Redskins pulverize Van Wert on gridiron

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Wapakoneta Redskins compiled 646 yards — 518 of those on the ground — to grind out a dominating 77-12 Western Buckeye League victory over the Cougars at Eggerss Stadium.

The WBL co-leader Redskins scored eight times before Van Wert was able to push one into paydirt with just 55 seconds left in the third quarter of the game. Connor Pickens rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, Zerrick Brannan ran for 94 yards and three TDs on nine carries, while Wapakoneta quarterback Kyle Gibson had 91 yards of rushing offense and a touchdown on eight runs. Lucas Sullivan led the Cougars with 59 yards and a TD on 13 carries, while Nick Krugh ran for 52 yards on six carries and Seth Kopp had 52 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Kevin Kraft caught three passes for 84 yards and a touchdown for the Redskins.

Wapakoneta scored five touchdowns in the first half, two in the first quarter (a 12-yard pass from Gibson to Johnny Crawford at 5:36 and a 15-yard run by Pickens at 2:53) and three in the second quarter (a 4-yard run by Jensen Merricle at 7 minutes, a 42-yard pass from Gibson to Kraft at 1:22 and a 44-yard run by Gibson with 22 seconds remaining in the half. Matt Ewing split the uprights on three of the scores and missed on a fourth, while Pickens ran for a PAT in the second quarter.

The second half began with four straight scores by the Redskins in the third quarter alone. Josh Windle ran for 9 yards and a score with 10:53 left on the third-quarter clock, Pickens ran for a 44-yard TD with 8:15 remaining in the third stanza, Brannan scored on a 30-yard run with 6:22 remaining and then came back with a 14-yard touchdown run with 1:52 left in the quarter.

The Cougars finally got on the scoreboard when Sullivan scored from 15 yards out with 55 seconds left in the third period.

The final stanza began with two Wapakoneta scores: a 5-yard run by Kaleb Huffman with 8:59 left in the game and a 4-yard run by Brannan with 3:25 remaining. With the exception of the first touchdown in the half, Ewing kicked the point-after on all second-half TDs. The first touchdown PAT was kicked by Bailey Hinegardner.

Van Wert got one final score with 11 seconds left in the contest with Seth Kopp ran it in from 38 yards out.

It was another night for regrettable turnovers for the Cougars, with Van Wert intercepted twice and also losing two fumbles. Wapakoneta had one pass intercepted and lost its lone fumble.

The key to the game was the bruising running of the Redskins, whose runners continually broke tackles for extra yardage.

With the win, Wapakoneta is now 7-0 in the WBL and 8-0 overall — the same as Kenton. The Redskins will play at Shawnee this coming week and then, barring an upset, will host Kenton at home to decide the league championship.

The Cougars, now 0-7 in league play and 0-8 overall, will play at St. Marys (2-5 WBL, 3-5) this coming week and then finish out the year at home against Ottawa-Glandorf (5-2 WBL, 6-2).