Cardington outlasted Bucyrus on the road Friday night to claim their first win of the season by a 36-28 margin.
In the back-and-forth game, the Pirates got on the board first with a 25-yard run by Wyatt Denney. Bucyrus would take an 8-7 lead, but an 11-yard run by Kalin Briggs put the visiting team in front 13-8 after the first quarter.
The Redmen regained the lead with two quick second-quarter touchdowns, but Journey Williamson hit Denton Garrison with a 15-yard pass that made it 21-20 in favor of the Pirates going into the intermission. Williamson would connect with Garrison again — this time on a 29-yard play — to make it 28-20 early in the third, but Bucyrus would respond to tie the game at 28.
Cardington would score the deciding touchdown late in the final quarter, though, as Williamson hit Merek McClure with 1:11 left to improve the Pirates to 1-2.
Williamson connected on 9-of-19 passes for 121 yards and three scores, with Denton Garrison catching two passes for 63 yards and Greg Donaldson having four receptions for 33. On the ground, Wyatt Denney tallied 195 yards and Williamson added 55.
Mount Gilead Indians
A strong defensive effort led Mount Gilead to a 22-0 win at Grove City Christian on Friday.
The 2-1 Indians struck first in the second quarter on a nine-yard run by Mason Barnum. Holding a 6-0 lead at the half, they would add a four-yard touchdown run by Eliot Jones in the third quarter and a seven-yard score on the ground by Carson Trainer in the fourth. Jones and Trainer would also both convert two-point runs in the game.
MG held their opponents to 137 yards, while they tallied 361 — 318 on the ground. Cole Fricke ran for 124, while Barnum had 81, Trainer finished with 68 and Jones added 45. Fricke also completed 4-of-7 passes for 43 yards, with Gabe Simpson catching two for 24 yards.
“Tremendous, selfless team victory tonight,” said head coach Mike Reid. “The boys up front offensively controlled the line of scrimmage, the tempo and the ball in general. Four different guys carried the ball for us and did a great job. Getting 300 rushing yards is huge. The defense really came to work as well. Their offense is explosive and we were pretty disciplined in our assignments in limiting them to 137 yards and a shutout.”
Northmor Golden Knights
Northmor was unable to complete its comeback bid at Mapleton Friday night in falling to 2-1 on the season.
In their 40-33 loss, the Golden Knights trailed 16-0 early in the second quarter. While they would then wake up offensively, getting a 62-yard run for points by Carson Campbell and a 45-yard touchdown pass from A.J. Bower to Bo Landin, they still trailed 24-12 at the intermission.
A big third quarter would give Northmor the lead, though. An 18-yard scoring run by Campbell made it 24-19 and Bower would then connect with Landon again on a 22-yard touchdown pass to give the Golden Knights a 26-24 lead. Mapleton would regain the advantage, but a 51-yard run by Campbell made it 33-32 with 12 minutes to play.
Unfortunately, Northmor would not be able to get back on the scoreboard, while their opponents got a rushing touchdown and two-point conversion to wind up on top.
Campbell finished with 213 yards on the ground in the game, while Bower hit on 7-of-19 passes for 130 yards. Landin was the top receiver, catching four balls for 96 yards.
Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS
