Cougars lose 41-6 to Shawnee

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

It was another hair-pulling night for Van Wert Head Coach Keith Recker, as his Cougars again had a mistake-laden night in a 41-6 loss to the Shawnee Indians in both teams’ Western Buckeye League opener.

Shawnee amassed 377 yards of total offense while holding the Cougars to just 132 offensive yards, almost all of those through the air. While Van Wert had some success passing — at the cost of five interceptions — the Cougars couldn’t get the running game untracked, rushing for just nine yards on 29 attempts.

The Indians had most of their yards, and all of their six touchdowns, on the ground, rushing for 321 yards on 47 carries. Van Wert was more successful through the air, with quarterback Tyler Williams completing 9 of 19 passes for 123 yards and its lone TD, although the five interceptions ended scoring attempts and often gave Shawnee good field position. Indians quarterback Zach Bentley was 4 of 7 for 56 yards and no interceptions.

Most of the damage by Shawnee was done by running back Tyler Frieson, who ran for 142 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries. Casey Mulcahy was the Indians’ top pass receiver with 44 yards on three catches, while Logan Ray caught two passes for 50 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars. Michael Smelser had four receptions for 42 yards and Luke Stevens caught three passes for 31 yards for Van Wert.

Shawnee scored four times before the Cougars’ lone touchdown, with the first coming on a 56-yard scramble by Frieson at the 10:24 mark of the first quarter. Connor Bianco kicked the PAT and the Indians led 7-0.

The second Shawnee score was by Cody Rollins, who ran it in from the Van Wert 8-yard line with 5:28 left in the first quarter. The point-after was no good and it was a 13-0 Indian lead.

In the second stanza, Frieson got loose and ran 44 yards for a touchdown with just two seconds off the clock in the quarter. Bentley hit Thad Vernon on the point-after attempt and Shawnee was up 21-0 with 11:58 to go in the half.

The Indians’ final score of the first half came on a 7-yard run by Frieson, while Bianco killed the point-after for a 28-0 halftime lead. The Cougars got their lone score with just 25 ticks on the first-half clock when Williams connected with Logan Ray for a 39-yard scoring strike. The kick was no good and it was 28-6 at the half.

The Indians scored once in each of the final two quarters. Shawnee’s third-quarter TD came on a 2-yard Frieson run, while Bianco kicked the extra point for a 35-6 lead. The final score came after the Indians picked off a Williams pass at the Van Wert 11-yard line. Jaylin Thomas then ran the ball in at the 11:58 mark to end the scoring.

With the loss, the Cougars are now 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the WBL. Shawnee is 1-1 and 1-0 in league play. Things don’t get any better next week, either, as Van Wert has to travel to Kenton for a league match-up with the rambling Wildcats, who are 1-1 after dominating St. Marys 56-7 in their WBL opener.