BY BRIAN HARMON
For the Examiner
The Bellefontaine Chieftains handled cross county rival Benjamin Logan on Friday night 41-3 in AcuSport Stadium.
The Chiefs move their record to 3-1, while the Raiders slide to 1-3.
It was a balanced effort from both sides of the ball for the Chiefs.
Bellefontaine’s defense shut down the Raiders offense by forcing four turnovers, and providing the Chiefs offense with good field position all evening.
The BHS offense took advantage of those short fields and scored four touchdowns on five first-half possessions.
“I was happy with our whole team tonight, with regard to how we played real, solid complementary football,” said Bellefontaine head coach Jason Brown.
The Raiders got the football first, but fumbled the ball away on the third play from scrimmage, and the Chiefs took over on the Ben Logan 33-yard line.
Bellefontaine needed just six plays to punch it into the end zone, with Riley Neer scoring on 2-yard touchdown run to give the Chiefs an early 7-0 lead.
It was one of four TDs on the night for Neer, who handled most of the running back duties for the Chiefs in the absence of Chris Fogan, who sat out with an injury.
On the ensuing drive after the Bellefontaine TD, Ben Logan faced a potential “third-and-out possession”, but decided to go for it on fourth and less than a yard from their own 32-yard line.
But the Chiefs defense broke through the line and stopped the Raiders’ running back for a loss, turning the ball over on their own 31-yard line.
Once again, the Chiefs offense needed only six plays after Neer raced in from eight yards out to put the Chiefs up 13-0 with 8:45 left in the 1st quarter.
In the second quarter, the Raiders found some offensive momentum through the air.
Quarterback Kam Allen found Chase LeVan for a 52-yard pass that put the Raiders in a first-and-goal situation from the Bellefontaine 3-yard line.
But the Chiefs defense held strong again, forcing the Raiders to settle for a field goal, and Ben Logan’s Maximus Mannings booted it in from 21 yards to bring the score to 13-3.
Neer would stretch the Chiefs’ lead just four plays later though, as he raced into the end zone from 33] yards away to bring the Bellefontaine lead to 20-3.
After a Raider punt, the Chiefs took over the ball at their own 46-yard line with 2:51 left in the half.
This time, Bellefontaine relied on quarterback Tavien St. Clair to move the offense down the field, as he completed four passes on the drive, the last of which was a 13-yard touchdown to wide receiver Collin Deitsch, to send the Chiefs into halftime with a 27-3 lead.
The second half continued much the same, as Bellefontaine’s Neer found the end zone for his fourth and final time of the night with 2:34 left in the 3rd quarter, this time an 8-yarder to put Bellefontaine up 34-3.
After an Alex Caudill interception gave the Chiefs the ball first-and-goal from the Raiders 5-yard line, junior running back Harper Scott scored his first rushing touchdown of the season to put the final touches on the night.
The Raiders were led on the ground by Bryden Morris’ 10 carries for 21 yards. Allen finished the night 13-of-19 for 147 yards passing. LeVan led all receivers with five catches for 103 yards.
For Bellefontaine, Neer had 14 carries for 87 yards rushing, and the four touchdowns. St. Clair was 15-of-22 for 156 yards and one touchdown. Deitsch led the Chiefs with eight catches for 73 yards and 1 touchdown.
The Chiefs will play at Indian Lake on Friday, while Ben Logan will host Tecumseh.