By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

NEW MADISON — There will be a little more joy at Tri-Village’s homecoming this weekend. The Patriots defeated rivals Arcanum, 43-0, at home in their homecoming game on Sep. 29.

Tri-Village head coach Matt Hopkins said the team was ready to make this a good homecoming week.

“I tell the guys all the time the dance is a little bit more fun when you win on Friday night. I think we’ll be feeling pretty good about it,” Hopkins said.

The Patriots had a 14-0 lead four minutes into the game. On the opening possession, Tri-Village started from their own 41-yard line. Senior Braden Keating found sophomore Noah Finkbine on third and 20 for 23 yards and a first down.

Keating capitalized on the conversion with an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior Tanner Printz. On Arcanum’s opening drive, senior Reed Wehr got a scoop and score for 29 yards to put the Patriots up 14-0.

Tri-Village had another short field as they started their second possession on the Trojans’ 46-yard line. Wehr scored on a 10-yard run to go up 21-0.

The Patriots third possession started at the Trojans’ 26-yard line. Wehr scored from 12-yards out and the Patriots were up 27-0 after the first quarter.

Hopkins said they talked about starting fast and haven’t done it all year, until this game.

Arcanum head coach Matt Macy said the team didn’t get off to a great start the Tri-Village jumped all over them. The Trojans did play better after the first quarter, but they couldn’t dig themselves out of the early hole.

“We played a lot better after we settled down. But we can’t be down 27-0 before we settle down. That’s the key to this, what we got to take away from this. A lot of that goes with the youth of our team,” Macy said.

Keating added a 37-yard field goal and a two-yard touchdown run by senior Seth Jesse put the Patriots up 36-0 at halftime.

Tri-Village was still able to light up the scoreboard even after taking a lot of penalties that backed them up. On the field goal drive, they had the ball at the 11-yard line and were moved all the way back to the 26-yard line.

Hopkins said the emotions got the best of the team and that caused the penalties.

“We didn’t play the cleanest. We had a lot of emotions going. That’s what you do when it’s homecoming and you’re playing your rival. Everything is turned up to 12. You just got to settle in the game. That’s what makes high school football a lot of fun. These kind of rivalries right here,” Hopkins said.

Senior Jayden Hollinger scored a two-yard touchdown in the third quarter to finish out the scoring for the Patriots.

Arcanum came out at halftime and moved the ball well. They just couldn’t find the endzone. The Trojans also committed four turnovers during the game.

Arcanum freshman quarterback Bishop Cartwright got the start again and showed off his arm talent. He had a few completions and wasn’t afraid to push the ball down the field.

Macy said he has the physical abilities to be a really good quarterback, he just needs to develop more on the mental aspects of the game.

“He has all the ability and all the skills to do it. He just got to develop quicker than he wanted to or needed to. We need to bring him along quicker,” Macy said.

It was a complete game from the Patriots. Hopkins said everything was clicking for them and it was one of those games he was waiting for this team to have. They got out to an early lead and continued to play near perfect football.

He said this is the type of game he wants to see his team plays once playoffs start.

“We got to do exactly what we did tonight. We got to start working on playing fast and getting all three phases on the same page. That’s what you want to do,” Hopkins said. “You want to be playing your best football at the end of the year. Tonight is a good step in the right direction.”

Arcanum is 2-5 on the season with a 1-5 WOAC record. They will travel to Preble Shawnee next on Oct. 6 for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Tri-Village is now 6-1 with a 5-1 WOAC record and will travel to Dixie on Oct. 6 for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

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