Lakers hand Chiefs their first loss
The Indian Lake Lakers started fast, and finished strong to hand the Bellefontaine Chieftains their first defeat of the 2021 season, 35-19 Friday in AcuSport Stadium in Bellefontaine.
“We didn’t play a perfect game by any means, but we preached all summer to our kids that maximum effort can overcome mistakes,” said IL head coach Jonn Rapp. “We gave a nice effort tonight, and got a great win.”
The Lakers blew the game open in the first 15 minutes of the game, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions to take a 21-0 over the Chiefs.
Running backs Luke Jackson and Elijah Slagle each had first quarter touchdown runs to give Indian Lake a 14-0 lead, and then quarterback Caleb Wurster hooked up with wide receiver Kaleb Hurley on a 34-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to bring the score to 21-0 with 8:34 left in the first half.
Polar Bears put freeze on Pirates
Riverside was unable to get on track Friday in a 28-10 loss to visiting Northridge in a Three Rivers Conference football game.
The Pirates drop to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the TRC. Northridge improves to 3-2, 2-0.
“We didn’t play well on either side of the football,” said Riverside head coach Bryce Hodge. “They are a talented team and we came out flat. We didn’t block well and couldn’t run the ball on offense and we couldn’t stop the run on defense. We missed way too many tackles.”
Led by standout running back Kavonte Turpin, the Polar Bears racked up 344 rushing yards on 50 attempts. Turpin scored on runs of 10, 46 and 53 yards.
“Turpin is a heck of a running back, but we were very sloppy on defense,” said Hodge.
“There were times we had guys in the backfield and we missed tackles and they got big gains.”
Tigers rout Cedarville for 1st win
Cedarville struck first with an early touchdown against West Liberty-Salem on Friday night, but the visiting Tigers dominated from there for a 37-7 victory in an Ohio Heritage Conference crossover football game.
It was the first win of the season for WL-S, which is now 1-3. Cedarville falls to 0-5.
The Indians grabbed a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game on a 20-yard touchdown run by Jackson Howdyshell.
WL-Salem responded with 37 straight points to record the lopsided victory.
Raiders can’t dodge Arrows in 17-6 loss
Benjamin Logan’s offense stalled Friday night as the Raiders dropped a Central Buckeye Conference crossover football game to host Tecumseh 17-6.
It was the third loss in a row for the Raiders, who fall to 2-3 on the season. The Arrows improve to 3-2.
Ben Logan was held to 194 yards of offense, while Tecumseh finished with 285 yards.
The Arrows limited the Raiders to minus seven yards on the ground on nine attempts.
Ben Logan was hurt by two interceptions and a fumble.
Tecumseh cranked out 275 rushing yards on 61 attempts.
Complete Football Friday coverage in Saturday’s Examiner