NEW CARLISLE — Bellefontaine’s defense againdominated and the passing game continued its progress in a shutout of host Tecumseh here Friday.
Bellefontaine’s Brandon Hayes (3) and Tank Pence (21) close in on Tecumseh’s Cyle Wells (24) during their game Friday in New Carlisle. (EXAMINER PHOTO | TONY BARRETT)
The Chiefs limited the Arrows to only 188 yards of offense and Grant Smith threw two long touchdown passes to Jack Clement to fuel a 21-0 victory in a key Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail division football game.
Bellefontaine is now 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the CBC. The Arrows drop to 4-3, 1-1.
“I think we are getting better,” said Bellefontaine head coach Toby Smith. “The kids are doing a good job of what they are being asked to do.”
Tecumseh’s Wing T offense struggled to get much going against the Chiefs’ stingy defensive unit.
Bellefontaine held the Arrows to 156 rushing yards on 39 carries.
“With this style of game, there are going to be fewer possession and you have to stay disciplined,” said Smith. “The kids did a good job again.”
The Chiefs were efficient offensively, gaining 225 rushing yards on 39 carries and 117 passing yards on three completions.
“Give a lot of credit to Bellefontaine,” said Tecumseh head coach Chris Cory. “They are a great football team. I am proud of our guys for hanging in there.
“For most of the night, we went toe-to-toe with a playoff team. We just made too many little mistakes and you can’t do that against a team like Bellefontaine.”
After forcing Tecumseh to punt on its first offensive series, Bellefontaine started at its own 4-yard line and drove the length of the field in 11 plays.
The drive was capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Clement. Derek Robb’s extra-point kick put the Chiefs up 7-0 with 3:55 left in the opening quarter.
Smith and Clement connected again in the second quarter. This time Smith found Clement along the sideline and Clement dashed to the end zone for a 55- yard touchdown. Robb added the extra point to give the Chiefs a 14-0 lead.
Bellefontaine added a 19- yard touchdown run by Garrett Gross in the third quarter to finish off the Arrows.
“You are not going to blow out a team like Tecumseh because there are minimal possessions,” said Smith. “You have to take advantage of your opportunities with the football and I thought we did a pretty good job executing tonight.”
The Chiefs swarmed to the ball all night. Senior linebacker D.J. McDonald piled up 20 tackles to lead the way, while sophomore Ty Leeper made 15 tackles and Brandon Hayes had 10.
“With the offense we run, we can’t afford to have third and longs and we can’t have penalties that put us behind the chains,” said Cory.
“Bellefontaine did a good job of keeping us off schedule. Our goal is to get three or four yards every play, and we struggled to do that.”
Gross led a workmanlike rushing effort for the Chiefs with 88 yards on 13 carries. Smith tallied 83 yards on 13 carries.
Clement had the two grabs for 98 yards and Declan Ashcraft added one catch for 19 yards. Ashcraft also had an interception on defense.
Bellefontaine will now turn its attention to a big league game against Jonathan Alder on Friday for homecoming.
CHIEFS @ ARROWS
Tecumseh 0 • 0 • 0 • 0 – 0
Bellefontaine 7 • 7 • 7 • 0 – 21
TEAM STATISTICS TEC • BFN
First downs 12 • 14
Total net yards 188 • 342
Rushes/yards 39/156 • 39/225
Passing 32 • 117
Comp-att-int 5-16-1 • 3-6-1
Punts/avg 2/44 • 2/30.5
Fumbles-lost 0-0 • 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-47 • 7-75
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