By Lonnie McMillan
Daily Chief-Union Sports Editor
NEW WASHINGTON — Still searching for an offensive identity, the Wynford football team has relied on big plays to provide enough scoring to back a stingy defense. That formula held true again Friday night in a 34-0 victory against Buckeye Central.
The Royals (3-1, 1-0 Northern 10 Athletic Conference) used a couple of long touchdown plays and shutdown defense to make up for offense that was stagnant at times. Nate Imbody caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Brady in the first quarter, and Cody Taylor broke a 62-yard run in the
second quarter.
“That’s been a key for us in a couple other games we’ve had,” Wynford coach Gabe Helbert said. “We were fortunate to get the long touchdown pass and the long run. Those types of things you¹ve got to maybe rely on a maybe a little bit.”
Zoltan Feldman’s fumble recovery set up Wynford’s first touchdown. On a third-and-20 play, Imbody caught a sideline pass and then quickly turned upfield past a defender all the way to the end zone.
Then with just 3:24 left in the first half, Taylor broke free for a long scoring run – just one play after Alizhah Watson’s apparent touchdown run was called back for a holding penalty.
“It’s going to be slow going for us offensively,” Helbert said. “We’re a team that’s searching for an identity from an offensive standpoint. Unfortunately, in week four, we¹re still searching for that identity, but sometimes that happens. I appreciate our kids’ response in the second half.”
Minus those two plays, the Royals had just four first downs and 93 yards of offense in the first half, but they began to wear down the Bucks (0-4, 0-1 N10) in the second half.
Two plays after a muffed punt – one of four Buckeye Central turnovers – Blake Sparks scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 10-yard run.
Sparks scored on a 49-yard un on the next Wynford possession to make it 27-0 with 3:33 left in the third quarter. He finished with a team-leading 97 yards on 10 carries and had a 9-yard catch.
Wynford scored its final touchdown run on a 13-yard run by backup quarterback Gavin Burris wtih 7:10 remaining.
“In the second half, we did some things that were maybe a little more consistent,” Helbert said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff to clean up. We’re a football that has got to get a lot more football-savvy or football-smart, and that’s just going to continue with work and preparation.”
The Royals were hampered by 10 penalties for 71 yards and lost a pair of fumbles.
Taylor ended the night with 92 yards on just four attempts, while Watson carried eight times for 62 yards. Freshman Kendall Blair ran the ball six times for 43 yards in the second half as Wynford finished with 328 yards rushing.
Buckeye Central was able to run the ball at times, especially with fullback Jacob Maxhimer, who had 17 carries for 84 yards, but it had no success passing. Quarterback Brady Kerschner’s only completion went for a loss of 5 yards, he was picked off once by Taylor, and he was sacked five times. Benedict had an interception of backup Alden McDougal.
“It’s a tremendous amount of respect for Coach (Rob) Detterman and the Buckeye Central kids to come out and fight,” Helbert said. “They play us tough. They have a lot of pride in their athletics. They’re slight on numbers, slight on guys. They’re banged up, and kids are playing hard, and they continue to come at you and play hard.”
The Royals host Colonel Crawford at 7 p.m. Friday.
Score by quarters
Wynford 7 7 13 7 — 34
Buckeye Central 0 0 0 0 — 0
First quarter
W – Brady 40-yard pass to Imbody (Benedict kick) 4:46.
Second quarter
W – Taylor 62-yard run (Benedict kick) 3:24.
Third quarter
W – Sparks 10-yard run (Bendict kick) 10:09.
W – Sparks 49-yard run (Kick failed) 3:33.
Fourth quarter
W – Burris 13-yard run (Benedict kick) 7:10.
Individual statistics
Passing
Wynford: Brady 3-12, 60 yards, 1 TD.
Buckeye Central: Baldosser 1-1, 20 yards; Kerschner 1-11, -5 yards, 1 INT;
McDougal 0-1, 1 INT.
Rushing
Wynford: Sparks 10-97, 2 TDs; Taylor 4-92, 1 TD; Watson 8-62; Blair 6-45;
Burris 3-27, 1 TD; Brady 2-14; K. Bils 2-8; D. Bils 1-6; Benedict 1-(minus
6); Team 3-(minus &0.
Buckeye Central: Maxhimer 17-84; Baldosser 11-45; Rowlinson 3-14; McDougal
1-7; Moyer 1-2; Pletcher 1-(minus 6); Kerschner 6-(minus 21).
Receiving
Wynford: Imbody 2-51, 1 TD; Sparks 1-9.
Buckeye Central: Moyer 1-20; Heefner 1-(minus 5).
Team statistics
W BC
First downs 16 9
Rushing 40-328 40-125
Passes 3-12 3-13
Yards passing 60 15
Passes intercepted 0 2
Fumbles-lost 3-2 5-2
Penalties 10-71 6-47
Punts 3-46.0 5-21.0