By: Gary Ogle and Bob Strohm
news@wbcowqel.com
Neither rain, nor mud, nor wind nor the Bucyrus Redmen were going to keep the Wynford Royals from claiming an outright Northern 10 Conference crown and keeping the Picking Copper Kettle trophy Friday evening. The Royals blew open a tight game at halftime and rolled to a 30-0 win at Bucyrus.
The win is the ninth straight for Wynford who dropped the season opener against Liberty Benton. It gave to the Royals a perfect 8-0 N10 mark, ran their winning streak against Bucyrus to 17, and all but ensured them a home playoff game next Friday in the Division VI, Region 20 playoffs.
It took Wynford less than two minutes to get on the scoreboard after kicking off to Bucyrus to begin the game. After stopping the Redmen, a high snap to the Bucyrus punter gave the ball to Wynford at the Redmen 2-yard line. It only took Wynford one play, a blast through the line by quarterback Keaton Teynor, to get into the end zone.
Defenses on both sides dominated the rest of the first half of play. Bucyrus stopped Wynford three consecutive plays from inside the 1-year line and the Royals returned the favor by stopping the Redmen on downs after they had pushed down to the Royals’ 2.
But Wynford took the ball and had the wind at its back to open the third quarter. Nick Looker capped an 11-play drive with a 2-yard run to make it 13-0. The Royals added a safety and a Jalon Brown 20-yard field goal in the third quarter to lead 18-0 after three quarters. Teynor’s 20-yard run and a late 56-yard scoring run by back-up quarterback Zach Hoffman accounted for the final of 30-0.
Neither team could find the secret to throwing the ball in the wind and the rain. Teynor was 4-for-4 for 65 yards, while Cole Murtiff was 8-of-16 for 93 yards and an interception. Teynor led all rushers with 109 yards on 34 carries. Murtiff led the Redmen with 41 stripes on 17 attempts. Austin Williams had four catches for the Redmen totaling 51 yards.
The Redmen finished their season at 7-3 overall and 6-2 in N10 action. Wynford will go into the playoffs with a mark of 9-1.
Traveling to Mohawk, Buckeye Central finished off their season on a high note defeating the Warriors 41-8.
Cody Roberts got the Bucks’ offense rolling with a 10 yard touchdown run with 6:41 to go in the first. After a 2 point conversion by quarterback Grant Loy Buckeye Central was up 8-0.
Mohawk answered back with 11:17 to go in the second quarter with a 4 yard run and a two point conversion from quarterback Gunnar Johnson.
The Bucks’ answered back on a 27 yard touchdown run by Roberts with 9:12 to go in the half to put the Bucks up 14-8.
The Bucks never looked back holding Mohawk scoreless the second half.
Roberts led the Bucks’ offense with 192 yards rushing on 19 attempts for 2 scores.
Quarterback Gunnar Johnson led Mohawk on the ground with 109 yards on 28 attempts and the team’s lone touchdown.
With the win Buckeye Central finishes the first N-10 campaign with a 5-5 overall record and a 4-4 record in division play.
The Warriors finished their season with a 3-7 record going 3-6 in the N-10.
In other action around the N-10 and Crawford County Colonel Crawford upset Carey 19-7 and a share of second place in the N-10. Seneca East defeated Ridgedale 42-15, Crestline lost to Hardin Northern 47-34, and in MOAC action Galion was defeated by Marion Pleasant 40-21.
N 10 Standings:
Wynford 9-1 (8-0)
Colonel Crawford 8-2 (6-2)
Carey 8-2 (6-2)
Bucyrus 7-3 (6-2)
Buckeye Central 5-5 (4-4)
Mohawk 3-7 (3-5)
Seneca East 3-7 (3-5)
Ridgedale 2-8 (1-7)
Crestline 0-10 (0-8)
MOAC:
Galion 6-4