Bellbrook offense emerges in victory
Turnovers derail Tecumseh after encouraging start.
If the Bellbrook Golden Eagles had a scoring problem, a little Thursday night football was the remedy.
Entering Week 3 with just 26 points in their first two games, Bellbrook’s offense emerged during a 35-19 win against Tecumseh at Spitzer Stadium.
Trailing by six in the first quarter, Bellbrook gained momentum with an Ethan Savey interception.
Three plays later, Golden Eagles quarterback Brendan Labensky threw a 57-yard pass to receiver Jack Campbell to give Bellbrook a 7-6 lead.
“It was a designed play, an out and up, and the corner bit,” Labensky said. “(The score) was good for my nerves. It really got me into the game, and we built off that and kept it rolling.”
Moments later, Bellbrook had the ball back thanks to senior Alex Mumy, who recovered his fourth fumble of the season.
Two plays later, running back Sedric Ferguson scored on a 31-yard run, and Tecumseh never recovered.
“Kids make mistakes. It’s a football game, they’re not doing
it on purpose,” Tecumseh coach Chris Cory said. “But you can’t have turnovers, you can’t have penalties, and there were too many of those tonight.”
Trailing 21-6 in the third, Tecumseh stayed in the game thanks to quarterback-half- back Jayden McFarland. The 6-foot, 240-pounder was the major contributor to a drive that chewed up half of the third quarter.
McFarland’s most impressive play of the drive came on fourth-and-12 on the Eagles 46. McFarland dropped back to pass, and when the play broke up, the senior escaped a sack, evading defenders and bouncing off would-be tacklers for the first down.
Three plays later, McFar- land knocked a defender out of the way and scored on a 6-yard run to close the gap to 21-13 with 1:24 left in the third. McFarland finished with
That momentum would be short-lived, though.
Labensky and Campbell connected again for 53 yard. Campbell, a 6-foot-4 senior, caught three passes for 110 yards.
Bellbrook finished the drive with a 4-yard run from Justin Sloan to make it 28-13 with 11:16 left.
The Golden Eagles (2-1) begin Southwestern Buckeye League play at Brookville next Friday.
The Arrows (0-3) host Northwestern next Friday. During the game, Tecumseh will honor its former longtime coach, Kent Massie, who died unexpectedly in June. Massie’s wife, Mary, and two young sons, Dalton and Louis, will be honorary coaches.
“It will certainly be an emotional night,” Cory said. “I’ve known Kent for more than the 20 years I coached with him. I’ve known him for a long time. It will be emotional. It will be a difficult night.”