By: Kent Hutchison – THE VILLAGE REPORTER
EDON- The Edon Blue Bombers were anything but gracious hosts in their October 4th gridiron encounter with the Ottawa Hills Green Bears. The high powered Bomber offense ripped off 14 points in the first four minutes of the contest and rolled to a 42-0 whitewashing of the Green Bears.
After receiving the kickoff, Edon’s offense began the evening at their 29 yard line. Quarterback Kaden Sapp hit Brock Thiel for a six yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. Following an incompletion by quarterback Sapp, Trevor Green picked up three yards leaving the Bombers one yard short of the first down with the ball resting on the Edon 38 yard line. In uncharacteristic fashion, the punt team marched on to the field in the opening drive. Mike Peeples dropped back in punt formation. However, a little trickeration was in the air as the snap went to Connor Hug instead of Peeples. The senior receiver followed his wall of blockers to the right sideline for an 18 yard gain and the initial first down of the night. Sapp hit Landon Bloir right in front of the Bomber bench for a 20 yard gain. With the pigskin now resting at the 24, the Bombers needed just one more play to cross the goaline as the touchdown tandem of Sapp to Hug struck again. After Peeples extra point attempt sailed wide left Edon held a 6-0 lead with 10:08 remaining in the opening quarter.
The long bus ride from Toledo must have left the Green Bears a little weary as the Bombers caught them off guard with an onside kick. After a mad scramble in front of the Ottawa Hills bench, Sapp emerged with the ball in his grasp and suddenly the offense was back in business at the midfield stripe. The quarterback gained a hard two yards, then appeared to have a huge hook up with Hug. However, an unnecessary roughness penalty nullified the big gain. Undaunted by the infraction, the duo connected again for a 13 yard gain. Green picked up 13 yards, then 8 more on successive carries moving the ball to the OH 16 yard marker. The final distance was traveled as Sapp hit Thiel in the left corner of the end zone. Green took the handoff from Sapp and followed the line to paydirt for the two point conversion giving the Bombers a 14-0 advantage as 8:04 was still left in the stanza.
Finally making their first venture on to the field, the Edon defense sprinted on fired up with the lead. The Bombers had no problem caging the Green Bears offense and forcing a punt in four downs.
The punt came to rest at midfield giving Edon great field possession once again. Sapp used his legs for a six yard gain, but missed his mark on a second down pass attempt. Intending to go to the air again, instead Sapp was dropped for a loss of seven on a sack. Peeples punt attempt was no aberration this time as it came to rest at the Green Bears 21.
Ottawa Hills was able to move the chains for the first time on the night, however the success was short lived. The Bomber defense held strong, aided on a third down sack by Jordan Whitaker and Kenny Ordway. Once again the ball was punted back to Edon.
The offensive surge by the Bombers stayed strong. Sapp to Hug for 18 more, then a quarterback keeper for 14 additional yards. The duo connected again through the air for 16 more yards, then Sapp covered the final six yards on the ground with 13 seconds remaining in the quarter. Peeples kick split the uprights giving Edon a commanding 21-0 lead at the end of one.
Another three and out by the Bomber defense led to another quick score. This time only 30 seconds and two plays were needed to add points to the board. Beginning at the Edon 48 yard line, Sapp hit Thiel for a nineteen yard gain. Sapp then rolled right and found Hug once again, this time wide open in the left corner of the endzone.
The kick by Peeples was straight and true as Edon upped the margin to 28-0 with 10:24 remaining in the half.
The Green Bears were able to obtain another first down, this time compliments of an Edon offsides penalty. The generosity was brief however as Zulch dropped the OH quarterback for a 10 yard loss on second down. Third down resulted in just a 2 yard pass completion sending the Green Bear punt team back onto the field. The fortune of Ottawa Hills went from bad to worse on fourth down as Colten Lyman broke through the line blocking the punt.
The Bomber offense, now simply in a frenzy, ran back on the field with great field position at the Green Bear 27. A Sapp aerial to Peeples fell to the turf, however a defensive holding penalty resulted in a five yard gain. Sapp went for all the marbles in the direction of Peeples at the right side of the endzone. The toss was just beyond the receiver’s grasp. Facing second and ten from the OH 17, the Bombers shifted gears to the ground game. Green picked up seven yards, then Sapp added seven of his own. Green covered the remaining three yards for the touchdown and when Peeples added the PAT Edon now led 53-0 with still 5:38 showing on the clock.
Ottawa Hills returned the kickoff to their 33 yard line. The Green Bears, desperate for anything positive, moved the ball consistently for the first time. In ten plays Ottawa Hills had advanced the ball in Bomber territory all the way to the 34 yard line. The accomplishment however was brief. Green broke through to drop the OH quarterback for a 9 yard loss, then a false start penalty moved the offense back another five yards. An incompletion, then a holding penalty left the Green Bears all the way back to their 40 yard line as the half mercifully ended with the Bombers holding a commanding 35-0 lead.
Halftime did little to improve the fate of the Green Bears. Ottawa Hills had possession on their 22 yard line after the second half kickoff. The rains began obstructing the output of both squads as each punted on their initial turns with the ball. The OH second possession resulted in just a two yard gain in the first two plays. Third down was worse as the wet ball was fumbled by the Green Bear running back and recovered by Wyatt Walkowski at the Ottawa Hills 36 yard line.
Green was thrown for a three yard deficit, then a delay of game penalty backed the ball to the 44 yard line. The Bombers regrouped almost instantly as Green gathered in the screen pass from Sapp and turned the short toss into a 35 yard pick up. Green gained four more on the ground before losing three the next play. With the ball now resting at the OH 7 yard line, Sapp’s third down pass to Green fell incomplete. Edon decided to go for it on fourth down. The decision appeared to be a bad one as the snap to Sapp fell to the ground. Rather than panic, the quarterback scooped up the ball and launched it to a wide open Thiel standing in the endzone. Peeples connected on his fourth and final point after touchdown on the night upping the advantage to 42-0 as 2:24 was left in the third quarter.
In large part credit the fact that a torrential downpour set up shop over Edon, as both offenses essentially shut down for the night from this point forward. Edon provided an opportunity for their underclassman to gain some valuable playing time as they occupied the field the entire fourth quarter. The second string did their job of thwarting the Green Bears attempts to put points on the board, and ran out the clock on offense to secure the shutout and 42-0 victory.
The aerial assault led by Sapp proved to be very productive once again. The junior signal caller connected with his target on 13-18 attempts good for 222 yards and four scores. Sapp also used his legs to find the endzone one additional time. He gained 28 yards on six sorties, while Green toted the pigskin 10 times for 31 yards and one touchdown. Hug led the receiving corps once again as he caught six passes for 117 yards and two TD’s. Thiel hauled in four tosses for 48 yards and a pair of scores. Green grabbed two throws for 37 yards, while Bloir handled one attempt for 20 yards.
The victory improves Edon to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference. The Bombers will make the trip across Williams County to Hilltop where they will battle the BBC and TAAC rival Cadets who enter the contest 1-5 on the season and still looking for their initial TAAC win.
Kent Hutchison can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com