TUSCOLA — At halftime Friday, a Jim Ned fan wondered aloud "Can we win this game 3-0?"  About an hour later, he had his answer.  With only a second-quarter Peter Schiessler field goal to their name at the end of the night, the No. 3 Indians held off Coleman High School 3-0 in a game that was anything but pretty.

The Indians finished the night with five fumbles, one interception, and blue-chip quarterback Colt McCoy and his receivers struggled the entire night.  In fact, McCoy went into the locker room 4-of-15 for 102 yards at the break.  Two of those receptions were to his favorite target, senior wide receiver Cameron Holson, for a total of 68 yards.

The Indians offense was dealt a blow however when Holson left the game in the first quarter with an injury to his right ankle and did not return.  The Indians shifted almost exclusively to the run in the second half, with McCoy only throwing twice over the final 24 minutes - once for a 1-yard gain and the second time for an incompletion.  Gaining yardage on the ground wasn’t made easy either with the field completely waterlogged from a steady rain falling throughout the day and well into the night.

Meanwhile, the Bluecats’ defense was stout throughout, giving their team a chance to win on multiple occasions, especially in the fourth quarter.  Coleman offensive miscues and big Indian stands, though, kept the Bluecats well out of the red zone and out of field goal range in the final half.  Coleman did have one field goal opportunity in the closing stages of the first half, but the 19-yard attempt sailed wide left.  The deeper the game went in the second half it became clear one big play would break the game open, one way or the other.  That play finally came when senior Kolby Dean picked off a pass on the 4-yard line with 1:18 left to play, after which McCoy and the Indians were able to run out the clock. 

Neither the Jim Ned players nor coaching staff were available for comment, as coach Brad McCoy sent his team immediately into the locker room and held a closed-door meeting for more than an hour.  The win moves Jim Ned to 8-0 on the season while Coleman falls to 1-7.  Final game statistics were not available at press time.