Senior Joel Gehret helped lead the Tigers offense to a playoff win.
Photo by Ryan Berry | The Daily Advocate
Junior Owen Canan orchestrated a scoring drive late with the help of senior Hudson Hill.
Photo by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
DARKE COUNTY — Here are the scores and stats from the first round of the OHSAA Football playoffs on Oct. 27.
12 Bradford 8 (5-5) at 5 Minster 50 (9-2)
After a season of not having a varsity team, the Railroaders made it to the postseason. They fell to the Wildcats on the road after they took a 50-0 lead at halftime in the Division VII, Region 28 first round playoff game.
Head coach Nick Bandstra was proud of his team’s efforts in this game. They made some plays early on, but couldn’t get anything going once Minster started rolling.
“I’m proud of all of them. They did everything I asked them to do. Is it the result we want? No. We knew coming up here was a daunting task. We fought all night,” Bandstra said.
In the first quarter, junior quarterback Owen Canan made some throws to seniors Landon Wills and Hudson Hill for first downs. Senior Garrett Trevino had an interception in the first quarter.
Junior quarterback James Niemeyer had four passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the game.
In the fourth quarter, Bradford put together a scoring drive. Canan found Hill twice on the drive. The first time, Hill fought through a defensive pass interference to get the Railroaders close to the redzone. The second time, Hill mossed the defender for a 28-yard touchdown.
Bradford ends the season with a 5-5 record. The team will lose nine seniors from this team. Bandstra said all year long, the kids got better and better. He believes the program will be on the right track as long as they keep this going.
“We lose a good senior class, but I think we return a lot of good kids. If we can keep going and keep building it, I think we’re on the right track,” Bandstra said.
A full game recap can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com
2 Versailles 40 (9-2) vs 15 Troy Christian 0 (3-8)
The Tigers get the shutout in the first round to move on in the Division VI playoffs. Head coach Ryan Jones said his team came out prepared and ready to go for this one.
“I thought we made improvements throughout the week. We really came out with the right attitude. That’s something we talk about a lot is having the right attitude, being prepared,” Jones said.
Senior Joel Gehret rushed for three touchdowns in the game. Senior Michael Osborne had a passing touchdown to senior Zach Meyer. Junior Ross Francis and senior Aaron Bowlin each had a rushing touchdown.
The Tigers took a 34-0 lead at halftime. The offense was clicking from the start while the defense didn’t let much past them.
Versailles will continue their run with a second round game against the seventh seed Twin Valley South on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. Versailles will host the game for their last home game of the season.
A full game recap can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com
Around the county:
2 Ansonia 52 (11-0) vs 15 Lockland 7 (5-6)
The Tigers move on to the second round of the Division VII, Region 28 playoffs. Ansonia led 16-0 after the first quarter and never trailed.
Senior Keegen Weiss had 215 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Senior Garrett Stammen and freshman Jacob Schmitmeyer each had a rushing touchdown as well. Senior quarterback Nick Burns had a touchdown pass to senior Trevor Hemmerich.
The Ansonia defense had three turnovers in the game. Senior Wyatt Spencer and freshman Wyatt Unrast each had an interception. Sophomore Matt Middleton had a fumble recovery.
Ansonia will host the 10th seed Mechanicsburg on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. for their next playoff matchup.
5 Tri-Village 35 (10-1) vs 12 National Trail 0 (4-7)
In the Division VI, Region 24 matchup, the Patriots outgained the Blazers 313-164 in a rematch of last week’s game.
Senior quarterback Braden Keating had two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. Both touchdown passes were to sophomore Trey Sagester. Keating had 141 yards passing and 56 yards rushing.
Senior running back Reed Wehr had 116 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown. He also led in receiving with four catches and 58 yards.
Sagester and junior Mason Weathington each had an interception. Sophomore Landen Moore had a fumble recovery.
The Patriots will travel to the fourth seed West Liberty-Salem on Nov. 3 for a 7 p.m. kickoff for their next playoff matchup.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
