WILMINGTON – In the first varsity football meeting in 90 years, Wilmington rolled over Blanchester Friday night at Alumni Field, 45-16.

Wilmington moves to 3-1 with victory while Blanchester drops to 1-3.

Following the game, WHS head coach Scott Killen went straight to the hospital to check on one of his players, Ryan Camp, who went down in the final period with an injury.

BHS head coach Brandon Sammons was pleased with the effort of his Wildcats.

“We had a great effort,” he said. “We brought a lot of energy and it showed throughout the first quarter and carried over into the second. Our kids played with a lot of heart. Even at halftime, we believed we were still in it.”

The Hurricane and its high-powered offense was slow getting out of the starting blocks as the Blanchester defense proved to be a stiff test.

But once things got cranked up, DJ Ames – fresh off a 329-yard, three touchdown performance last week – scored four more times to lead Wilmington to the run-away win.

“Wilmington is hard to stop,” Sammons admitted. “You know, at the end of the day, we have to do the basic things. We have to execute and do a better job of tackling.”

After a Brady Evans fourth down run of 24 yards reached paydirt, Wilmington led 7-0 with 10:02 to play in the first. Blanchester made it 7-2 when James Peters sacked Evans in the end zone at the 8:14 mark.

The Wildcats appeared to grab an 8-7 lead but a long touchdown run was wiped out because of penalties and it remained 7-2.

“The penalties really hurt,” Sammons said. “We had a touchdown taken away and jumped offsides too many times. It is a matter of getting back to doing the little things right.”

In fact, Blanchester had several long offensive plays in this one, but were unable to sustain a drive to the point of getting into the end zone.

Brett Bell reached the end zone at 11:43 then less than two minutes later Ames scored from 18 yards on a diving play at the front corner of the end zone. Henry PATs on both TDs made it 21-2. Ames added a 44 yard scoring run and it was 28-2 at the half.

Midway through the third quarter, the Hurricane put the game under a running clock when Dylan Beaugard scored from nine yards out on a pass from Brady Evans at 7:38. Henry’s PAT put WHS up 35-2.

As they have done most of the season – especially with last week’s come-from-behind win against Waynesville – the Wildcats showed some resiliency. Brent Hopkins returned the kickoff 95 yards but fumbled. Teammate Lucas Thacker was in the right place at the right time for Blanchester and fell on the ball in the end zone. Jasper Damewood’s extra point made it 35-9 with 6:30 to play in the third.

A Henry field goal, Ames’ fourth TD of the night and a Jacksson Waialae scoring run wrapped up the scoring. Spencer Dissel of BHS also had an interception in the fourth.

SUMMARY

Sept 15 2017

@Alumni Field

Wilmington 45 Blanchester 16

B 02.00.07.07…..16

W 07.21.10.07…..45

First Quarter

W-Brady Evans 24 yard run (Brady Henry PAT) 10:02

B-James Peters sacked Evans in end zone, safety 8:14

Second Quarter

W-Brett Bell 4 yard run (Brady Henry PAT) 11:43

W-DJ Ames 18 yard run (Brady Henry PAT) 9:55

W-DJ Ames 44 yard run (Brady Henry PAT) 6:43

Third Quarter

W-Dylan Beaugard 9 yard pass from Brady Evans (Brady Henry PAT) 7:38

B-Lucas Thacker fumble recovery in end zone (Jasper Damewood PAT) 6:30

W-Brady Henry 28 yard field goal 2:50

Fourth Quarter

W-DJ Ames 28 yard run (Brady Henry PAT) 7:41

B-Jacksson Waialae 9 yard run (Jasper Damewood PAT) 0:01