Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

UNION CITY — Tri-Village High School football coasted to a 69-0 win over Mississinawa Valley High School on the road.

Patriots’ head coach Matt Hopkins said the team started out sluggish, but eventually got into a groove.

“We started executing the game plan, started hitting on all cylinders. I was happy with how it turned out,” Hopkins said.

Once the offense started rolling for Tri-Village, it was nearly unstoppable. Reed Wehr started things with a 35+ yard touchdown run to go up 7-0. Shortly after, quarterback Braden Keating found receiver Justin Finkbine for a touchdown pass to go up 14-0.

Keating found Finkbine for two touchdowns during the game. Keating also had a touchdown throw to Wehr. He also made plays with his feet, scoring two rushing touchdowns.

The offense was on fire. Tri-Village scored on the first play of a drive three times in the game. Hopkins said the loss against Preble Shawnee two weeks ago was a wake-up call for this team.

“We stopped playing so tight. We loosened up a little bit and started having more fun, it’s been really good,” Hopkins said.

Wehr finished with two rushing touchdowns and the one receiving touchdown.

The Patriots’ defense and special teams made many plays. The defense recovered multiple fumbles and the punt return team got a block. The offense scored right after the block.

Tri-Village was up 49-0 at halftime. The starters were pulled after Keating scored a 25-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter.

The Blackhawks were out a few starters in this game. Most notably, their starting quarterback Chastan Daniels was out due to a suspension for being ejected in last week’s game against Arcanum.

Head coach Steven Trobridge said the team did all they could. They were hit with a storm of bad luck.

“We had three starters out tonight. We had to play a lot of JV kids and play one of the best teams in the conference. It’s tough, we just got to regroup,” Trobridge said.

The Blackhawks started wide receiver Dylan Wehrkamp at quarterback. He filled in for Daniels during the Arcanum game. They tried to lean on the running game, but couldn’t get anything going.

At half, they brought in freshman quarterback Bryce Watson to get some playing time.

The Blackhawks will travel to Twin Valley South next week for a road conference match up.

Tri-Village will host the undefeated Tigers of Ansonia for a key WOAC game. Hopkins said it’s going to be a tough game next week. They will need to play physical if they want to come out of that game with a win.

“One of our goals every game is to out hit the opponent. To win that game, we’re going to definitely need to do that next week,” Hopkins said.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]