PLAIN CITY — Bellefontaine slugged it out admirably with the state’s second-ranked Division III team here Friday, but turnovers and mistakes cost the Chiefs a chance to pull off a season-defining victory. Bellefontaine jumped out to a 14-0 lead before losing steam and allowing the Pioneers to fight back for a 31-21 win in a Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail division football game.
The Chiefs, who committed three turnovers and gave up several big third-down plays in the second half, fall to 4-3 overall and 0-2 in the CBC. Jonathan Alder stays unbeaten at 7-0, 2-0. “We can’t keep turning the ball over and we can’t continue to give up big plays on defense,” said Bellefontaine head coach Toby Smith. “We are a good enough team to win a game like this if we stop making mistakes.
“Now, the focus is to win out. We have to do everything better than we are now. If we do that, we’ll have the opportunity to win the rest of our games.” Bellefontaine outgained the Pioneers 288-274 in total yards, but the Chiefs lost a fumble and were picked off twice. The Chiefs dominated most of the first half as they built a 14-0 lead behind a 6-yard Garrett Gross touchdown run in the first quarter and a 1-yard Grant Smith TD run with 37 seconds left in the second period. In what proved to be the turning point of the game, though, the Pioneers put together a 31-second scoring drive to grab the momentum going into halftime. J.T. Keith tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Izzard to make the score 14-7 with six seconds remaining until halftime. “That was absolutely gigantic,” said Jonathan Alder head coach Brett Glass. “A lot of teams would have just taken a knee there, but we got a decent return and had pretty good field position. I trust our guys to make plays and that’s what they did.”
The Pioneers then marched the ball down the field on their first offensive series of the second half, getting a 20-yard field goal from Dylan Moore to cut Bellefontaine’s lead to four points at 14-10. “We allowed them to get some momentum before halftime, but we held them to a field goal on that first series of the second half and it felt like we were still in a pretty good position,” said Smith. On the first play of the ensuing Bellefontaine possession, the Pioneers’ Drew Begin stepped in front of a BHS pass to give the Pioneers the ball at the Chieftain 21-yard line. On a third-and-seven, Keith connected with Izzard for an 18-yard TD pass that put the Pioneers up 17-14 with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter. Jonathan Alder increased its lead to 10 points early in the fourth quarter when Keith and Izzard combined for another TD, this one a 7-yard scoring strike that gave the hosts a 24-14 lead.
Bellefontaine got back to within striking distance on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Tucker Newland with 4:19 remaining in the game. That pulled the Chiefs to within three at 24-21. However, the Pioneers quickly answered with a scoring drive that put the game away. Jacob Fenik found the end zone on a 3-yard TD run with 2:14 left.
The Chiefs finished with 156 yards on the ground and another 132 in the air. Gross had 78 yards on 14 carries and Smith had 48 yards on 20 rushes. Smith was 12-of-18 passing. Ethan Moore was the top receiver with six catches for 57 yards. Defensively, BHS was sparked by an interception from Ty Leeper. Bellefontaine limited the Pioneers to 86 rushing yards on 34 attempts. Jonathan Alder was able to do some damage throwing the ball, with Keith going 13-of-18 for 188 yards and the three TD passes to Izzard.
The Chiefs are back in action Friday at home for Homecoming against Kenton Ridge.