MARION — A suffocating Bishop Watterson defense put an end to Bellefontaine’s dazzling playoff run here Friday.
The Chieftains mustered just 152 yards of offense, including negative-five yards rushing on 12 attempts, in a 19-13 Division III regional final loss at Marion Harding Stadium.
“This was a tough, physical game by both teams,” said Bellefontaine head coach Jason Brown. “It was a game of momentum. There were a couple of big swings. We just came up a little bit short tonight.”
Bellefontaine ran for a combined 454 yards over its last two games, wins over London and Granville, but could not get anything going on the ground against a swarming Eagles defense.
“Give Watterson credit,” said Brown. “They are a very physical defense and they were able to keep us off-balance. We just could not get any momentum going in the running game.”
The Chiefs had to rely on their passing game, with Tavien St. Clair completing 17 of 25 attempts for 147 yards.
“We knew we were not going to stop St. Clair (and Bellefontaine’s receivers),” said Watterson head coach Brian Kennedy. “We had to limit their big plays. We still gave up a few, but we did a pretty good job not allowing a lot of them.”
Bellefontaine’s defense did everything it could do to put the Chiefs in a position to win.
Despite two turnovers from the offense and Watterson starting four drives inside Bellefontaine territory during the first half, the Chiefs limited Watterson to six points on a pair of field goals as the Eagles led 6-0 at halftime.
For complete game coverage see Saturday’s Examiner.