By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor
Clermont Northeastern 22, Batavia 6
Batavia struck first, but the Clermont Northeastern Rockets responded with 22 consecutive points for their second win of the season.
Batavia opened the scoring with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Skaggs to Spencer Fluegel, jumping ahead 6-0. They nearly added to that lead, but CNE’s defense held and forced a turnover on downs with 3:45 left in the first half.
Trevor Braun scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game at six in the third quarter, then carried another ball 65 yards to give CNE a 14-6 lead with 8:30 remaining in the game. The Rockets added an insurance touchdown with 2:20 remaining, and a successful two-point conversion gave the Rockets a 22-6 lead.
Clermont Northeastern failed to complete a pass in two attempts, but Braun carried the ball 25 times for 171 yards while Luke Newton gained 89 yards on 17 carries.
Western Brown 48, Bethel-Tate 34
Bethel-Tate’s offense put up 34 points in the first half, but could not get going in the second half to stop the Broncos.
The Tigers totaled 152 passing yards as quarterback Chris Wheeler attempted 25 passes, completing 12 for 152 yards and three interceptions. His counterpart, Seth Becker, threw the ball 40 times, completing 25. Becker tallied 377 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.
On the ground, Becker also carried the ball 17 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns. That dwarfs in comparison to the night Steven Cooper had, rushing for 249 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries.
Wyatt Fischer led receivers on both teams with 11 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper had one reception for 54 yards and a touchdown, while Austin Carter led the team with four catches for 62 yards. Bradley Lewis and Caleb Bastin each recorded a sack for the Tigers, with Lewis and Dockery also each hauled in an interception.
Norwood 46, Goshen 41
Goshen came out on the wrong side of a shootout in their home loss to Norwood.
The Warriors took the lead on Deonte Bailey’s first touchdown reception with 10:26 left in the first quarter. Norwood would answer with a score to tie the game at seven, and Goshen quarterback Kyle Proffitt would give his team the lead on a keeper with 40 seconds left in the first quarter.
Norwood tied the game at 14 just 25 seconds later.
Bailey struck for his second touchdown at the 9:07 mark of the second quarter to give Goshen a 21-14 lead. After a successful onside kick, Jimmy Strunk entered the end zone to put the Warriors ahead 28-14 with 5:15 left in the half.
Norwood pulled within seven less than 30 seconds later, but Strunk answered the bell again, scoring his second touchdown to give Goshen a 34-21 lead with 2:08 left in the half. Norwood again pulled within six just before the halftime break, entering the third quarter down 34-28 to the Warriors.
Both offenses cooled off in the second half. Norwood started out with back-to-back scores to take a 40-34 lead into the fourth quarter. The Warriors extended the lead to 46-34, and Goshen’s late touchdown only pulled them within five points.
Norwood quarterback Matt Goodman completed 12 of 16 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 149 yards on 19 carries and two more scores. Brennan Wallace had six carries for 80 yards and a touchdown as well for the Warriors. Stephen Boston led the team in receiving with five catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Proffitt completed 12 of 20 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Sebastian Abshire also completed a pass for 42 yards. Bailey had two receptions for 68 yards and a pair of scores. Strunk carried the ball 34 times for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Proffitt added six carries for 63 yards and another score.
Withrow 32, Milford 31 (OT)
Milford and Withrow traded punches, but in the end Withrow came up with one more play.
Withrow took the early lead with a handoff to Standifer for a 21-yard run. The Eagles took the lead back at the 3:11 mark of the first half thanks to an 11-yard run by Tyler Smith.
Milford’s lead lasted until the early part of the second quarter, when Standifer scored again on a 1-yard run. Dare Moffett then caught a 17-yard touchdown before. Chase Witte scored on a 10-yard run, pulling the Eagles within four at 18-14.
Withrow jumped ahead by 10 in the third quarter thanks to an 82-yard interception returned for a touchdown, but the Eagles answered with a 58-yard run by Witte to pull within three.
They would tie the game on a 31-yard field goal by Dillon Coleman with just 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
In the first overtime, Witte scored on a 5-yard run, but Donzell Tuggle answered with a 16-yard scamper and a two-point conversion that gave the Tigers the win.
The Eagles completed just one of 10 pass attempts as a team for 9 yards. Smith threw it to Sam Pickett.
Witte rushed the ball 31 times for 267 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored on a run by Tyler Smith earlier in the contest. Slone finished with 20 carries and 64 yards. Hayden Sludr had a sack for Milford.
Blanchester 41, Williamsburg 6
Turnovers and penalties doomed the Williamsburg Wildcats to their fourth consecutive loss.
Williamsburg turned the ball over five times, two of which were interceptions returned for touchdowns in the second half to help put the game away.
The Wildcats found themselves in a close contest early on. Blanchester took a 7-0 lead after a 4-yard touchdown run by Hunter Collier with 6:53 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Nate Bogan to Wyatt Lefker. The extra point was no good, leaving the Wildcats trailing 7-6.
Blanchester added a second score on a 13-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, extending their lead to 14-6. That was the score at the break.
The wheels came off in the third quarter for the Wildcats. Blanchester connected on another touchdown pass, then three minutes later Collier scored again on a short touchdown run. Less than a minute after that, Dylan Miller intercepted Bogan and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. Nick Hopkins picked off Bogan in the fourth quarter, returning that interception for 70 yards and the game’s final score.
Bogan completed 17 of 33 passing attempts for 136 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted five times. Bogan also led the Wildcats in rushing with 30 yards on 10 attempts. Andrew Smith caught six passes for 26 yards while Lefker hauled in five receptions for 60.