WEST UNITY – There are certain formalities that one comes to expect during a Homecoming Night celebration. Being flogged by your opponent does not rank highly amongst those formalities. Still though, that is exactly what went down at Daft Field on the evening of September 21, as the Hilltop Cadets welcomed TAAC rival Ottawa Hills to town. A four-yard touchdown run from Miklo Abner with 1:42 left in the game was all that separated the Cadets from a shutout as the Green Bears came away with a 42-7 win.
The game started off slowly for the Cadet offense, and never found an accelerator. OH began to hammer away at the Cadet defense with big plays that turned into scores. The Bears scored on a 20-yard run and a 19-yard pass to lead 14-0 going into the second period. OH blew the game open in the second, scoring on touchdown passes of 19 and 51 yards, as well as an 81-yard scoring run.
The Green Bears racked up 412 total yards to just 121 from the 2-3/0-2 Cadets. Mikel Burlew was 5 of 11 for 45 yards through the air. Abner ran the ball 17 times for 65 yards and a score. David Smith went 3 times for 16 yards, Chad Champion ran 7 times for 13 yards, and Billy Wagner ran once for a yard. Wagner caught 3 passes for 34 yards, Logan Brooker had one for 6 yards, and Champion had a catch for 5 yards.
It will not get any easier for the Cadet Cadre on September 28 as the defending TAAC champion and current #3 ranked Northwood Rangers descend upon Daft Field.