Congratulations on a great season
Redskins come up short against Badin 9-16
TROTWOOD — They say all good things come to an end, and even all great things. Wapakoneta’s football team had their great
season end in disappointment as they fell to Hamilton Badin in a Region 12 quarterfinal, 16-9, on the field at Trotwood-madison High School.
The Redskins finished their season with an 11-2 record, with their only two losses
coming to the number one ranked Division VI (and defending state champion) Marion Local, and last night to the number one
ranked Division III team in Badin, who was state runner-up last year.
"We’ve had a great season,” commented Wapakoneta head coach Travis Moyer. “We’ve played great competition throughout the season. I really credit the kids for coming out here and competing the way the did. We won the (Western Buckeye League) championship, made it to the third
round of the playoffs, and our only losses were to number one ranked teams.”
It didn’t start well for the Skins as the Rams opening drive in the first quarter
covered 80 yards in 11 plays, and their first drive of the second quarter covered 93 yards in nine plays capped off by a 31-yard
shuttle pass from quarterback to Carson Cheek.
A bad snap on the extra point prevented the point after kick, but Badin led 13-0 with
8:28 left until halftime.*
It was the last touchdown of the night. An interception by Badin after Wapak had driven to their 16 yard line snuffed out a promising opportunity and the Rams were on the move again when Jaden Rampulla dumped running back Braendyn Moore for an 11 yard loss when he was trying a halfback pass and one play later Badin was kicking the ball to the Redskins.
Wapakoneta had the ball back with 1:50 on the clock and 79 yards away from pay dirt, but back to back runs by Jace Knous of 13 and 19 yards and a 16 yard pass from Caleb Moyer to Connor Meckstroth got them to the Badin 30.
A nine-yard completion to Jordan Schneider put the ball at the 21, and Kyle Beach
came in to try to kick a 38-yard field goal into a driving 15 mile an hour head wind, which visibly affected the flight of the ball as it neared its target, but it had enough to
carry over the crossbar and the Redskins were on the board.
The second half saw the Wapakoneta defense limit their opponent to just a field
goal, while the offense mounted several long drives, but a seven play 39 yard drive was capped by another into the wind 38 yard field goal in the third quarter, and an
eight play, 38-yard drive was stopped on the Badin 18 yard line and Beach’s 41-yard field goal, this time with the wind at his
back, narrowed the margin to only seven points,16-9, with 6:17 remaining to be played.
Unfortunately, the Rams picked that point in time to put together their best drive of the second half and the Wapakoneta offense never got another chance to make up that seven points.
“We just weren’t able to finish drives in terms of touchdowns,” said Moyer. “Beach
did a great job of kicking for us, but we weren’t able to finish and get the big play.
Our defense has been fabulous for us and we’re going to trust them get us off the field with an opportunity, but credit their offense being able to keep possession of the ball.”
Despite the loss, Moyer was quick to praise the efforts of his team.
“This team was special right from the gitgo.” he said. “We knew there was something special about this group. They just loved playing the game of football. They played well together and played for each other. It’s a difficult night for our seniors
especially, but I’m really proud of our entire team and our program for what we’ve been able to accomplish this year.”
Caleb Moyer finished the game with 105 yards passing of 11 of 15 attempts and
Knous paced the running attack with 77 yards. Grant Jolly had 30 yards on three receptions, while Jordan Schneider finished with 31 yards on four catches.
Carter Russo was the leading ball carrier for the game with 161 yards on 27 carries, while quarter back Alex Ritzie passed for 77 yards, but his 56 yards rushing help his team especially his big running plays in the first half.