DAYTON — A fast start by East Clinton turned in to a giant heat wave that Dayton Christian was unable to avoid Friday night as the prep football season began.
The Astros scored on every possession except the end of the first half and Dayton Christian with a 46-13 win in the season opener.
“We decided on Thursday that if we won the toss we were going to take the ball,” EC head coach Steve Olds said. “We play better offensively when we are aggressive and have some success early in the game, so taking the ball and then taking the deep shot was part of the game plan. The offense executed it well and Jared (Smith) threw a beautiful ball to Landon (Runyon) for the first score on our opening drive. We kind of just got rolling from there and never looked back.”
The Smith-Runyon connection was good for 47 yards and a touchdown to launch the Astros in to a winning orbit. The triumph marked the first Game 1 win for the Astros since 2015.
The Astros totaled 424 yards of offense on just 38 plays. East Clinton attempted only three passes, opting the ride the linemen up front to a dominant victory.
“Our offensive line played really well,” said Olds. “We’ve been pushing them to be more physical and sustain their blocks and I think they did that. Brody Fisher was great at fullback and I thought our backs ran with purpose. We struggled offensively last season, so to start the new year strong like this feels good.”
Isaiah Conger had two touchdown runs and 112 yards on 13 attempts. Smith had two rushing touchdowns and 105 yards on eight carries. Glenn Peacock ran for 81 yards and a touchdown while Fisher had 36 yards and a score. Aiden Conger rushed for 11 yards late in the game.
Smith completed passes to Runyon for 47 yards and Cody Chaney for 32 yards.
In all, East Clinton had 16 first downs. The Astros were penalized just four times.
Isaiah Curtis and Brody Fisher had interceptions for East Clinton, with Curtis’s pick setting up Smith’s touchdown at the 8:36 mark of the first to make it 13-0.
“I thought coach (Bryan) Floyd had a great game plan and I’m really pleased with how well the defense executed it,” Olds said. “The two first quarter interceptions brought a lot of energy to the team and I thought we fed off that offensively. We did a good job of getting guys to the football and tackled much better this week.”
Glenn Peacock had a short touchdown run to make it 25-0 then Smith to Runyon for a two-point conversion gave East Clinton a 27-0 advantage. Conger’s rush rounded out the scoring in the half with the Astros on top 33-0.
After Smith’s second ground score in the third made it 39-0, Dayton Christian avoided the shutout with 34 seconds left in the third, 39-6. Fisher got in on the act with the Astros offense, scoring a touchdown to make it 45-6. Lukas Runk’s extra point pushed the difference to 46-6.
