Cougars roar, beat Bryan 63-28 in opener

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Van Wert lit up the scoreboard early and often and the Cougars cruised to 63-28 win over Bryan in the season opener at Eggerss Stadium Friday night.

In fact, Van Wert seemingly had the game in hand before the offense took the field. Brylen Parker returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown and the first of eight Damon McCracken extra points put the Cougars up 7-0 just 12 seconds into the game.

After Bryan went three and out, Parker took a Golden Bear punt back 69 yards for a score with 10:36 left in the first quarter. After a 45-yard touchdown pass from Aidan Pratt to Carson Smith and a 35-yard scoring run by Pratt, Parker added a touchdown on a 4-yard run, giving the Cougars a 34-0 lead at the end of the quarter.

“He’s the type of player and person that coaches dream of,” Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. “He brings so much toughness, attitude and playmaking ability and we could see some of that last year as a sophomore. He showed all the work he’s put in to get to this point.”

The Cougars (1-0) tacked on three more touchdowns in the second quarter. Pratt lofted a 35-yard touchdown pass to Maddix Crutchfield, a 55-yard scoring pass to Keldyn Bill and a 3-yard touchdown strike to Garrett Gunter, giving Van Wert a 55-7 halftime lead. Bryan’s touchdown came on a 10-yard run by Jase Kepler.

Pratt ran for 75 yards on just seven carries and completed 16-of-23 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half. Five passes went to Gunter for 74 yards, while Crutchfield added four receptions for 70 yards. Bill had three catches for 72 yards. By halftime, Van Wert had rolled up over 400 yards of offense.

“They’ve worked so much over the summer on timing and they just pick up things so quickly,” Recker said of Pratt and the receivers. “They’re focused on what they’re doing, they’re smart football players and you’ve got a guy like Aidan who makes things simple for us offensively.”

The Golden Bears (0-1) had just over 100 total yards at halftime and finished the game with 219 yards.

“I was worried about stopping their run with the line they had back,” Recker said. “We’ve gotten so much better from last week from how we defended the run against Crestview. Bryan will be a solid team this year but we really slowed them down in the first half.”

Van Wert played reserves in the second half, which was played with a continuous clock, while Bryan kept varsity starters in for the remainder of the game. The Golden Bears returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, then added a Sam Herold 1-yard touchdown run and a four yard touchdown pass from Kepler to Maddox Langenderfer.

Van Wert’s lone score came in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard Brandon Mendoza touchdown run and two point conversion pass from Briston Wise to Bill.

The Cougars will open Western Buckeye League play at Celina on Friday.

“They seem much improved and their old offensive line coach came out of retirement and he’s a tough guy so they’re going to have both of their lines ready to go,” Recker said of the Bulldogs. “It’s going to be a good game.”

Scoring summary

VWHS 34 21 0 8 – 63
Bryan 0 7 14 7 – 28

First quarter

Brylen Parker 87-yard kickoff return (Damon McCracken kick)
Brylen Parker 69-yard punt return (Damon McCracken kick)
Aidan Pratt 45-yard pass to Carson Smith (Damon McCracken kick)
Aidan Pratt 35-yard run (Damon McCracken kick)
Brylen Parker 4-yard run (kick failed)

Second quarter

Aidan Pratt 35-yard pass to Maddix Crutchfield (Damon McCracken kick)
Jase Kepler 10-yard run (Brody Devlin kick)
Aidan Pratt 55-yard pass to Keldyn Bill (Damon McCracken kick)
Aidan Pratt 3-yard pass to Garrett Gunter (Damon McCracken kick)

Third quarter

Maddox Langenderfer 75 yard kickoff return (Brody Devlin kick)
Sam Herold 1-yard run (Brody Devlin kick)

Fourth quarter

Brendon Mendoza 3-yard run (Briston Wise to Keldyn Bill pass)
Jase Kepler 4-yard pass to Maddox Langenderfer (Brody Devlin kick)