BLANCHESTER — Pick your poison when it comes to stopping a healthy Blanchester offense.
Force BHS to throw and Michael Mulvihill can shred a team to the tune of 438 yards like he did a few weeks ago against Goshen.
Force the Wildcats to run and they’ll pile up more than 330 yards like they did last week against Clermont Northeastern.
In Friday night’s 50-32 SBAAC National Division slugfest win over Williamsburg, Blanchester played things close to the dusty, season-worn grass field with a run game that amassed 369 yards.
Early on it was Mulvihill running for 239 yards on 24 attempts. He had four touchdowns.
Then Bryce Sipple took over, getting two touchdowns on the last seven carries of the game to complete the blowout. Sipple finished with 123 yards on the ground and three scores.
“They were keying on Michael heavy so we just let him do the blocking for Bryce,” BHS head coach Jon Mulvihill said. “In reality that’s what we’re going to do, run the football.”
While that is indeed priority one, Mulvihill said he’s not opposed to throwing it 30 times either.
“We’ll take what they give us,” he admitted.
The win puts Blanchester at 5-2 overall, 2-0 in the SBAAC National Division. Williamsburg drops to 5-2, 1-1.
Bethel-Tate also is 2-0 in division play and will host Blanchester Friday night at 7 p.m.
Williamsburg trailed the entire game but was never seemingly out of it. JJ Miller put on a Fran Tarkenton-like performance with his scrambling and passing accuracy. He passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game with an injury.
Jace Canter was the top offensive threat for WHS, grabbing three touchdown passes and running in another score.
Williamsburg finished with 317 total yards.
“Our defense didn’t execute very well,” said Mulvihill. “We don’t like giving up 32 points but it’s not so hurtful when you score 50.”
The turning point in the game came after Williamsburg closed within 16-14 with 3:23 to go until halftime.
Blanchester put together a solid 5-play, 70-yard drive capped by Sipple’s first TD of the night with 50 seconds to play in the half. Blan led 22-14.
On the first play from scrimmage on the next WHS possession, Miller was stripped of the ball and Tristan Malone recovered to give BHS the ball at the WHS 25.
Mulvihill for 20 then Mulvihill for 5 was good for the score and in a span of 22 seconds Blanchester had increased its lead from two to 14.
The 12-point explosion was much needed as Williamsburg scored on its first two possessions of the third period, Miller to Canter and Miller to Alex Erwin. The BHS lead was down to 28-26.
On the very next BHS play from scrimmage, Mulvihill raced 56 yards to paydirt and with Sipple’s two-point conversion, Blanchester had a more comfortable 36-26 advantage.
Canter caught another TD pass but then Sipple took over as closer, running in for two touchdowns and one two-point conversion to secure the win.
SUMMARY
Sept 30, 2022
@Barbour Memorial Field
Blanchester 50, Williamsburg 32
B^8^20^8^14^^50
W^7^7^12^6^^30
First Quarter
B-Michael Mulvihill 6 yard run (Michael Mulvihill run) 6:34
W-Jace Canter 10 yard pass from JJ Miller (Luke Lindsay kick) 3:42
Second Quarter
B-Michael Mulvhihill 14 yard run (Bryce Sipple run) 4:45
W-Jace Canter 4 yard run (Luke Lindsay kick) 3:23
B-Bryce Sipple 2 yard run (Run Failed) 0:50
B-Michael Mulvihill 5 yard run (Run Failed) 0:28
Third Quarter
W-Jace Canter 45 yard pass from JJ Miller (PAT Failed) 9:24
W-Alex Ervin 2 yard pass from JJ Miller (PAT Failed) 4:48
B-Michael Mulvihill 56 yard run (Bryce Sipple run) 4:36
Fourth Quarter
W-Jace Canter 11 yard pass from JJ Miller (PAT Failed) 10:59
B-Bryce Sipple 7 yard run (Bryce Sipple run) 8:30
B-Bryce Sipple 2 yard run (PAT Failed) 4:55
PASSING: BLAN (1-5-0, 33) Michael Mulvihill 1-5-0, 33 yards; WBG (20-32-273) JJ Miller 15-24-0, 4 TD, 238 yards, Brody Fisher 5-8-0, 35 yards
RUSHING: BLAN (38-362) Michael Mulvihill 24-239, Bryce Sipple 14-123; WBG (27-44) Brody Fisher 3-21 Jace Canter 6-11-1 JJ Miller 11-7 Trystan Gries 7-5
RECEIVING: BLAN (1-33-0) Sammy Roush 1-33; WBG (20-273-3) Jace Canter 7-122-3 Alex Ervin 7-71-1 Bryce Lillie 3-73 Trystan Gries 2-13 Mat Jones 1-4
7-7, 6 [2-13]
3-19, 10, 0, 45, 31, 11 (6)[7-122]
9-28, 6, 2, 10 (11, 8, 6)[7-71]
1-44, 12, 17[3-73]
8-(4)[1-4]
rush
7-2, 2, -4, 2, 1, 0, 2 [7-5]
3-0, 4, 4, 1, 0, 2 [6-11]
2-6, 2, 1, 0, 6, -7, 0, 1, -5, -6, 9 [11-7]
10—8, 11, 18 [3-21]
27-44
