2023-10-14 05:49:40
Photo by Ryan Pacifico
Shadyside’s Caden Nippert runs towards the sideline during the Tigers’ game against the Bridgeport Bulldogs, a 41-7 Shadyside win.
SHADYSIDE — Needing a victory to snap a three-game losing streak and move one step closer to its 19th consecutive trip to the Ohio post-season, Shadyside overcame a pair of first half turnovers with senior quarterback Ben Wach and classmates Dylan and Nathan Booth leading the onslaught.
Wach accounted for 286 total yards of offense and five touchdowns, including a pick-six, and the Booth brothers had big nights in all three phases of the game as the Tigers celebrated band alumni night, during their regular season home finale, in rolling to a convincing 41-7 victory over Bridgeport at festive Fleming Field.
Both Mike Kernik’s Shadyside squad and Fred Ray’s Bulldogs find themselves sitting at 3-6 heading into their final regular season games.
The Tigers will travel to Woodsfield to take on Monroe Central next week while Bridgeport will host Waterloo. Ray’s club entered the week sitting at No. 14 in Region 27 while Kernik’s team occupied the 16th and final spot.
“We knew coming in these last two games were going to be playoff games for us and we got the first one,” a happy Kernik admitted. “It would be a huge momentum swing for us both heading into the playoffs and next season to get another victory next week.”
The Tigers, who have been getting accustomed to fast starts, had disaster strike just four plays into the contest when Wach fumbled at his own 30 with the Bulldogs’ Nate Galownia picking up the loose ball and rambling to the 10.
The visitors needed just one play to take the early lead with Michael Marshall going around right end for the score just 50 seconds into the game. Andres Alvarez’ PAT made it 7-0.
However, things improved quickly for Shadyside while Bridgeport was unable to stop the impending avalanche.
The Bulldogs managed just 32 yards the remainder of the first half while the Tigers were busy marching up and down the field for 259 of their own.
Following the opening touchdown senior Nathan Booth took the ensuing kickoff at his own 15 and weaved his way in and out of traffic for a 60-yard return to the 25. Wach needed just one play, a burst straight up the middle, to even the count with Trenton Marling adding the point-after at 10:44.
A Bridgeport three-and-out set the hosts up at their own 38 and it took just six plays to cover the 62 yards. The big play on the march was a 36-yard scoring strike from Wach to Dylan Booth, who along with his brother had big first halves. The PAT made it 14-7 at the 6:38 mark.
An ill-advised fake punt on fourth-and-15 near midfield had the Tigers back on the prowl later in the second frame. Again the long-ball played a big part with Wach finding Dylan Booth deep down the middle for a 44-yard strike to the one. Wach pushed the ball across on the next play and just like that it was 21-7.
Shadyside’s next possession began at its own 23 but passes of 35 yards to Nathan Booth and 22 yards to Kaiden Baker had the hosts quickly back in the red zone. Wach capped the drive with a five-yard pass to Nathan Booth with just 33 seconds in the half. The pass for two failed and the score remained 27-7.
While Wach threw for 178 yards in the opening half, the Booth brothers combined for six catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
Another quick Bridgeport possession to open the second half led to a long, 12-play, 52-yard Shadyside march. The Tigers converted a pair of third downs and a fourth down on the drive with Karl Tsoras bulldozing his way in from eight yards at 3:44 to make it 34-7.
The next, and final, Shadyside score was a lot quicker with Wach picking off a pass at his 40 and motoring 60 yards untouched. Marling’s PAT made it 41-7 and started the running clock.
“Good things are going to happen when you get some momentum running the football and we finally did that (Friday),” Kernik added. “We did some different things this week and our offensive line did a great job sealing and driving their blocks. I am so proud of this entire team.
“Coach Ray does a good job over there and they are actually a good tackling defense, but we were able to have some success on them. The fact that our defense did a good job stopping the run was also a key factor for us. When you can run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense you set yourself up for success.
“We had a little adversity with turnovers, but I thought we did a good job no letting that avalanche into bad things this week.”
Wach finished with 200 yards passing and 85 yards on the ground with six of his 10 completions going to the Booth brothers. Shadyside won the yardage battle by a 356-117 margin.
“They have a good senior class and some veterans over there and they did a good job (Friday),” Ray said of Shadyside. “Their quarterback really has the ability to make some big plays. We had a great week of practice and felt good coming in here, but we are still a very young team and it may take a while, but things will eventually start clicking for us.”
Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox
1697270379
#Shadyside #halts #losing #streak #beats #Bridgeport #News #Sports #Jobs