BELLEFONTAINE RALLIES PAST SIDNEY
The 2021 football season got off to an emotional beginning for the Bellefontaine Chieftains on Friday night.
A dramatic comeback victory against an old rival was a perfect ending on the night BHS paid tribute to its greatest athlete in school history.
The evening began with a tribute to the late, Jesse “The Jet” Williams, who passed away in the spring of 2020. Many family members, and former friends and teammates of “The Jet” came back to pay honor to the record-breaking great.
It would turn out later that the young Chieftain football team would also join in on the tribute by fighting back to beat the Sidney Yellow Jackets 20-14.
Raiders handle Cardinals 28-6 in opener
Benjamin Logan jumped out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 28-6 win over host Triad in a season-opening football game Friday night.
The Raiders led 14-0 after one quarter and they held a 20-0 lead at halftime.
Triad received the ball to start the game and got backed up near its own goal line after a bad snap and a penalty. The Cardinals had to punt and Ben Logan took over at the Triad 28-yard line.
The Raiders found the end zone in five plays, with quarterback Kam Allen running in from two yards out. Preston Bothel scored on a two-point conversion run to give the Raiders an 8-0 lead.
Pirates come back to beat Ansonia 29-14
Riverside fell behind early, but fought back to knock off host Ansonia 29-14 on Friday in a non-league fgame to open the 2021 football season.
Ansonia led 14-13 at halftime before the Pirates outscored the Tigers 16-0 in the second half.
“It always feels good to start the season with a win,” said Riverside head coach Bryce Hodge. “We lost (at Ansonia) in two overtimes two years ago, so it’s nice to get a little bit of redemption for that. It’s always a dogfight against those guys.
“I am proud of the way our kids battled. We started out a little slow, but they showed a lot of heart by battling back and shutting them out in the second half.”
Riverside piled up 305 rushing yards on 51 attempts. Carrying the load was junior running back Warren Shockey, who was moved from wide receiver to the backfield this fall to help replace all-Ohioan Kale Long, who was lost to graduation.
Shockey sparkled in his first game as the Pirates’ featured back, rushing for 208 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries.
Rockets zap Lakers on late field goal
Indian Lake battled until the end against a talented Anna team on Friday, but the visiting Lakers came up three points short in a 24-21 loss to open the 2021 football campaign.
With the game tied at 21-21, Zach Ambos kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rockets the victory.
It was a balanced game on the stat sheet, with the Lakers compiling 321 yards and the Rockets finishing with 332 yards.
Indian Lake rushed for 212 yards on just 22 attempts, while passing for 109 yards.
The Rockets rolled up 285 yards on the ground.
Falcons claw Tigers 28-6 in season opener
West Liberty-Salem’s football team got off to a slow start and could not recover, falling to visiting Graham 28-6 in the season opener Friday night.
The Falcons led 13-0 after one quarter and 20-6 at halftime. They added another score in the third quarter.
Graham tallied 344 yards of offense, compared to 247 for the Tigers.
The Falcons churned out 238 yards on the ground and added 106 through the air.
WL-S finished with 172 passing yards and added 75 yards on the ground.
FULL AREA FOOTBALL COVERAGE IN SATURDAY’S EXAMINER