A slow start was costly for Mount Gilead in a 19-8 loss at Danville Friday night.
The Indians (5-4, 3-3 in league play) surrendered a touchdown in the first quarter to trail 7-0. In the second quarter, they gave up a safety, a second touchdown and a field goal to find themselves in a 19-0 hole at the break.
“We didn’t start well tonight,” said head coach Mike Reid. “We made a lot of mistakes early on and dug ourselves a hole. We had several penalties, a turnover and a blocked punt that went through the end zone for a safety. Our guys took a while to settle down and get going. That’s probably on me for not getting them more ready to play in a game as big as this one.”
In the third quarter, Matt Bland hit Owen High for a 76-yard touchdown and also connected with Gabe Simpson for a two-point conversion. However, the team would not be able to light up the scoreboard again in the defeat.
“We got some good drives going in the second half, but we couldn’t finish,” said Reid. “We actually got in the rad zone in the first half, too, and did not finish. I felt we left some points out there tonight.
Bland hit on 13-of-27 passes for 208 yards and added 97 on the ground. Owen High had three catches for 105 yards, while Logan High added four for 68.
Cardington Pirates
Fredericktown outlasted Cardington on Friday to claim a 44-28 win over the Pirates.
Cardington (1-8, 0-6) trailed 14-0 after the first quarter and 23-0 midway through the second, but battled back to nearly catch the Freddies by the early stages of the fourth quarter. Colin McAvoy scored to get the Pirates on the board and Kaiden Beach hit Kalin Briggs for a 26-yard score at the end of the half to make it 23-12.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Pirates got a 10-yard touchdown run by Wyatt Denney, who also added a two-point run to make it 23-20. Unfortunately for Cardington, the Freddies got three straight touchdowns to open up a 44-20 lead before the Pirates finished the game with a 14-yard pass from Beach to Austin Vail for points. Beach would then run in a two-point conversion to cut the team’s deficit to 16 points.
Beach hit on 13-of-26 passes for 223 yards. Vails had three catches for 92 yards and Briggs added four for 80. Denney ran for 110 in the game.
Northmor Golden Knights
Centerburg jumped out to a big lead against visiting Northmor (5-4, 2-4 in the KMAC) and didn’t look back in picking up a 49-13 decision.
The Trojans led 14-0 after 12 minutes of play. While the Golden Knights did get a 42-yard scoring pass from A.J. Bower to Hunter Fulk in the second quarter, Centerburg got three touchdowns in the period to lead 35-6 at the break.
Bower would hit Bo Landin for a seven-yard touchdown in the third quarter, but Northmor would not ba able to catch up to their opponents.
Bower connectred on 18-of-33 passes for 238 yards. Fulk collected eight of those catches for 86 yards, while Jaxson Wenger had three for 62 and Bo Landin added four for 62. Max Lower returned from injury for the team and tallied 73 rushing yards.
