CENTRAL SQUARE - In the last two seasons, Mike Coolbaugh has made innumerable plays to win games for Weedsport, helping the football team to a 20-2 record in that stretch, but on Saturday night he committed a penalty that effectively ended the Warriors' 2005 season.

Holding a 14-8 lead with less than three minutes in the game, Watertown IHC faced a third-and-10 from its own 17-yard line.

Weedsport had held Cavaliers' star running back Nunzio Doldo to five yards on the first two plays of the drive, and wide receiver Todd Tyler moved before the snap on the next play to push Watertown IHC inside its own 20.

At that point, the players in the Weedsport huddle thought another defensive stop was coming up and the subsequent Watertown punt would give them the ball with good field position for a game-tying drive.

“We felt real confident,” Coolbaugh said after the game.

The third down play, “Cav Right 26 Boot Yellow” gave Watertown IHC quarterback Mike Lazore the option to run or pass, and as he rolled out to his left, he saw receiver Tyler Pound open in the Weedsport secondary.

“The guy had a free release and nobody was covering him, and I just thought I had to get back, otherwise he was going to catch it,” Coolbaugh said. “I just threw my hands up in the air and kind of stopped and I bumped into him.”

Lazore, who had trouble connecting with his receivers all game, didn't reach Pound with the pass, but Coolbaugh had already made contact, prompting the flag from back judge Danny Solomon.

Solomon and crew chief Don Tremont chose not to comment on the play after the game.

“We're trained not to talk about the calls,” Tremont said as he was running off the field.

The play happened in front of the IHC sideline, giving IHC coach Dave Gebo a good view.

“Our receiver never really had a chance to go back for the ball,” Gebo said. “No doubt about it, that was the key to the game.”

Pound tried to go back for the ball, but couldn't get past Coolbaugh.

“I didn't even realize it was a penalty until the play was done,” he said. “And then I was just ecstatic after that.”

So, instead of punting on fourth-and-10 from the 17, IHC was awarded 10 yards and a first down.

Doldo ran for a first down on the next play and forced Weedsport coach Jason Trousdale to call his final timeout with less than two minutes remaining.

Two plays later, Doldo broke free through the middle of the Weedsport defense, carrying the ball to the Warriors' 5-yard line, where Lazore then downed the ball twice to run out the clock.

After the game, Coolbaugh and Trousdale both mentioned a similar play in the second quarter, where Weedsport receiver Nick Van Wie became entangled with an IHC defensive back but no interference call was made. However, the Warriors recovered to score their only touchdown of the game later in the drive when Van Wie went 49 yards down the left sideline on an option play.

Trousdale did his best to remain diplomatic about the calls.

“I'm just frustrated,” he said. “I'm not saying that we would have won the football game, but the officials shouldn't decide the game. Sometimes you don't get the calls, and that's what happened tonight.”