Lions tame Tigers in home opener

Two county rivals met on the gridiron in week two as the Bethel-Tate Tigers made the quick trip down Bethel-New Richmond Road to visit the Lions.

A dominant second quarter keyed the host to another win on the season as New Richmond topped Bethel-Tate 42-20 at home.

New Richmond struck quickly with A.J. Metzger finding Tanner Skaggs on the first series of the game for a long touchdown pass. After a Bethel-Tate turnover, those two connected again for another score, giving the Lions a 13-0 lead.

Later in the quarter, Bethel-Tate’s first touchdown of the game came on a pass from Cam Snider to Ben Houston. After a New Richmond punt, Bethel-Tate struck again on a pass from Snider to Peyton Herzner. That touchdown gave Bethel-Tate a 14-13 lead after one quarter.

That would be the end of Bethel-Tate’s offensive output for quite some time. New Richmond outscored the Tigers 29-0 in the second quarter starting with a pass from Metzger to Andrew Hawkins. Trey Sininger’s two-point conversion run was good, putting the Lions ahead 21-14 at the 11:23 mark of the quarter.

After a punt, New Richmond’s Laurence Smith scored on a three-yard run. Another Bethel-Tate punt gave New Richmond the ball at midfield and the Lions took advantage on a diving touchdown grab by Cooper Tidball at the 6:34 mark of the second quarter.

“We let ourselves down early,” Bethel-Tate head coach Jeff Essig said. “We made a mistake here, we were undisciplined there and it just started to compound again, kind of like last week.”

New Richmond’s Trent Dunaway grabbed an interception on the next drive, which set up another touchdown pass from Metzger to Skaggs.

“I think we played really well in the first half,” New Richmond head coach Brian Pitzer said. “Defense made plays, forced turnovers, the defensive line stepped up and played very well. Our offense was very explosive in the first half.”

Both teams sputtered offensively for most of the second half. Bethel-Tate struck for a late touchdown on a run by Herzner in the fourth quarter, the only score by either team over the final two quarters.

Essig was happy with his defense’s performance in that second half.

“The bright spot is our defense,” Essig said. “Shut them out in the second half, just like last week at CCPA. If we can find a way to duplicate it again, I think our defense will be pretty good.”

On the other sideline, Pitzer was less than thrilled about the zeros on the scoreboard over the final 16 minutes.

“We’re not happy that we got shut out in the second half,” Pitzer said. “We’ve got a lot to work on. Their defensive line and defensive scheme is unbelievable, they did a fantastic job.

Pitzer praised the Tigers for their offensive capability, which was at times on display during the game.

“They’re going to score if they get the opportunity,” Pitzer said. “Our defense has played well the last two weeks. It’s comforting for me, being an offensive guy. Our defensive coordinator, Nick Schmidt, does a phenomenal job on defense. He’s the head coach of the defense, I let him rock and roll and he’s got those guys playing very well.”

Metzger completed 24 of 48 passes for 340 yards and five touchdowns, all in the first half. He was intercepted once.

New Richmond carried the ball 14 times as a team for exactly one total yard. Metzger finished with eight carries for seven yards. Smith tallied five carries for -6 yards and a touchdown.

Tidball tallied seven receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown. Skaggs recorded seven receptions for 124 yards and three scores. Andrew Hawkins had four catches for 77 yards. Trey Sininger (eight yards) and Smith (18 yards) totaled three receptions each.

Luke Abbott and Matthew Wooten recovered fumbles for New Richmond. Wooten and Trent Dunaway also had interceptions.

Jack Moore led the Lions in tackles with 13 total. Elijah Braziel, Abbot, Kaleb Frasure and Isaac Trees recorded one sack each.

For Bethel-Tate, Snider completed 25 of 45 passes for 237 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also carried the ball 17 times for 64 yards.

Herzner finished with 11 rushing attempts for 71 yards and a score. He also led the team with seven receptions for 86 yards. and a touchdown.

Houston and Landen Schultian each had five receptions. Houston finished with 46 yards and a score. Schultian totaled 44 yards.

“I don’t want to make a bunch of excuses for our players, but we start three freshmen on offense,” Essig said. “We’re really young. Our senior class is very small. When it comes to leadership, we’re looking for these seniors to step up. Someone needs to take control.”

Nolan Darnell recorded a shoestring catch for an interception for Bethel-Tate. Trent Grigsby led the team in tackles with eight. Talon Armacost had two sacks. Hunter Darnell recorded one sack for the Tigers.

With the loss, the Tigers now sit 0-2 on the season for the first time since 2011.

“We’ve played two pretty good teams,” Essig said. “Coach Pitzer, he’s a great friend of mine. I know what he’s going to do. He’s going to have great kids, he’s going to coach hard, he’s going to have a great staff. We knew what we were getting ourselves into, New Richmond is always a great program.”

The Lions, now unbeaten at 2-0, played at home for the first time under Pitzer, allowing him to get his first look at the gameday experience in New Richmond.

”This is by far the best gameday atmosphere,” Pitzer said. “Up here on the hill, everybody comes to the games…I think the stands and walkways were packed with people. It was awesome. Everything, from pregame to the band. We have an amazing band, Mike McKinley and his crew do a phenomenal job.”

New Richmond is slated to visit Western Hills in week three action on Friday, September 2. Bethel-Tate hosts Woodward that same night.