BUCYRUS — Wynford entered its annual backyard rivalry game with Bucyrus with an uncharacteristic 1-2 record and were last in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference in total offense.
Offense was not a problem for the Royals on Friday night. Nor were special teams and defense.
Wynford scored 51 first-half points — more than the Royals had scored in their first three games combined — then rolled to a 72-20 victory in the 45th edition of the Copper Kettle game. Wynford has now won the last 24 in a row.
“We got off to a quick start,” Wynford coach Gabe Helbert said. “We got the pick-six early, which helped us.”
Helbert referred to the first Royals’ score, a 45-yard interception return by Sam Collene to give the hosts a 7-0 lead at 7:00 of the first quarter.
“We had a little protection breakdown that put heat right in (quarterback) Malachi’s (Bayless) face,” Bucyrus coach Tim Plumley said. “We made some throws and they picked them off, to their credit.”
On the next possession, Bucyrus (1-3, 0-1 N10) punted but a running into the kicker penalty turned a fourth-and-8 into a fourth-and-3. The Redmen decided to go for it but came up short, turning the ball over at the 49.
After a holding penalty pushed the Royals back to their own 40, they mounted a six-play, 60-yard drive which finished on an 18-yard scoring pass from Cobey Allen to Jaron Filliator to make it 14-0, the first of two scoring strikes between the two.
Three more plays and Wynford recovered a fumble at the Bucyrus 23. It took just four plays for Kaden Blair to run it in from seven yards to make it 22-0. The rout appeared to be on.
“They fought back,” Helbert said of the Redmen. “They stayed in the fight, made some big plays in the pass game. It was a 22-14 game.”
Indeed, Bucyrus did pull itself up by the bootstraps. The Redmen went 62 yards in seven plays for their first score. The big play was a 29-yard strike from Bayless to Mason Gebhardt to the one. Eddie Dagher took it into the end zone from there.
On the next series, Wynford (2-2, 1-0) turned the ball over on downs at midfield. Bayless promptly connected with Grady Jackson on a 50-yard scoring strike down the left sideline to cut the deficit to 22-14.
“We have some big-play potential,” Plumley said. “There were a couple other guys running free that we either just missed or the protection broke down. There were a couple other opportunities, even in the first half.”
But from there on, it was all Wynford. Allen combined with tight end Avery Langenderfer on touchdown passes of 50 and 26 yards, Kade Blair had another seven-yard scoring run and Allen hit Owen Whitmeyer from 21 yards out to make it 51-14 at halftime.
“Our kids responded,” Helbert said. “We punt the ball and then we get a stop defensively. Brandon Garrett with a big interception too. We kind of opened it up there in the second quarter.”
In the second half, the Royals tacked on running scores by Kaden Blair of three yards — his third of the game — Whitmeyer, five yards, and Chandler Elchert of six yards. Bucyrus could only muster a 15-yard scoring run by Bayless.
“I know they (were) 1-2,” Plumley said of the Royals. “They played a really hard schedule. They’re a good team.”
Filliator led Wynford with 108 receiving on seven catches. Langenderfer caught just two balls for 76 yards, but both were for touchdowns. Four Royals rushed for over 50 yards, led by Kaden Blair’s 59 yards on nine carries. Allen threw for 256 yards, completing 13 of 18 passes, good for four touchdowns.
“Our defense settled down and we started to get a little pressure on the quarterback and the pressure led to some of those (five) turnovers,” Helbert said. “Those big plays on the touchdown part of the momentum change.”
Dagher led the Redmen offense with 144 yards on 17 carries, with on score. Bayless hit seven of 23 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. Jackson caught three balls for 63 yards and a score.
“The guys played hard,” Plumley said. “We make a lot of mistakes offensively. I’ve got to come up with a better way for us to move the ball and not put so much stress on it.”
“I’m proud of our kids’ effort,” Helbert said. “Anytime you can come out here and get your first league win, you’re excited about it. Hopefully, we can continue to get better.”
Box score
Score by quarters
Bucyrus 0 14 6 0 — 20
Wynford 22 29 7 14 — 72
Scoring summary
First quarter
W — Sam Collene 45 interception return (Trent Greene kick), 7:00.
W — Jaron Filliator 18 pass from Cobey Allen (Greene kick), 3:30.
W — Kaden Blair 7 run (Allen run), :05.
Second quarter
B — Eddie Dagher 1 run (kick blocked), 10:20.
B — Grady Jackson 50 pass from Malachi Bayless (Jackson pass from Bayless), 7:33.
W — Avery Langenderfer 50 pass from Allen (Greene kick), 4:25.
W — Kaden Blair 7 run (Greene kick), 2:46.
W — Langenderfer 26 pass from Allen (Kendall Blair run), 2:17.
W — Owen Whitmeyer 21 pass from Allen (Greene kick), :38.
Third quarter
W — Kaden Blair 3 run (Greene kick), 3:48.
B — Bayless 15 run (kick blocked), :37.
Fourth quarter
W — Kohen Keith 5 run (Greene kick), 11:48.
W — Chandler Elchert 6 run (Greene kick), 5:31.
Individual statistics
Passing
Bucyrus: Malachi Bayless 7-23-4 121. Wynford: Cobey Allen 13-18-1 256.
Rushing
Bucyrus: Eddie Dagher 17-144, Bayless 3-11, Ethan Brown 1-7, Sheldon Lewis 2-4, Blayne Stewart-Barto 8-(-4). Wynford: Kaden Blair 9-59, Kohen Keith 2-57, Chandler Elchert 4-56, Kendall Blair 6-54, Allen 9-6, Owen Whitmeyer 1-(-1), Ashton 3-(-3).
Receiving
Bucyrus: Grady Jackson 3-63, Mason Gebhardt 1-29, Mike Wise 1-15, Braxton Lewis 1-12, Dagher 1-2. Wynford: Jaron Filliator 7-108, Avery Langenderfer 2-76, Kendall Blair 3-51, Owen Whitmeyer 1-21.
Team statistics
B W
First downs 10 14
Rushing 31-162 34-228
Passes 7-23-4 13-18-1
Yards passing 121 256
Total yards 283 484
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0
Punts-Avg 3-28.0 1-44.0
Penalties 4-45 5-45