Columbus Grove running back Trent Baraza celebrates after scoring his third touchdown of the first quarter Friday in Bluffton. He finished with four scores and 245 rushing yards as the Bulldogs claimed the Northwest Conference championship.
BLUFFTON — Most fans expected the Columbus Grove-Bluffton football game to resemble a boxing bout between the Northwest Conference’s two undefeated, state-ranked heavyweights.
It played out more like a first-round knockout, as Columbus Grove beat Bluffton, 42-0, to win its second-straight conference championship by beating the Pirates in the regular-season finale.
Columbus Grove running back Trenton Barraza had 152 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the first quarter alone. The defense of the Bulldogs (10-0, 7-0 NWC), ranked No. 2 in the most recent Associated Press poll, kept Bluffton from earning a first down in three tries in that pivotal quarter.
“I mean, credit to the O-line,” said Barraza, who finished with 245 rushing yards and four TDs. “You could drive monster trucks through those holes.”
The breakaway speed of the 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior Barraza, who led the NWC with more than 1,700 yards this year, had something to do with it too. He had long runs of 30, 38 and 14 yards on each of those scoring drives that showed off his second-effort speed against the top defense in the conference in terms of overall yards, rushing yards and passing yards allowed. Much of the second half had a running clock, since Grove led by more than 30 points.
“We got our butts kicked, cut and dry,” Bluffton coach Jeff Richards said. “Coach (Andy) Schafer and his staff did a great job. Their team executed great in the first half. They were doing some things we couldn’t quite account for in the first half.”
On the other side of the ball, Columbus Grove’s defense recorded its first shutout of the year against the league’s No. 1-ranked offense. The Bulldogs held Bluffton’s three-man running attack of quarterback Tayte Giesige and running backs Landen Worcester and Parker Lovell, who combined for 211.7 yards per game this season, to just 33 yards for the Pirates (9-1, 6-1 NWC), who were ranked No. 4 in the most recent Division VI AP poll.
Overall, the Bulldogs outgained the Pirates, 347-144. Giesige completed 10 of 17 passes for 98 yards with two interceptions. The Pirates also struggled with penalties, getting seven for 52 yards despite being the NWC’s least-penalized team going into the showdown.
“I think tonight we really hit that goal of rallying to the ball and group-tackling the guy,” said Columbus Grove senior defensive back Grant Eversole, who had an interception to go along with teammate Gavin Barraza’s league-leading fifth pick of the year.
Eversole also had 53 yards rushing offensively, including a 12-yard TD run in the second quarter. Brady Basinger added a 31-yard, third-quarter touchdown catch on a streak pattern down the middle of the field that quarterback Kyle Hopkins completed. Hopkins hit 4 of 7 passes for 52 yards.
Both teams clinched first-round home games in the playoffs before Friday’s showdown. The Ohio High School Athletic Association will announce the playoff pairings Sunday.
Columbus Grove’s Schafer said he didn’t have to do much to motivate his team, which won its league-leading 17th league title, including at least a share in six of the last seven seasons.
“The pre-game speech was very simple: ‘Why are we going to win? Because we’re the best team in the Northwest Conference,’” Schafer said. “Our kids bought into it. You can see that they played that way.”
Columbus Grove 42, Bluffton 0
Columbus Grove Bluffton
13 First downs 8
347 Total yards 144
295 Rushing yards 47
52 Passing yardage 97
4-7-0 Passing 11-18-2
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
2-31 Punts 4-37.5
2-20 Penalties 7-52
Score by quarters:
Columbus Grove 21 7 7 7 — 42
Bluffton 0 0 0 0 — 0
First quarter
CG-Trenton Barraza 2 run (Evan Verhoff kick), 8:04
CG-Trenton Barraza 1 run (Evan Verhoff kick), 7:09
CG-Trenton Barraza 14 run (Evan Verhoff kick), 1:38
Second quarter
CG-Grant Eversole 12 run (Evan Verhoff kick), 8:05
Third quarter
CG-Brady Basinger 31 pass from Kyle Hopkins (Evan Verhoff kick), 4:38
Fourth quarter
CG-Trenton Barraza 41 run (Evan Verhoff kick), 10:21
Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.
