The battle between the top 2 GWOC teams.
7-2 Huber Heights Wayne @ the #1 team in the state, The Trotwood Rams....
The weather? Miserable.... Cold and heavy rain the whole game.... would this benefit the run heavy Rams or the pass heavy Warriors from Wayne....
Well, that is simple... with the exception of the Colerain playoff game Wayne is notorious for not playing well in these conditions. No excuses, just a fact that has to be taken care of.
Decent crowd showed up for this one. Trotwood's first series went no where as Wayne forced a 3 and out but for Wayne it was a disaster as they fumbled the ball giving Trotwood possession inside the 20. It did not take long for one of the top backs in the state with over 6500 rushing yards in his career Raveion Hargrove to punch it in from 7 yards out. PAT was sketchy but was good.... 7-0 Trotwood.
Following a 3 and out Trotwood was at it again but this time the Wayne defense did not snap and on a 3rd and long Ross intercepted a floater in the end zone and returned it to the 15 of Wayne. Wayne could not get the passing game going in this weather as the rain and wind would cause havoc and when the ball was on target just bounced off receivers. Kinnel would step up though as the Wayne RB made big runs as the chains moved. Despite a holding penalty Wayne kept it on the ground getting large chuncks. Throw in a couple 15 yard penalties against the RAMS and Wayne was rolling. Kinnel punched it in from 12 yards out and we are tied at 7.
Nothing really happened in the 2nd qtr until late as it became hard to move the ball against the other teams defenses but then the play of the game happened. Trotwood backed up and on a 3rd and long threw a long pass that Hargrove somehow came down with on a diving 32 yard reception. Wayne's defense stiffened but Peppers was able to get off another catch that once again somehow found the receiver Daniels for a touchdown. I am not sure if the Wayne defender was pushed as the ball came in or just flat out misjudged it as it looked to be an easy pick. The PAT was good and it was 14-7 Trotwood at the half.
2nd half was all about field position. Every snap was an adventure which made punting very interesting. Wayne continued to try and throw the ball which was a disaster but the Wayne defense was getting stops forcing the RAMS to punt which was also disastrous. A negative punt gave Wayne great field position but they could not do anything with it. Another bad snap on a punt could of given Wayne the ball inside the 10 but the RAM punter escaped and ran for 30 yards. It got very frustrating but Wayne still had one chance late in the game. Wayne was able to move the ball and got deep into the red zone but the Trotwood defense stepped it up and forced a 4th down. McKee's pass floated out of bounds and Trotwood took over. Wayne though got the stop and forced a punt with about a minute to go. Not sure what Wayne was doing as they had no punt returner nor did they try and block the punt.....????. With one last chance a McKee pass looked to be on target to a speedy Mullins who broke free and could of taken it the distance but he was tripped up by the defender. No flag on the play until one was thrown on a Wayne coach for arguing. Game over, Trotwood 14 Wayne 7.
Stats:
Total Yards: Wayne 118 Trotwood 277
rushing yards: Wayne 115 Trotwood 228
passing Wayne 3 Trotwood 49
Despite Trotwood having twice the rushing yardage both teams averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Trotwood kept it on the ground while Wayne was stubborn in trying to throw the ball through out the game despite being able to move it at times on the ground. Also, in these conditions when just getting a grip on the ball was difficult Wayne's OC decided to call a double pass....
I have never seen a WR called for intentional grounding before...
Individual rushing stats:
Wayne: Kinnel 15 for 106 yards 1 TD ....
Trotwood: Hargrove 32 for 213 yards 1 TD ....
Oh well, Trotwood should cakewalk through region 12 on their way to another state title appearance. Wayne got some help in L2 games last night and will be hosting Pickerington North in the playoffs in Region 3.
Another strange note in the game the Wayne punter got called for an illegal punt when he dropped kick it.... I thought that was one of those lost arts that is still legal?