URBANA — Bellefontaine earned payback for an overtime loss to Urbana last season with a 42-0 dismantling of the Hillclimbers here Friday night.
The Chiefs racked up 388 yards of offense in the first half to build a 35-0 halftime lead.
Bellefontaine’s Treston Howell dives into the end zone for a touchdown during the first quarter of Friday’s game against Urbana. (EXAMINER PHOTO | TONY BARRETT)
“We took advantage of what was given to us and the kids executed,” said Bellefontaine head coach Toby Smith. “Offensively and defensively, it was a complete team effort.”
Bellefontaine improved its record to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail division. Urbana drops to 1-6, 0-2.
The Chiefs finished with 439 yards, while limiting Urbana to just 75 yards. The Hillclimbers had negative six rushing yards on 17 attempts.
“Any time you get a shutout, you are happy about it,” said Smith. “We feel really good about the progression we have seen from our defense from Game 1 until now.”
Senior running back Treston Howell enjoyed his best game as a Chieftain with 149 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. He scored on runs of 11 and 47 yards.
Junior quarterback Dezmin Lyburtus was 6-of-10 passing for 111 yards and rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries, while senior Hayden Nease added to his impressive campaign with three more touchdowns.
“We got better tonight, but we still have a big ceiling for improvement,” said Smith. “We have a long way to go before we get to where we need to be.”
Bellefontaine scored on its first offensive series of the game after Urbana turned the ball over on downs at the Chieftain 45-yard line.
Howell capped a 8-play drive with an 11-yard touchdown jaunt. Derek Robb knocked through the first of six extra-point kicks to put the Chiefs up 7-0 at the 5:50 mark of the opening quarter.
Bellefontaine forced the Hillclimbers to punt on their ensuing possession. The Chiefs then marched 70 yards on 12 plays, with Lyburtus finding the end zone on a 2-yard keeper for a 14-0 lead.
The Chiefs pushed their lead to 21-0 early in the second period on a 46-yard TD sprint by Nease.
Urbana then went three-and-out and punted. Bellefontaine needed just four plays to reach the end zone. Lyburtus found Nease wide open for a 31-yard TD that gave the Chiefs a 28-0 lead with 8:22 left until halftime.
Nease added his third touchdown of the first half when he barreled into the end zone with 43 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
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Bellefontaine finished out the scoring late the third quarter when Howell cut through a hole and sprinted 47 yards for a touchdown.
Nease contributed 85 rushing yards on 10 carries and had two catches for 39 yards. Tommy Belser made three catches for 48 yards and Johnny Ganson added one catch for 24 yards.
Tweh Coleman had an interception to provide a highlight for the Chieftain defense.
Bellefontaine is back in action Friday for its homecoming game against Springfield Shawnee.
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CHIEFS @ HILLCLIMBERS
Bellefontaine 14 • 21 • 7 • 0 – 42
Urbana 0 • 0 • 0 • 0 – 0
TEAM STATISTICS BFN • URB
First downs 16 • 3
Total net yards 439 • 75
Rushes/yards 44/328 • 17/6
Passing 111 • 81
Comp-att-int 6-10-0 1• 1-20-1
Punts/avg 2/36• 6/37.3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 • 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-82 • 4-29