Redskins blank Dunbar
WHS defense supports offense in time of need
WAPAKONETA — When the Wapakoneta offense needed an assist, the Redskins’ defense provided a lift.
While No. 6-seeded Wapakoneta posted a 30-0 shutout of No. 11-seeded Dayton Dunbar
in an OHSAA Division III Region 12 Tournament firstround game Friday at Harmon
Stadium, the Redskins took a touchdown lead but began to
sputter on offense for most of the half.
Running back Jace Mullen crossed the goal line from
eight yards out on Wapakoneta’s first possession, but the Redskins’ offense went threeand-out on their next three drives.
That’s when the WHS defense got involved.
The Wolverines trailed 7-0 and marched to the Wapakoneta 1-yard line early in the
second quarter, but Dunbar was held out of the end zone on four consecutive plays.
After a 17-yard pass from Nate Roberts to Jayvian Graves
set up the Wolverines with a
first down at the Redskins’ 1, Roberts tried to run into the
end zone twice but was tackled by Kaden Siefring for no gain on two straight plays. An
incomplete pass on third down led to Roberts scrambling for a loss of 15 yards and fumbling the ball away to Tyler Houser
on fourth down with 8:26 left in the half.
“I thought we had great effort from our team tonight,” Wapakoneta coach Travis Moyer
said. “We played with a lot of energy and passion right from the get-go. I thought it was really critical for us to get the ball (first) and go down and
score. The goal-line stand by our defense was really important, too.”
Roberts, who left the game with an undisclosed injury
late in the half, was replaced
under center by Graves, who was tackled for a safety after
two consecutive snaps flew over his head
deep in Dunbar territory. Houser and Mikey Lee provided
pressure, while Lee was credited with the two-point play that
handed Wapakoneta a 9-0 lead with 3:36 to go before halftime.
“I think our defensive effort was one of the best we’ve had all year,” Houser said. “We came out here in
our first playoff game this season with the
most momentum we’ve probably had all year. We knew we were going to come out here and dominate, and we did a great job as a team the entire game.”
Houser said WHS was successful when it brought pressure against the Wolverines.
“Our defensive line dominated (Dunbar’s) offensive line because they couldn’t match up well against us. When we brought our linebackers, they couldn’t pick them up,” Houser said.
Kaden Ware, who had two sacks on back-to-back thirdquarter plays, was among the sack leaders for the Redskins. Joey Truesdale, Connor Meckstroth and Siefring also applied pressure for WHS. Lee came away with the Redskins’ third sack of the game.
The points began to add up for Wapakoneta on its final drive of the first half and its first drive of the second half as both possessions ended in the end zone.
WHS quarterback Braeden Goulet scored the first of his three touchdowns from 10 yards out with 28 seconds left before halftime. The Redskins used an eight-play, 60yard drive that was capped by a PAT from Nikane Ambos, who gave Wapakoneta a 16-0 lead at the break.
“We had that really good series on our first possession (in the first quarter), but then we had a few series when we didn’t get anything going,” Moyer said. “I thought the touchdown right before halftime was critical. We made some big plays when we needed to and we switched the momentum in our favor.”
Moyer said he told the Redskins at halftime to get a stop against the Wolverines and convert it into points.
The Redskins did exactly that.
After Lee recovered Graves’ fumble on Dunbar’s first possession of the third quarter, Wapakoneta had a short field in marching 26 yards on six plays to the end zone. Goulet crossed the goal line from 12 yards out and Ambos kicked the extra point at the 8:08 mark for a 23-0 Redskins’ lead.
It became 30-0 early in the fourth quarter, when Goulet scored his third touchdown of the game with 11:36 remaining on a 1-yard plunge. Ambos kicked her fourth PAT of the game to give WHS an insurmountable advantage.
Wapakoneta advanced to play a Division III Region 12 Tournament quarterfinal game at Bellbrook at 7 p.m. Friday. No. 3-seeded Bellbrook defeated No. 14-seeded Trotwood-madison 50-20 in another firstround game Friday.