Bellefontaine’s football team enjoyed a successful first half of the season. Now, the stakes become amplified.
The Chieftains, who are off to a 4-1 start, open Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail division action Friday at home against Tecumseh.
As has been the case in the past, the Kenton Trail division is very strong again this fall.
Of the six teams in the division, five have winning records and three of them are 4-1.
“Everyone starts 0-0 now. You have to go out and control what you can control every week and not look ahead,” said Bellefontaine head coach Jason Brown. “We are laser focused on Tecumseh and playing to our standard. We know these next five games are going to be slug fests.”
The Chiefs are coming off a 48-14 win over Indian Lake. The underdog Lakers challenged Bellefontaine early (the game was tied 7-7 after one quarter) before the Chiefs came alive over the final three quarters.
“That was a great teachable moment,” said Brown. “Those slow starts happen at all levels of football. We didn’t play to our standard early in the game. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt us last week. But we have to learn from it.”
In Tecumseh, Bellefontaine will match up with a squad that went 3-2 over the first half of its season.
The Arrows opened with wins over Fairborn (48-13) and Carroll (35-3) before falling in back-to-back games to Bellbrook (14-7) and Graham (25-22).
Tecumseh got back into the win column last week with a 35-14 victory over Benjamin Logan. That game was tied 7-7 at halftime, but the Arrows outscored the Raiders 28-7 in the second half to come away with the win.
“They are a big, physical football team,” said Brown of the Arrows. “They are a team that tests you at the line of scrimmage. They want to play the game in a phone booth.”
Friday’s contest will be a clash of contrasting offensive styles.
While the Chiefs like to spread the field and show balance on offense, the Arrows are a run-heavy attack that rarely puts the ball in the air.
The Arrows have rushed for 1,484 yards and 19 touchdowns on 211 attempts. They have completed just 10-of-19 passes for 243 yards with four interceptions and one TD.
The Arrows’ top offensive weapon is senior running back Lucas Berner, who leads the CBC in rushing with 807 yards. He has scored nine touchdowns.
Tecumseh will also sprinkle in senior Jackson Berner (36 carries, 238 yards, two TDs) and junior Tim Moore Jr. (22 rushes, 205 yards, two TDs) into its rushing attack.
“Defensively, we have to come up with some negative plays and get them behind schedule,” said Brown. “We can’t just allow them to chew up three, four or five yards every play.”
Bellefontaine’s offensive game plan will be to force the Arrows to have to make plays in space against the Chiefs’ arsenal of talented play makers.
“We want to continue to grow offensively and make them defend the entire field,” said Brown.