LIVERPOOL — Liverpool’s Kaleb Ohlemacher lined up on the track with his girlfriend, Bianca Morales. He wore his Warriors jersey and pads, but also donned a sash and a golden crown. It was halftime, and Ohlemacher was homecoming king.

Moments earlier, Ohlemacher made a 16-yard catch down the right sideline to put Liverpool at the 5 yard line. That set up a Warriors touchdown right before halftime to take the lead into the locker room. Before exiting, though, Ohlemacher and three of his teammates were announced as part of the homecoming court.

“They’re high school kids,” Liverpool head coach David Mancuso said. “It’s girls, it’s Friday night lights, it’s all the fun stuff. So I just let them go. It’s funny because somebody questioned me on that and I go, trust me, the only way it’s gonna affect them is if I don’t let them go and I bring them up to the locker room with me.”

Ohlemacher hauled in four passes for 70 yards and returned a punt for 38. Part of a Liverpool (3-2) team that relies on a “pick your poison” running duo, it was the 6-foot-2 Ohlemacher who made the biggest impact on the game via the air. His timely contributions helped lead the Warriors to a 22-8 win over Corcoran (1-4) on Friday night at Liverpool High School, moving Liverpool’s win streak to three-straight games.

“The distractions, it’s all fun and games with homecoming,” Ohlemacher said, “but when it comes down to it, we had to get the W.”

Corcoran scored on its first drive. And after exchanging the ball back and forth once, Liverpool looked like it had stalled again. The Warriors faced a fourth-and-10 from the 28-yard line, too deep for a field goal attempt but too close to punt. They went for it.

Alex Ruston rolled to his left and threw the ball up, toward the sideline. Ohlemacher leaped with his chest pointed back toward the line of scrimmage and legs splayed outward, a variation on a back-shoulder pass. And he hauled it in right to his numbers, an 18-yard gain to pick up the first down before Liverpool scored plays later to tie the game.

“I know that I can just throw it up to him and bet that he’s going to go get it and make a safe play on the ball,” Ruston said.

By the time Ruston was throwing to Ohlemacher inside a minute to go in the first half, he trusted his receiver to bring the ball down. And that third catch of the half set up Liverpool’s go-ahead score with 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter. And he wasn’t done.

On Liverpool’s first drive of the second half, Ruston relied on the athleticism of Ohlemacher once more. The wideout ran a go route down the left sideline and Ruston just threw a line-drive toward Ohlemacher, who was even with the Cougars’ defensive back. The Warriors’ receiver planted his feet, rose up and snatched the ball with his back almost parallel to the ground. As he fell with the defender wrapped around him, Ohlemacher tapped his right foot in bounds for a clean catch.

“He blew my mind tonight because I didn’t know he could catch the ball that well,” Mancuso said. “To do it consistently was just phenomenal.”

That drive ended in a Liverpool punt. Late in the third quarter, Ohlemacher had one more stamp to put on the game, this time on special teams.

Corcoran’s punter booted the ball high and inside the Warriors’ 20. Ohlemacher received the ball near the left hashmark on his own 15-yard line. He saw three blockers ahead of him to his left, he said, and followed them. Ohlemacher cut tight around the left hip of his widest teammate and up the sideline, sprinting past midfield. By the time he was brought down, he’d picked up 38 yards on the return. Liverpool finished that drive with a score, too, to effectively ice the game.

“I knew it was gonna be a big play,” Ohlemacher said of the return, “and it set the tone really for the rest of the game.”

After the game, the field’s lights reflected off Ohlemacher’s head, just as they had at halftime when he donned the gold crown. This time, there was no crown. Just his silver mouthpiece. The halftime festivities had occurred more than an hour before, and the spectators had cleared out and lit a bonfire near the field’s parking lot.

Ohlemacher wasn’t in a rush to leave, though. His teammates patted him on the back as they walked by or leaned in past his shoulder, as if they wanted to listen in.

“It’s all love here at Liverpool,” Ohlemacher said. “Everybody’s supporting each other, everybody’s just having fun here at homecoming.”

Ohlemacher didn’t need the crown anymore. His play stood out by itself.

Published on September 28, 2018 at 11:18 pm

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