Bellefontaine’s football team played its most complete game of the season Friday in a 44-14 blowout over rival Urbana on the Chieftains’ homecoming night.
Bellefontaine rolled up 433 yards of offense, forced three turnovers on defense and blocked a punt that was recovered for a touchdown.
“It really felt like we played very good complimentary football,” said Bellefontaine head coach Jason Brown. “I am very proud of our kids for getting a homecoming win.
“Tonight we reacted so much better to adversity than we did a couple of weeks ago. Our kids were on a mission. They were not going to lead adversity derail them.”
Bellefontaine improves to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the Central Buckeye Conference.
The Hillclimbers drop to 6-2, 1-2.
Pirates pitch shutout in rout of Vikings
The Riverside Pirates maximized their offensive possessions Friday, and created a few additional opportunities for themselves in a resounding 30-0 victory over Miami East in a Three Rivers Conference game.
The Pirates (7-1, 5-0) on offense did not punt, and scored on each of their first half possessions en route to a 16-0 halftime lead over the Vikings (4-4, 2-3).
“They were really trying to limit our possessions and shorten the game, so we had to make the most out of every possession offensively and I was pleased that we were able to do that,” Pirates head coach Bryce Hodge said.
Tigers turn away late rally, hold on for win over rival Indians
The West Liberty-Salem Tigers staved off a furious fourth-quarter rally Friday from Mechanicsburg, and held on for a 19-13 Ohio Heritage Conference victory over their cross-county rivals.
The Tigers (7-1, 2-1) struggled to get off the field defensively last week in a high-scoring, shootout loss on the road to West Jefferson.
This week, the WL-S defense turned in the biggest play of the night, forcing an interception in the end zone with 3:32 left in the fourth quarter to turn away the potential go-ahead touchdown for Mechanicsburg, (4-4, 1-2).
Lakers stymied in loss to Shawnee
Indian Lake’s explosive offense was kept in check Friday in a 35-0 defeat at the hands of Springfield Shawnee in a CBC Mad River Division game.
The Lakers (5-3, 2-1) struggled to gain momentum against a Shawnee (7-1, 3-0) team that largely controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
The Lakers received the opening kickoff and pieced together a drive that reached to near midfield. It looked for a moment as if Indian Lake had taken an early lead, but a long touchdown pass was negated by a procedure penalty. The Lakers went on to punt from there, and struggled offensively for much of the night.
Shawnee found the end zone three times in the second quarter on its way to a 21-0 halftime lead.
Raiders can’t keep up with Wildcats
Benjamin Logan hung around for a while on Friday, but was held scoreless in the second half of a 41-9 loss to visiting North Union in a Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division matchup.
Ben Logan falls to 1-7 (1-2). North Union improves to 3-5 (2-1).
The Wildcats broke through first on a 6-yard TD run by Nolan Draper to go up 7-0 in the first quarter.
The Raiders were able to answer back with a 33-yard field goal by Brandon Heater to draw to within 7-3.
North Union responded with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Carter Skaggs to Griffin Osborne to extend the lead to 14-3 after the first quarter.