By COURTNEY MILLER
Staff Writer
WAPAKONETA — After the past four games, from Game 6 to Game 9, Wapakoneta Redskins varsity football coach Doug Zimmer took the results in stride. The ‘Skins won three of four contests, but Zimmer always had a goal in mind for the season’s end. He wanted his squad to finish above .500 in the Western Buckeye League. In the final game of the season Friday, Wapak accomplished just that, defeating the Bath Wildcats, 29-14, for a record of 5-4.
“Any time you can get a winning record in the league, it is very important,” Zimmer said. “We’re looking at anywhere from three, four, maybe five teams getting in the playoffs, and you have four teams maybe tying for the championship. It was a tough league this year — very well balanced.”
Along with the winning WBL record, the Redskins came out even overall at 5-5, and they won three of five home contests. Such a positive outcome for the season is important for the graduating seniors on the team, Zimmer said.
“It was a good way to finish the year. I’m so happy for our seniors. It’s good for those kids to go out that way,” Zimmer said. “A win at home in their last game — that’s something you can’t take away from them. It’s a good memory they’ll have forever. And going 5-4 in the league is something to be proud of. They deserve that.”
The team’s achievement did not come easily, however. Zimmer said they knew going into the game that the Wildcats would give them a good contest, and Bath did not disappoint. The score was a close 9-7 at the half.
“It was a fun ball game,” Zimmer said. “We came out and had some nice gains. We had a couple of mistakes, but I give our defense some credit — they played hard.”
The Redskin defense held the Wildcats’ line multiple times on crucial fourth-down opportunities, including on the very first drive of the game.
“You’ve got to give (Bath) credit,” Zimmer said. “They went for it, but our defense played well there.”
Wapak lit the scoreboard first off a 20-yard scamper from Logan Erb, punctuated with a somersault into the end zone at 5:29 in the first quarter. The point-after attempt by Dan Dripps was blocked.
The ‘Skins looked to add to their lead near the middle of the second stanza, but the 34-yard, line-drive attempt by Dripps fell short. He made up for the missed 3-pointer following a three-and-out by Bath at 3:43 with a 28-yard boot.
Bath stole Wapak’s thunder just before the intermission, though, with a 60-yard pass taking the ball the the two yard line. One incomplete pass and one fumble later, at 2:21, quarterback Cameron Garver punched the ball into the house. The Wildcats punctuated their score with a successful extra point from Matt Loudon.
Though Bath may have had the momentum going into the locker rooms at the half, Wapak came out with it swinging in their direction. Playing with “a bit more spunk,” as Zimmer said, the Redskins sacked the Wildcat thrower five times in a row, and three times on the first drive of the third quarter. The tackles for losses by Mike Bogan, Jensen Webb and Jimmy Bellman dug Bath a 27-yard hole of which it could not climb out.
“(Bath) had the wind there a little bit, but we came out defensively and had three good plays to send (Garver) deep,” Zimmer said.
After the string of sacks, Bath punted from its own seven yard line, and Redskin Jason Bartlett ran the short ball back to the 11, but the pigskin was stripped from his arms and recovered by a Wildcat. Wapak responded well from the turnover, however, on both defense and offense, and capped the quarter off with its only score. Bartlett sped 31 stripes to the end zone at 1:49 in the third, but Dripps’ extra point attempt ricocheted off the left cross bar, keeping the Wildcats within striking distance.
But Wapak aimed to leave no doubt in the last quarter. At second-and-five on the four yard line, Erb took the handoff from quarterback Patrick Huffman and was immediately surrounded by a pile of defenders. The offensive line kept the drive alive by pushing the massive pile of bodies, Erb’s included, across the goal line. Padraig Murphy added the point after for the junior’s first-ever varsity point.
Just over two minutes later, at 7:02, Erb broke away from the crowd and left his defenders in the dust, motoring 69 yards for a touchdown. Murphy again made the point after, but nearly a minute later, Bath scored an equalizer with a 10-yard pass from Garver to Matt Heffner. Still, it was not enough for the Wildcats, who finished the game and, thus, the season 2-8 overall and 1-8 in the WBL.
The Redskins dominated the rushing yards with 266 to Bath’s 91, but the Wildcats controlled the passing game, with 118 stripes to Wapak’s 50. The ‘Skins had their backup quarterback, Huffman, in the game after starter Jake Lambert was injured last week at Elida. Many other Wapak players were out hurt, as well, including seniors John Madigan, who was also injured at Elida, and Matt Lawrence, who broke his collarbone earlier in the season.
“It was bittersweet for them to watch, but they were positive,” Zimmer said of the seniors on the sideline. “They were out here supporting us, and that’s all we can ask.
“We had some people step up and that’s what we needed. We had some good diversity in there,” Zimmer added about the new players to the lineup.
Bartlett was the Redskins’ leading rusher on the night, carrying the ball 17 times for 129 yards. Josh Kelley had 31 yards on two carries as the team’s top receiver, and Huffman earned his 50 yards passing going five-for-nine.
—
|
