HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Wynford was eliminated from the playoffs last week despite a win. But playing rival Bucyrus in Week 10 still offered plenty of incentive for the Royals.

Wynford needed a victory to get a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title and to maintain its two-decade win streak over the Redmen, keeping the Copper Kettle in the Wynford trophy case.

After a somewhat lackluster first quarter, the Royals’ offense kicked into gear, building a 33-0 lead at intermission. The defense did the rest, holding the Bucyrus offense to five net yards in the first half as Wynford rolled to a 40-7 win.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these seniors,” Wynford head coach Gabe Helbert said. “They put in a lot of time in the offseason to get to this point. We were disappointed that we didn’t make the playoffs, but our goal at the start of each year is to win an N10 title and we did that.”

Bucyrus (5-5, 4-3 N10) came in banged up having lost two players to ACL injuries and two that played, one with a sprained shoulder and one with a dislocated shoulder. But Redmen coach Matt Makeever refused to use that as an excuse.

“We came into this game to win it,” Makeever said. “We didn’t play well and Wynford did from the start. Hat’s off to them.”

Wynford (7-3, 6-1) controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, which stifled the Redmen offense and gave Royals’ quarterback Dustin Brady time in the pocket and running lanes for the backs.

A turnover on its first possession helped contain the Wynford offense early on. A fumble at the Bucyrus 41 gave the Redmen the ball. But a quick three-and-out gave it back to the Royals.

Three plays later, Cody Taylor ran 48 yards for the first score. The Redmen stopped a Wynford drive on downs later in the first quarter and the period ended at an innocuous 6-0 lead for the Royals.

“After the fumble, I thought we played a pretty clean game,” Helbert said. “Dustin did a nice job of throwing the ball. He didn’t get greedy. I thought maybe one pass he got greedy. Otherwise, he took what the defense gave him.”

The Royals’ offense exploded in the second quarter. Wynford scored four times in the frame. Brady ran four yards for a score and threw for two others — 50 yards to Seth Benedict and 67 yards to Nate Imbody. David Bils added a two-yard run for the 33-0 halftime lead.

“Wynford executed and we didn’t,” Makeever said. “You can’t make mistakes against good teams and expect to win.”

The Redmen threw two interceptions, one of which set up the third score in the second quarter and the other was in the Bucyrus end zone and ended a Redmen scoring theat.

“We were very nervous playing Bucyrus,” Helbert said. “They’re an improved team. I was very happy with how we came out and took control of the game.”

The only score in the second half — which featured a running clock — was a 13-yard run by Imbody for the Royals and an eight-yard run from Hastin Zier for Bucyrus, both in the fourth quarter.

Matt Anderson caught two passes for 20 yards and Zier caught one for 23 to lead the Redmen. Devon Newland ran for 35 yards on seven carries. Bucyrus was limited to 102 yards of net offense.

Brady was an efficient eight of 14 passing for 203 yards and two scores. Imbody caught three for 118 yards. Benedict grabbed three for 72 yards. Taylor rushed five times for 70 yards and Bils had 54 yards on eight carries.

“I was proud of the effort we gave,” Makeever said. “Wynford just out-executed us tonight.”

Bucyrus said good-bye to seniors Ben Seibert, Keaton Naufzinger, Jaylen Zehner, Tyler Bishop, Trevor Ley, Austin Ditmars, Hastin Zier, Tod Spurlock, Matt Anderson, Devon Newland, Micah Graves, Gunner Hoffer, Andrew Pifer and Skylar Luccio.

Thomas Kurek, David Bils, Seth Benedict, Nate Imbody, Asher Hoffman, Gavin Leffler, Kyle Davidson, Carson Heinlen and Noah Maguire played their last game in a Wynford uniform.

“The juniors need to put in work to carry on the tradition next year,” Helbert said. “We want to continue our goal of winning a league title and making the playoffs.”

Box score

Bucyrus       0          0         0        7   — 7

Wynford       6         27         0        7   — 40

Scoring summary

First quarter

W — Cody Taylor 48 run (kick blocked), 7:55.

Second quarter

W — Dustin Brady 4 run (Nate Imbody pass from Brady), 10:09.

W — Seth Benedict 50 pass from Brady (kick blocked), 5:52.

W — David Bils 2 run (run failed), 3:23.

W — Imbody 67 pass from Brady (Trent Greene kick), 1:48.

Fourth quarter

W — Imbody 13 run (Greene kick), 11:17.

B — Hastin Zier 8 run (Tyler Bishop kick), 5:19.

Individual statistics

Passing

Bucyrus: Ben Seibert 5-15-2 58; Trevor Ley 1-2-0 6.

Wynford: Dustin Brady 8-14-0 203.

Rushing

Bucyrus: Devon Newland 7-35, Lincoln Mollenkopf 4-31, Andrew Pifer 5, Hastin Zier 3-(-5), Ley 1-(-7), Seibert 9-(-21).

Wynford: Cody Taylor 5-70, David Bils 8-54, Brady 10-50, Nate Imbody 7-39, Seth Benedict 1-17, Kendall Blair 4-12.

Receiving

Bucyrus: Zier 1-23, Matt Anderson 2-20, Mollenkopf 1-11, Tod Spurlock 1-8, Nick Middleton 1-2.

Wynford: Imbody 3-118, Benedict 3-72, Thomas Kurek 1-8, Jaron Filliater 5.

Team statistics

B           W

First downs            10          16

Rushing              25-38    35-242

Passes                 6-17-2     8-14-0

Yards passing       64           203

Total yards            102         445

Fumbles-lost       5-0           1-1

Punts-Avg              0-0     5-37.4

Penalties               7-65      5-35