mountaineers would.

Early in the second quarter, the most devastating of Rainier’s four turnovers set up Toledo’s only score. On the 13th play of a drive that began in the first quarter, senior quarterback Zach Lofgren — who passed for 88 yards and rushed for 45 — had the Mountaineers on the doorstep of taking the first lead.

But his pass on fourth-and-goal from the Indians 2 was intercepted by Fano Arceo-Hansen, who returned it 71 yards. A touchdown-saving tackle by Lofgren knocked Arceo-Hansen down at the 9-yard line, but Ethan Buck punched in the touchdown on the next play, giving Toledo a 7-0 lead.

Rainier put together another promising drive just before the half, as a pass from Lofgren to Sean Mahaffey seemed to get them close, but the Mountaineers were flagged with an ineligible receiver downfield penalty and didn’t get it.

On its first possession after intermission, Rainier finally got on the board. Aided by one of 11 penalties Toledo would amass on the night, the Mountaineers quickly moved 73 yards on five plays to score on an 11-yard run by Brody Klein, who finished with 85 yards on 14 carries, and also caught four passes for 59 yards.

A two-point conversion attempt failed and Rainier trailed 7-6 for the next 20 minutes.

In the closing minutes, Klein made his presence felt on both sides of the ball.

With Toledo driving for what it hoped would be an insurance touchdown, Klein blitzed for a sack of Indians quarterback Bryce Marcil that flipped him into air. Two incompletions followed, and Rainier took over on downs to start its winning drive.

On the second play of that drive, Klein took a handoff on a draw play and broke up the right sideline, eluding and breaking tackles until he was taken down at the Toledo 23 for a 47-yard gain.

“That’s not me, that’s blockers,” Klein said.

Shaw pointed to strong downfield blocking by Mahaffey throughout the game, but also said “Brody made some full-grown man runs tonight.”

Rainier’s defense also impressed, giving up just 172 yards of total offense to a Toledo team that features two running backs who each gained more than 1,000 yards rushing in 2017 in Buck and Colbey Cherrington. Cherrington had just 52 yards Friday night, and Buck had 42.

Despite the challenges the Mountaineers sometimes created for themselves, Reise, who rushed for 70 yards on eight carries and caught two passes, stayed confident throughout.

“I had no doubt in my mind we were going to win that game,” he said.

This story was originally published September 8, 2018 at 12:10 AM.