Chiefs cruise past Sidney
SIDNEY — The Bellefontaine Chieftains started off the 2022 football campaign with a big win over rival Sidney, 43-13, at Sidney Memorial Stadium here Friday.
The Chiefs were led by a memorable rushing effort from junior Chris Fogan, who totaled 233 yards on the ground.
“We wanted to come out of the gates as the most physical team and win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” said BHS head coach Jason Brown. “And I think for the most part, we did that tonight.”
The Chiefs’ first offensive possession of the night ended with a punt. But after stopping Sidney and forcing a punt of their own, Bellefontaine took possession in Yellow Jacket territory at the Sidney 41-yard line.
After driving to the 6-yard line, the Chiefs used a little trickery to get the scoring started.
They confused Sidney with a direct snap to running back Chris Fogan, who then handed the ball off on a reverse to wide receiver Riley Neer. He then stopped and threw a pass to quarterback Tavien St. Clair, who had snuck out of the backfield unnoticed into the end zone for a touchdown, to put the Chiefs up 7-0.
Ansonia’s ground game too much for Pirates
Riverside knew Ansonia wanted to be physical coming into Friday’s game. The Pirates were unable to do much about it, though.
The visiting Tigers piled up 427 rushing yards on 52 attempts en route to a 36-14 victory over Riverside in a season opener.
“They dominated in the trenches, and normally that leads to success on the scoreboard.
That’s what happened tonight,” said Riverside head coach Bryce Hodge. “Give credit to Ansonia. They knew what they wanted to do and they went out and did it. We just couldn’t stop them.”
Ansonia finished with 465 total yards, while the Pirates mustered 268 yards.
“It all starts with me,” said Hodge. “I have to do a better job of getting the team ready to play. We didn’t have a good week of practice and it showed on the field tonight. I have to do a better job of putting the guys in positions to be successful. Our guys played hard tonight, but we just didn’t execute.”
Raiders fight off scrappy Cardinals 21-6
Host Benjamin Logan received a battle from Triad on Friday, with the Raiders pulling away in the second half for a 21-6 victory in the season opener.
Ben Logan led 7-6 at halftime and then added two fourth-quarter touchdowns to put the game away.
The stats were relatively close as Ben Logan finished with 305 yards of offense and
Triad put up 270 yards.
Rockets shoot past Lakers
An inexperienced Indian Lake team got off to a good start Friday night in the season opener, but the Lakers could not maintain the momentum.
The Lakers saw an early lead slip away and visiting Anna pulled away for a 34-19 victory.
Indian Lake led 7-0 with 8:22 remaining in the first quarter after Evan Manley ripped off a 33-yard TD run and Rece Kimmel kicked the extra point.
But Anna answered with a 3-yard TD run by Zach Osborn and a 78-yard TD pass from Alex Shappie to Noah Aufderhaar to lead 13-7 with 12 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Tigers unable to catch Falcons in 27-24 loss
West Liberty-Salem turned in a valiant comeback attempt, but the Tigers came up a little short Friday in a 27-24 loss to host Graham.
The Tigers fell down 14-0 to start the game. They eventually tied it on two occasions, but Graham was able to pull out a 27-24 victory.
The Tigers finished with 240 yards of offense, while Graham had 303.
WL-S ran for 186 yards on 38 carries and added 54 passing yards.