BELLBROOK – Mother Nature might have won the first round on Friday night as lightning forced Bellbrook and St. Marys to be postponed until Saturday, but the Golden Eagles emerged as victors on Saturday evening as they eliminated the visiting Roughriders 44-14 at Miami Valley South Stadium.
Bellbrook’s high powered offense picked up a trio of first downs and the first score of the game on their first drive thanks to an Ashton Ault two yard touchdown run.
Despite being able to move the football early behind the duo of Ross Henschen and Tanner Howell the Roughriders opening possession stalled as they were unable to complete a pair of passes and were forced into the first of four first half Brandon Bowers punts.
Golden Eagles kicker Taylor Jordan booted his first field goal attempt of the season, a 24 yard attempt through the uprights to open the second quarter of play to give his squad a 10-0 lead after being stopped on a third down rush by the Riders defense.
Though the stadium clock might have been malfunctioning for most of the evening, the Golden Eagles offense was not as they tacked on a third score for a 17-0 lead when QB Alex Westbrock raced into the endzone for a nine yard score to cap off a seven play drive that took just a minute and a half. Westbrock’s biggest play of the drive previously came on a third down play where he connected with a receiver for a 46 yard gain to get inside the St. Marys red zone.
Following the third Bowers punt of the first half the Eagles soared down the field once again on a double reverse wide receiver pass from senior Ethan Fryman down the sideline and over the Rider defense to teammate Jonah Atchison for a 57 yard score and a 24-0 advantage.
Working with a short field thanks to a three and out by St. Marys the Bellbrook offense tossed in their final marker of the opening two quarters and capped off a quick six play 38 yard drive on a two yard plunge by Ault for a 31-0 lead with under a minute remaining before halftime.
Missing their two leading rushers in the form of Ethan Wedding, and Aiden Hinkle, the Roughriders opened the second half looking for a spark to get themselves back in the contest and put a stop to the running clock. The spark came in the form of a 95 yard kickoff return for touchdown by junior returner Tanner Howell who raced through the heart of the Bellbrook special teams and into the north endzone for the Riders first score of the game to stop the running clock.
Although the ensuing onside kickoff was returned by the Riders at midfield the joy for the blue and gold was short lived as they turned the ball over on downs to end the possession when a fourth down pass skipped across the Miami Valley South Stadium turf.
Taylor Jordan, a 6’2 senior receiver who had hauled in 10 passes on the season put the Eagles back in control on his teams next drive as he slid behind the Roughrider secondary and hauled in a pass from Westbrock with 6:55 in the third for a 37-7 lead.
Forced to turn to their passing game the Roughriders Gavin Reineke was picked off for the first time this season and returned for a 42 yard score by corner Ben Zerby as the home team upped their lead to 44-7 on the next St. Marys possession following the touchdown.
Reineke pushed into the endzone with 6:46 left in the game to finish off a 49 yard drive led mostly by successful runs from senior Hunter Fraley as he went in from a yard out for the final marker of the game before a successful Spencer Trogdlon extra point and a 44-14 score.
Bellbrook (8-0) will play host to Hamilton Ross next Friday night as they were victorious over New Richmond on the previous evening by a 48-12 margin.
St. Marys sees their 2020 campaign come to an end with a 6-3 record and will say goodbye to 17 seniors.
Ashton Ault led Bellbrook in rushing with 149 yards on 22 carries and a pair of touchdowns for his third straight 100+ yard contest after taking over the starting role from injured teammate and SWBL leading rusher Seth Borondy.
Through the air the Eagles outgained the Riders 180-13 while finishing with a 378-145 total yardage advantage.
Senior RB Dylan Trogdlon was the leading rusher for St. Marys as he finished with 35 yards on the ground while QB Gavin Reineke ended the night 1/10 for 13 yards and an interception through the air.