Wapak runs away from St. Henry, earns first win
Allen, Good score in double digits for WHS
ST. HENRY — Wapakoneta won its first game this season with a 41-26 nonconference
road victory at St. Henry on Tuesday.
WHS trailed 4-3 after one quarter but led 20-9 at halftime after going on a 17-5 second-quarter run. Wapakoneta won the third quarter 12-10 to
extend its advantage to 32-19 with 8 minutes left. WHS held a 9-7 margin in the fourth
quarter to close out a 15-point victory.
Addy Allen scored 12 points to lead Wapakoneta (1-1 overall), including eight markers
in the second quarter behind two 3-point baskets and a pair
of free throws. Elisabeth Good added 11 points and five rebounds, while Katie Lisi chipped in seven points and four rebounds.
Mya Ontrop topped St. Henry with nine points, including
seven markers in the third quarter.
Botkins 38, Jackson Center 25
BOTKINS — A second-half surge propelled Botkins to a 13-point Shelby County Athletic League home win over Jackson Center 38-25 on Tuesday.
The Trojans (2-0 overall, 1-0 SCAL) led 15-14 at halftime before winning the third quarter with an 11-5 run that
build a 26-19 lead with 8 minutes left. Botkins pulled away in the fourth quarter, when it
outscored Jackson Center 12-6 and completed a 23-11 secondhalf run.
Carmen Heuker led the Trojans with a game-high 19 points — 15 of which were
scored in the final 16 minutes. All six of the points Aleah Johnson scored came in the first quarter, when Botkins
clung to an 8-6 advantage.
Kennedi Doseck (second quarter), Janel Platfoot (third quarter) and Camdyn Paul (fourth quarter) each finished with three points after all
three players drained a shot from behind the 3-point arc.
Addie Biederman led the Tigers (0-2, 0-1) with nine points, while Mckinley Reichert supplied six more.
Pandora-gilboa 52, Waynesfield-goshen 51
PANDORA — Pandora-gilboa took a one-point lead on a basket with 8 seconds to play before Waynesfield-goshen missed a contested layup at the buzzer as the Rockets
sealed a 52-51 nonconference win Tuesday night.
Pandora-gilboa led 17-14 after the first quarter. Waynesfield-goshen used a 17-9 second-quarter run to take a
Pirates with 823 yards and eight TDS.
Ridder believes his team will drown out the playoff noise to
concentrate on East Carolina. “Keeping
everyone focused, locked in on the game
and locked in on what we need to do,”
he said. “I think that’s what can make us be
successful there.”
Ford Tough
Cincinnati tailback Jerome Ford is within several school milestones this season. His 16 rushing TDS this season are within three of Mike Warren’s school record,
set in 2018. Ford has 17 total touchdowns this year, three behind Warren’s mark. And Ford has rushed
for 971 yards and will likely break that mark
this weekend.
Winning Season
East Carolina has won its past four games to clinch a
bowl berth and its first winning season
since 2014 when it went 8-5 and lost the
Birmingham Bowl to Florida, 28-20. The Pirates will look to
match the five-game winning streak it had that year when it faces Cincinnati.
Ridder Wins
Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder is the fourth FBS quarterback with 40 career wins, gaining his 42nd with the 48-14 victory
over SMU. The fourthyear passer can move
up third all-time — and break a tie with TCU’S Andy Dalton
and Georgia’s David Greene — by defeating East Carolina. Ridder could chase down Texas’ Colt Mccoy’s
second place mark of 45 wins. Boise State’s
Kellen Moore leads with 50 wins.
On Scholarship
Mike Houston had already decided to put walk-on kicker Owen Daffer on
scholarship, so he was glad to see Daffer
hit a career-long 54yard field goal in the
final seconds of the Pirates’ 38-35 victory at Navy last week. “I
hadn’t told anybody that, him or his parents or anybody, there’s no better moment to tell him,” Houston said. “It makes it that much more of (a) special moment for him.”
Tight Games
Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell is not
jazzed about playing at East Carolina,
someplace that’s been difficult in recent years. Cincinnati was pounded 48-20 there
in 2017, then needed a late field goal to escape with a 46-43 victory in 2019.