Caleb Moyer of Wapakoneta breaks away from Bath’s defense for a touchdown on Friday night.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA — Winning championships isn’t an easy thing to do by any means, but when it comes to winning at least a share of the Western Buckeye League, the Wapakoneta Redskins sure make it look easy.
And on Friday night with a 48-20 win over Bath, Wapak (9-0, 8-0 WBL) went from clinching a share of the title to winning it outright.
According to the WBL’s website, it’s the 16th time the Redksins have won the conference and the eighth time they’ve stood alone at the top. Excluding the 2020 season when a WBL title wasn’t awarded, Wapakoneta has won at least a share of the crown for six straight seasons.
“Winning an outright championship means a ton to our program,” Wapakoneta head coach Travis Moyer said. “I’ve always said there’s two times our kids are allowed to be selfish, number one is in the weight room and number two is with championships. To be able to get our sixth consecutive championship and to win it outright, I just can’t say enough about our program.”
“It means a lot,” said Caleb Moyer, who finished the night with seven total touchdowns. “Just being around the program for all these years and watching everyone else win, it was always something I wanted to do. It was a team win tonight. We were able to do our job and credit to the guys up front for being able to block and help us out.”
To put it simply, Caleb Moyer was special on Friday night, and saying that might be an understatement.
Wapakoneta’s 6-2, 190-pound signal-caller went 14 of 16 through the air for 193 yards with touchdown passes to Kaden Page (15 yards) and Noah Bishop (43 yards). He was also the team’s leading rusher with 138 yards and five touchdowns on 11 carries.
With 6:44 left in the third quarter, Moyer busted off a 91-yard touchdown run to make 34-12.
“We knew we were going to have a light box and once we put Kaden (Page) in motion, that opened the play up a little more,” Travis Moyer said. “Once Caleb got by that first guy he was able to burst through there. You have to give credit to guys up front and guys blocking upfield but that was a big play in the game from a momentum standpoint.”
Page, the decoy on the play, had plenty of praise for his dual-threat quarterback following the win.
“Every Friday night he’s just making crazy plays,” Page said of Moyer. “I have to give all the credit to him. I’ve played football with him since elementary school at recess and he’s always been like that. Just making plays and being a leader, it’s really impressive.”
Moyer had two first-quarter rushing touchdowns to put the Redskins in front 14-0 until Mikey Hale, who ran for 89 yards on 12 carries, broke off a 25-yard touchdown run for Bath with 8:54 left in the first quarter to make it 14-6.
Page, who finished the night with 83 yards on seven catches, caught his 15-yard touchdown seven plays later, then Bath answered with a 14-play 80-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard run from Zach Welsch.
Wapakoneta went on to outscore Bath 28-8 in the second half after clinging to a one-score lead at the break.
“We didn’t flinch,” Moyer said. “We knew they were a good offensive team and our guys stepped up in the second half and played much better defense. We know they can run and throw the ball effectively. I thought we made the changes that we needed at halftime, but it was mostly about keeping our poise and making them work harder.”
Bath (5-4, 5-3 WBL) out-gained Wapakoneta 220-200 in the first half, but the Redskins turned things up a notch in the final two quarters and won the yardage battle 501-315.
Welsch, who was pulled prior to Bath’s final drive in favor of Daniel Cole, finished the night 14 of 24 for 131 yards and a fourth-quarter interception to Jarrett Mullen. Welsch also ran the ball 21 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
In addition to his interception, Mullen ran the ball nine times for 101 yards. Mullen, Moyer and Andre Longsworth combined for all 308 of Wapak’s rushing yards.
Score by quarters
Bath 0 12 8 0 – 20
Wapak 14 6 14 14 – 48
Scoring Summary
W — Caleb Moyer 11-yard run (Ethan Eisert kick) — 5:52, 1st
W — Caleb Moyer 4-yard run (Ethan Eisert kick) — 0:09, 1st
B — Mikey Hale 25-yard run (Carson Myers kick blocked) — 8:54, 2nd
W — Kaden Page 15-yard reception from Caleb Moyer (Ethan Eisert kick no good) — 6:32, 2nd
B — Zach Welsch 2-yard run (2PT conversion no good) — 1:27, 2nd
W — Caleb Moyer 5-yard run (Ethan Eisert kick) — 10:35, 3rd
W — Caleb Moyer 91-yard run (Ethan Eisert kick) — 6:44, 3rd
B — Zach Welsch 3-yard run (Zach Welsch 2PT run) — 3:01, 3rd
W — Noah Bishop 43-yard reception from Caleb Moyer (Ethan Eisert kick) — 11:52, 4th
W — Caleb Moyer 3-yard run (Ethan Eisert kick) — 9:11, 4th
Passing
B — Zach Welsch 14/24 131 yards, INT
W — Caleb Moyer 14/16 193 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing
B — Zach Welsch 21 carries, 98 yards, 2 TDs
W — Caleb Moyer 11 carries, 138 yards, 5 TDs
Receiving
B — Logan Markley 6 catches, 67 yards
W — Kaden Page 7 catches, 83 yards, TD
Total yards
B — 315
W — 501
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
