By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor
Amelia 20, Batavia 0
The battle between two Clermont County teams sent the Bulldogs to their third straight shutout loss.
Amelia’s Trey Brausch completed just five of his 12 pass attempts, but totaled 43 yards and a touchdown in the process. Brausch also ran the ball 17 times for 82 yards. Teammate Cage Meyer totaled 59 yards and a touchdown on the ground on seven carries, while Eli Altherr led the way yet again for Amelia, running the ball 21 times for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Will Scaggs completed eight of 15 pass attempts for 98 yards and two interceptions. Scaggs also ran the ball nine times for a total of 12 yards. Zach Kennedy led the Bulldogs with 20 yards rushing on five carries.
Mitch Menzel caught Amelia’s lone touchdown pass as a part of his two receptions for 20 yards. Bobby Wilmoth had two receptions as well, totaling 22 yards while Ryan Cann caught four balls for 44 yards. Spencer Fluegel led Batavia with three catches for 68 yards.
Defensively, Brant Fluehr had a pair of sacks for Amelia. Altherr had one, while Ryan Cann, Wilmoth and Mentzel each forced a fumble. Cann also had one of Amelia’s two interceptions, the other was recorded by Austin Price.
Norwood 64, Bethel-Tate 37
The Tigers rode a balanced offensive attack to 517 total yards, but two turnovers and a defense that allowed 530 yards doomed the squad against Norwood.
The Indians led 28-9 at the end of the first quarter and 57-23 at halftime. The Tigers added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Alex Manz got the start as quarterback for Bethel-Tate after an injury to Chris Wheeler the week before. Manz completed 19 of 37 passes for 267 yards and a pair of interceptions. He also ran the ball seven times for 16 yards and a touchdown.
Norwood’s Matt Goodman completed just six passes, but they went for 196 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball nine times for 210 yards and four scores. Teammate Cameron Waler tallied 29 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.
Steven Cooper led the Bethel-Tate rushing attack, collecting 179 yards and two touchdowns on 13 attempts.
Austin Carter’s six catches for 73 yards led all Bethel-Tate receivers. He also had the Tigers’ lone touchdown reception. Aaron Cunningham notched a pair of sacks for Bethel-Tate on defense.
Clermont Northeastern 21, St. Bernard 20
A late rally by the Rockets propelled the team to a homecoming win, their first victory of the season.
The start of the game was delayed roughly an hour due to lightning in the area, but once the game began St. Bernard wasted no time putting points on the board, jumping to a 6-0 lead early in the quarter. Clermont Northeastern answered on a Luke Newton touchdown, tying the game at six with under three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Newton struck again in the second stanza, scoring on a touchdown run that put CNE ahead 13-6.
St. Bernard tied the game at 13 and held a 20-13 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but CNE had one more answer.
Newton scored his third touchdown of the game, and Luke Rayburn’s two-point conversion gave the Rockets the winning margin.
Walnut Hills 42, Glen Este 17
The Trojans picked things up on offense, scoring their first points since the first week of the regular season, but three turnovers and over 100 penalty yardage led to a loss.
It was a close game at halftime. Peyton Doughty and Robvae McDonald each had one-yard touchdown runs for Walnut Hills, but the Trojans answered with a one-yard scamper from Elijah Johnson to cut the lead to 14-7 at the 3:35 mark of the second quarter.
Jacob French hit a field goal for Glen Este midway through the third period, and after another touchdown by Doughty and a fumble recovery for a touchdown, Chayse Gambrell scored on a seven-yard run to pull Glen Este within 11 at 28-17. They got no closer, as Walnut Hills added a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Evan Shriley completed 10 of 23 passes for 120 yards and an interception. Gambrell finished with 13 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown, while Johnson tallied 29 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts. Johnson also had an interception on defense for the Trojans. Matt Beach recorded a sack, while Devon Howard added a fumble recovery.
Goshen 37, Blanchester 16
Goshen’s Jimmy Strunk continued his monster season as the Warriors won the King of the Road matchup. Strunk struck for an eight-yard run less than two minutes into the first quarter to give Goshen a 7-0 lead. The Warriors led 7-3 at halftime.
With 8:13 left in the third quarter, Strunk strode into the end zone on a 60-yard run, putting the Warriors ahead 14-3. Adam Slusher scored on a two-yard run with 2:41 left in the quarter to give Goshen a 21-3 lead entering the fourth period.
Just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter, Strunk streaked 36 yards down the field for his third touchdown run of the game. Goshen added a field goal with 8:09 remaining to lead 24-3.
Blanchester scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 4:25 remaining, but just over two minutes later Strunk strolled into the end zone for a fourth time, this one on a two-yard scamper.
Tristian Greene scored on a 62-yard run for Blanchester to finish out the scoring.
Strunk carried the ball 29 times for 299 yards and four touchdowns for the Warriors.
Turpin 38, Milford 8
The Eagles couldn’t maintain the momentum from a shootout victory over Norwood last week, falling to the Spartans on the road.
Milford committed three turnovers, all interceptions. They railed 7-0 with 5:07 remaining in the first quarter after Lucas Smith hit Nathan Hooper for a 22-yard touchdown. Smith extended Turpin’s lead to 14-0 with a 59-yard run early in the second quarter, and a Harry Sand field goal put the Eagles behind 17-0.
Dawson Slone scored on a three-yard touchdown run, and Chase Witte’s conversion cut the Turpin lead to nine. Milford got no closer, as the Spartans added three more rushing touchdowns to seal the game.
Milford quarterback Tyler Smith completed seven of 21 passes for 66 yards and two interceptions. Witte completed one pass attempt out of his three for 41 yards and a pick.
Slone led the Eagles with 48 rushing yards on 19 attempts. Max Brewer led the team’s receivers with four catches for 75 yards.
Defensively, Bryce Dugan recovered a fumble. Eric Richey forced a fumble and Bailey Knox had a sack for Milford.
New Richmond 42, Talawanda 0
New Richmond rode a 350-yard, three touchdown day from Josh Anderson to a 42-point blowout win at home.
Anderson scored the team’s first points of the game on a two-yard keeper with 3:35 left in the first quarter.
At the 5:19 mark of the second period, T.J. Gelter scampered in on a 46-yard run, putting the Lions ahead 15-0 after a Gage Kramer two-point conversion. Gelter scored on a 19-yard run in the third quarter, and Anderson scored his second touchdown on a four yard run in that same period.
In the fourth quarter, Jessup Durbin hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass from Anderson. Jacob Duty capped off the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds remaining in the contest.
Anderson finished the game having completed 19 of 35 attempts for 215 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball 22 times for 153 yards and two more scores. Gelter tallied 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 19 carries for the Lions, while Duty had three carries for 25 yards and a touchdown.
Kramer caught eight passes for 121 yards. Durbin had four receptions for 25 yards and a score.
The Lions forced four turnovers, three of which were interceptions.