Wapakoneta’s Jarrett Mullen runs the ball against Shawnee during Friday’s game at Mercy Health Wapak Ford Field in Wapakoneta.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA – Friday night’s weather forecast called for rain and high winds.
However, that didn’t change Wapakoneta’s game plan much at all.
Like usual, Wapakoneta displayed a high-powered balanced offense as it shut out Shawnee 28-0 in Friday’s Western Buckeye League matchup under windy and wet weather conditions.
With the convincing victory, Wapakoneta improved to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the WBL. Shawnee slipped to 2-4 in all games played and 1-4 in league action.
Wapakoneta junior quarterback Caleb Moyer was 11 of 13 passing for 195 yards. Moyer also rushed for 82 yards on 16 carries and had two touchdowns. Jarrett Mullen, a junior running back, rushed for 110 yards on 10 carries and had two TDs. Mullen also had four receptions for 74 yards for the Redskins.
As a team, Wapakoneta rushed for 217 yards.
“Obviously, going in tonight with the (weather conditions), we knew we would have to run the ball,” Wapakoneta coach Travis Moyer said. “I want to credit the guys up front. I thought we got better as the game went on with our run game. Credit our backs for running hard. I thought the harder our offensive line blocked, the harder our backs ran, and vice versa. I want to credit everybody there, especially to establish that (dominance) in the second half.”
Wapakoneta scored its first touchdown with two minutes left in the opening quarter. Moyer capped off a 9-play, 56-yard scoring drive with a 3-yard TD run. That would be the lone score of the first half.
The Redskins recorded their second score of the night with 8:16 left in the third quarter with a 1-yard TD run by Moyer. That quick 3-play scoring drive was set up by a 72-yard reception by Kaden Page that put the ball on Shawnee’s 1-yard line.
Page ended the night with six catches for 121 yards.
“Obviously, the weather dictated a little bit on what we did, offensively,” Coach Moyer said. “But credit Caleb (Moyer) and Kaden (Page) on that big pass play, and to the offensive line for giving us time upfront. It really gave us a spark and got us going there in the second half.”
Shawnee starting quarterback JJ Spyker was forced out of the game in the first quarter with an injury. Before he exited, he was 3 of 5 passing for 24 yards.
Bluffton barrels over LCC
BLUFFTON — Bluffton played “lights out” football again on Friday night.
In this case, that’s not a figure of speech. The lights actually went out twice during Bluffton’s 35-0 win over LCC, causing two separate delays, one before the opening kick and another with 4:04 left in the first half.
But even the combination of two power outages, the pouring rain and high-speed winds weren’t nearly enough to slow down the unbeaten Pirates, who prepared for the conditions this week with wet footballs in practice.
“A big part of this started in the preseason when I told the coaching staff that we’re going to be as hard on them as we could so that we were prepared for situations that’ll be abnormally difficult,” Bluffton coach Jeff Richards said. “Tonight we had gale-force winds and heavy rain for an entire game and some power outages. They responded well. Especially with those long breaks we were forced to take. They could have gotten complacent but they did a great job.”
At no point in the shutout victory did Bluffton (6-0, 3-0 NWC) let its foot off the gas pedal.
Offensively the Pirates out-gained LCC 418-63.
Tayte Giesige accounted for all five touchdowns, four of them on the ground and the fifth on a 61-yard pass to Griffin Stackhouse. The 6-1, 175-pound quarterback completed 6 of his 7 passes for 89 yards and ran for 171 yards on 17 carries.
Giesige’s effort in the ground game, combined with Landen Worcester (14 carries, 77 yards) and Parker Lovell’s rushing stats (13 carries, 64 yards), added up to 329 yards on 44 carries.
“He’s a competitor and he’s hard on himself because he wants to be the best he can possibly be,” Richards said of Giesige. “He works very hard and does everything he should do to be a great quarterback and every week we’re seeing something better out of him.”
Brady Parker ended the night completing just 2 of his 13 passes for 10 yards with 16 rushing yards on 4 carries. As a team, LCC (4-2, 2-1 NWC) gained 63 total yards. Eddie White ran for 34 yards in the second half.
Matthew Quatman, who entered the night as the second-leading rusher in the Northwest Conference, ended the game with 1 yard on 2 carries.
Top performers
• In Columbus Grove’s 38-13 win over Allen East, Trenton Barraza rushed for 308 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries.
• In Ottawa-Glandorf’s 26-0 win over Bath, Grant Evers had three rushing touchdowns.
• In St. Marys’ 49-14 win over Van Wert, Colton Mabry ran for 126 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Dominik Osborne ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns and Caleb Schmidt added 81 yards and one rushing touchdown.
• In Celina’s 17-14 loss to Elida, Jon Lutz had 19 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
• In Coldwater’s 48-0 win over Parkway, Braxton Taylor and Miles Potkotter each had two rushing touchdowns and Ethan Elander returned a kick 83 yards for a touchdown.
• In Pandora-Gilboa’s 34-0 win over Elmwood, Andrew Miller ran the ball 23 times for 145 yards and Ben Burkholder had three catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns.
• In Hardin Northern’s 42-0 win over Ridgedale, Nolan Hopson had 35 carries for 271 yards and five touchdowns.
• In Allen East’s 38-13 loss to Columbus Grove, Jackson Thompson had a 43-yard fumble return touchdown.
• In Van Wert’s 49-14 loss to St. Marys, Briston Wise carried the ball 30 times for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
• In Perry’s 34-0 win over North Baltimore, Isaiah McFadden had 182 yards rushing yards and a touchdown, along with a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown. Kimari Glenn added 7 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
• In Fort Recovery’s 14-12 loss to New Bremen, Reece Wendel had 37 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown.
• In Crestview’s 36-0 win over Delphos Jefferson, Braxton Leeth carried the ball 13 times for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
FOOTBALL STANDINGS
Western Buckeye League
`WBL`All
Wapakoneta`5-0`6-0
Bath`4-1`4-2
Defiance`4-1`4-2
Celina`3-2`4-2
St. Marys`3-2`4-2
Ottawa-Glandorf`3-2`3-3
Shawnee`1-4`2-4
Elida`1-4`2-4
Kenton`1-4`1-5
Van Wert`0-5`1-5
Midwest Athletic Conference
`MAC`All
Marion Local`4-0`6-0
Coldwater`4-0`6-0
Minster`3-1`5-1
Versailles`3-1`5-1
Anna`2-2`4-2
New Bremen`2-2`4-2
Delphos St. John’s`1-3`2-4
St. Henry`1-3`2-4
Fort Recovery`0-4`1-5
Parkway`0-4`1-5
Northwest Conference
`NWC`All
Columbus Grove`3-0`6-0
Bluffton`3-0`6-0
Lima Central Catholic`2-1`4-2
Fort Loramie`2-1`3-3
Allen East`1-2`3-3
Crestview`1-2`3-3
Spencerville`0-3`3-3
Delphos Jefferson`0-3`1-5
Northwest Central Conference
`NWCC`All
Upper Scioto Valley`5-0`5-1
Hardin Northern`5-0`5-1
Ridgemont`3-1`4-2
Elgin`3-1`3-3
Waynesfield-Goshen`2-2`4-2
Perry`1-3`3-3
North Baltimore`1-4`2-4
Ridgedale`0-4`1-5
Cory-Rawson`0-5`1-5
Blanchard Valley Conference
`BVC`All
Liberty-Benton`4-0`5-1
Pandora-Gilboa`4-0`4-2
Ada`3-1`5-1
Leipsic`4-2`3-1
McComb`2-2`4-2
Van Buren`2-2`3-3
Arlington`1-3`3-3
Riverdale`1-3`2-4
Arcadia`0-4`0-6
Elmwood`0-4`0-6
Toledo City Athletic League
`TCAL`All
Rogers`3-0`3-3
Lima Senior`2-0`6-0
Bowsher`2-1`2-4
Start`1-1`2-4
Scott`1-1`1-5
Waite`0-3`0-6
Woodward`0-3`0-6
RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Thursday, Sept. 26
Leipsic 40, Riverdale 10
Ada 36, Arcadia 6
Friday, Sept. 27
Bluffton 35, LCC 0
Wapakoneta 28, Shawnee 0
Columbus Grove 38, Allen East 13
Ottawa-Glandorf 26, Bath 0
St Marys 49, Van Wert 14
Elida 17, Celina 14
Coldwater 48, Parkway 0
Pandora-Gilboa 34, Elmwood 0
Hardin Northern 42, Ridgedale 0
Perry 34, North Baltimore 0
Wayne Trace 12, Hicksville 0
Fairview 21, Paulding 19
New Bremen 14, Fort Recovery 12
Crestview 36, Delphos Jefferson 0
Defiance 34, Kenton 27
Fort Loramie 42, Spencerville 21
Patrick Henry 44, Wauseon 0
Liberty Center 42, Bryan 0
Lima Senior 56, Woodward 0
Marion Local 48, Versailles 0
Upper Scioto Valley 20, Ridgemont 0
Minster 12, St. Henry 7
Waynesfield-Goshen 24, Cory-Rawson 0
Saturday, Sept. 28
Anna 34, Delphos St. John’s 0
Friday, Oct. 4
Allen East at Spencerville, 7 p.m.
Fort Loramie at Columbus Grove, 7 p.m.
Bath at Celina, 7 p.m.
Elida at Defiance, 7 p.m.
Wapakoneta at Kenton, 7 p.m.
Van Wert at Ottawa-Glandorf, 7 p.m.
St. Marys at Shawnee, 7 p.m.
Coldwater at Delphos St. John’s, 7 p.m.
Fort Recovery at Marion Local, 7 p.m.
Minster at New Bremen, 7 p.m.
St. Henry at Parkway, 7 p.m.
Anna at Versailles, 7 p.m.
Ada at Riverdale, 7 p.m.
Leipsic at McComb, 7 p.m.
Pandora-Gilboa at Liberty-Benton, 7 p.m.
Perry at Cory-Rawson, 7 p.m.
Waynesfield-Goshen at Elgin, 7 p.m.
Ridgemont at Hardin Northern, 7 p.m.
Rogers at Lima Senior, 7 p.m.
Upper Scioto Valley at Dayton Christian, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 5
Bluffton at Crestview, 7 p.m.
Delphos Jefferson at LCC, 7 p.m.
