Moyer leads Wapakoneta by Van Wert

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

A second quarter goal line stop then ensuing touchdown drive proved to be a key factor in Friday night’s WBL matchup at Cougar Alumni Field at Eggerss Stadium.

Trailing 14-7, Van Wert had driven to the Wapakoneta 1-yard line but was turned away on downs with 4:40 left until halftime. From there, the Redskins marched 97 yards and scored on a 2-yard run by quarterback Caleb Moyer with just 34 seconds left until the break, putting the visitors ahead 21-7. The final margin proved to be 14, as Wapakoneta (6-0, 5-0 WBL) remained unbeaten on the season with a 42-28 victory. It was the 19^th consecutive regular season victory by the Redskins.

“That was big,” Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said of the stop and drive by Wapakoneta. “They played good defense obviously but there were two blocks that we could have had to finish it – it’s just finishing those blocks and the guys know and understand that. You never know how the rest of the game plays out but if we get that score we could be driving at the end to tie the game instead of down two scores.”

Wapakoneta, ranked No. 2 in Division III in the last Associated Press poll, received the second half kickoff and drove 82 yards in 10 plays and scored on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Moyer to Kaden Page, upping the lead to 28-7. Moyer went on to complete 21-of-27 passes for 258 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed 22 times for 125 yards and four touchdowns. Ohio University-bound Kaden Page caught 11 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown.

The Cougars (3-3, 2-3 WBL) quickly responded and moved 65 yards in four plays, including a 34-yard pass from Zach Crummey to Micah Cowan and a 19-yard touchdown sprint by Xavier Kelly, making it 28-14. However, two more touchdowns by the Redskins – a 4-yard run by Gage Vaughn and a 34-yard run by Moyer put the game out of reach.

Van Wert did add two touchdowns in the final 5:24, one on a 6-yard run by Kelly and the other from a yard out, also by Kelly. The latter was set up when Moyer was intercepted by Micah Cowan, who returned the ball to the Wapakoneta 30. After both scores, the attempted an onside kick but both were unsuccessful. Cowan later recovered a fumble.

“I thought our guys showed up – we wanted them to except to play with Wapakoneta and expect to win and they way they showed up tonight and all week at practice was exceptional.

Kelly, the Western Buckeye League’s leading rusher, tallied 18 carries for 161 yards and four touchdowns. Crummey completed 17-of-24 passes for 142 yards. Cowan snagged 10 receptions for 101 yards and Keaten Welch had six grabs for 36 yards.

“Their defense has been at the top of the league for a while and it still is this year and I thought we played well offensively,” Recker said. “There are still plenty of things we can fix but overall I felt we blocked alright, Zach made some nice throws – they gave us a lot of stuff underneath and he was very accurate with that and ‘X’ (Xavier Kelly) did a nice job with the running game.”

Overall, Wapakoneta outgained Van Wert 415-309. The Redskins were 8-of-12 on third down conversions compared to 0-of-7 by the Cougars, and Wapakoneta didn’t punt in the game, while Van Wert punted just once. There were just five penalties in the game, with four of them on Wapakoneta.

The Cougars swiftly moved downfield on their first possession of the game and scored on a 38-yard touchdown by Kelly, the first of his four scoring runs of the night. Wapakoneta responded with an 11-play drive that ended with a 2-yard scoring run by Moyer, and the two teams were deadlocked 7-7 at the end of the opening period. Moyer scored on an 18-yard run in the second quarter to put the Redskins ahead for good.

Van Wert will travel to St. Marys Friday night. The Memorial Roughriders defeated Ottawa-Glandorf 17-3.

“We’ve got find ways to try to take away some of their good plays – the buck sweep, the trap and some of the stuff they do and we really have to make sure we’re aligned correctly and get into our gaps so we can stop their run.”

Scoring summary

First quarter

9:52 VW: Xavier Kelly 38-yard run (Griffin McCracken kick)

4:18 W: Caleb Moyer 2-yard run (Drew Niekamp kick)

Second quarter

9:30 W: Caleb Moyer 18-yard run (Drew Niekamp kick)

0:34 W: Caleb Moyer 2-yard run (Drew Niekamp kick)

Third quarter

6:27 W: Caleb Moyer 22-yard pass to Kaden Page (Drew Niekamp kick)

4:54 VW: Xavier Kelly 19-yard run (Griffin McCracken kick)

2:17 W: Gage Vaughn 4-yard run (Drew Niekamp kick)

Fourth quarter

8:09 W: Caleb Moyer 34-yard run (Drew Niekamp kick)

5:24 VW: Xavier Kelly 6-yard run (Griffin McCracken kick)

1:39 VW: Xavier Kelly 1-yard run (Griffin McCracken kick)