BLANCHESTER — The turnaround from 0-5 to league champions is complete for the Blanchester Wildcats.
On senior night at Barbour Memorial Field, the Wildcats steamrolled an outmanned Fayetteville team, scoring 53 points in the first half of a 69-0 victory.
The win guarantees Blanchester (4-5, 4-0) at least a share of the SBC National Division title. A win next Friday at East Clinton would secure an outright championship.
“This validates the work that they’ve done all year,” BHS head coach Brandon Sammons said. “We knew, no matter how those first five games went, we were going to be league champions. We knew we had what it took to win this league.”
Blanchester scored 33 points in the first quarter. The Wildcats outgained Fayetteville 315-29 in the first half and held the Rockets to minus-4 yards rushing.
Fayetteville finished the game with just two first downs and minus-22 yards rushing.
With the first pass of the game, Blanchester’s Brayden Sipple became the single-season passing record-holder at BHS. He passed Tristan Greene, who had 1,731 yards in 2016.
Clayton Schirmer also set the single-season receiving mark, passing Quenton Miller’s 531-yard season in 2016.
“We knew Sipple was a talent throwing the ball,” Sammons said. “We had a feeling that Schirmer was going to have a breakout year with the way he was progressing in the offseason and the bond they seemed to have in the summer.
“They’re hard workers. Schirmer doesn’t come off the practice field. He’s really the only guy that runs his position for us. There are days when he’s dog-tired, and he never complains. Never says a word, which says a lot about him.”
After opening the season 4-0, Fayetteville has lost four of its last five games.
For Sammons, he knows his seniors will take more away from football than just the league championship.
“Maybe they don’t realize it now, but 10 years from now, 20 years from now, the lessons they take away from playing the game of football, that’s the big thing,” Sammons said. “Winning a league title is awesome. But the memories they’re creating, that’s the stuff they’re going to remember.”
SUMMARY
October 19, 2018
@Blanchester High School
Blanchester 69, Fayetteville 0
F 00.00.00.00…..0
B 33.20.16.00…..69
1st Quarter
B – James Peters 5-yard run (Jasper Damewood kick) 11:08
B – Brayden Sipple 1-yard pass to Brent Hopkins (Damewood kick) 8:11
B – Sipple 18-yard pass to Clayton Schirmer (Damewood kick) 4:10
B – Jacksson Waialae 65-yard punt return (kick blocked) 2:40
B – Sipple 10-yard pass to Blake Richard (pass failed) 4.3
2nd Quarter
B – Destin Ashcraft 22-yard run (pass failed) 9:07
B – Derick Bowman 6-yard run (Damewood kick) 8:12
B – Junior Torres 9-yard run (Damewood kick) 5:15
3rd Quarter
B – Safety (snap out of the end zone) 9:20
B – Peters 6-yard run (Damewood kick) 5:18
B – Brady Phillips 14-yard fumble return (Damewood kick) 19.7
4th Quarter
No scoring
TEAM STATS
PLAYS: F 39; B 37. FIRST DOWNS: F 2; B 17. RUSHING-YARDS: F 28-(-22); B 21-166. PASSING YARDS: F 33; B 165. COMPLETIONS-ATTEMPTS-INTERCEPTIONS: F 4-10-1; B 10-15-0. TOTAL YARDS: F 11; B 331. PENALTIES-YARDS: F 5-25; B 6-50. FUMBLES-LOST: F 2-2; B 1-1.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing (carries-yards): F Blake Coffman 10-(-23); Logan Stannus 9-25; CJ McCulley 7-(-29); Mark Wolfer 1-5. B Brent Hopkins 3-32; Brayden Sipple 1-12; Derick Bowman 1-6 TD; Adam Frump 1-4; Junior Torres 2-30 TD; Blake Richard 1-25; Destin Ashcraft 3-33 TD; James Peters 6-35 2TDs.
Passing (completions-attempts-interceptions): F Coffman 0-1-0; McCulley 4-9-1 33 yards. B Sipple 9-14-0 160 yards 3 TDs; Adam Frump 1-2-0 5 yards.
Receiving (catches-yards): F Coffman 1-7; Christopher Murphy 3-26. B Hopkins 2-9 TD; Bowman 1-40; Tanner Creager 1-21; Jacksson Waialae 2-59; Clayton Schirmer 2-21 TD; Richard 2-15 TD.
