Red Riders rough up West Holmes
The visiting Red Riders ran roughshod over the Knights, scoring early and often, and the Orrville defense dominated the line of scrimmage en route to a 42-0 thrashing of West Holmes Friday night at Knights Stadium.The first two offensive plays West Holmes tried to run were indicative of what kind of night it was going to be for the Knights.
Brandon Mackey took the opening hand-off from Zach Mathie and he slipped and fell to the wet turf.
On second down, Justin Haas lost his footing and fell down behind the line of scrimmage as well.
Orrville had little trouble finding its footing, however, and the Riders were off and running, scoring on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Joey Besancon to Cody Rice at 7:33 of the first quarter. Besancon kicked the point-after for a 7-0 Orrville lead.
After another three-plays-and-punt offensive series by the Knights, the Riders needed only four plays to find the end zone. Tre Simpson busted loose on a 34-yard run to the West Holmes nine, from where he carried it in for six on the next play. Besancon's PAT made it 14-0 Orrville at 5:17 of the first quarter.
The Knights finally got a big play on offense, as Mathie hit Haas on a swing pass out of the backfield. But Haas coughed up the football after he got drilled near midfield and Orrville returned the ball to the West Holmes 32.
On second down, following an incomplete pass, Simpson broke loose on another scoring jaunt from 32 yards out and it was 21-0 Orrville with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter.
Three plays and a punt later, the Red Riders struck again, this time on a 29-yard run by Rice, for a 28-0 lead with 2:04 to play in the first quarter.
"We just couldn't get nothing established on offense," West Holmes coach Tom Eastep said. "It's tough when you give a good team good field position time and time again. Not being able to establish anything offensively, I think we're lucky if we got 30 yards rushing. The defense was on the field a lot and that hurt us."
The Riders had a bit of payback on their minds after losses to West Holmes the last two seasons.
"We reminded them all week long," Orrville coach Doug DeVault said. "We had to make sure we approach each week and every opponent with the same demeanor and the same intensity."
Orrville took the second half kick off and marched down the field, going 65 yards in 10 plays to take a 35-0- lead. Thirajn Pittman took it in the final yard for the score.
Pittman capped off the scoring on the ensuing drive for the Red Riders, rumbling in from 14 yards out for a 42-0 lead.
Eastep was pleased with the fact that even though things got out of hand early, his team never quit.
"I thought our effort was OK. They were better than us. I can live with the fact that we didn't lie down and quit," Eastep said. "We just have to keep coming, fighting and keep learning. Hopefully we'll get it together soon enough that we can win a few ball games.
Eastep praised the play of Orrville linebacker Chase Hoobler, who was all over the field making play after play for the Orrville defense.
"I saw Hoobler take on two blockers and tackle Brandon at the line of scrimmage. That's what I call a good linebacker," Eastep said. "He's everything he was built up to be."