Chillicothe Cavaliers Tamed on the Road
By: Ryan Kincaid
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PATASKALA, Ohio- Another night of offensive struggles plagued the Chillicothe Cavaliers, as they could not muster enough offense to beat the Watkins Memorial Warriors on the road, falling 26-14.
The only scoring opportunity in the first quarter belonged to the Cavaliers, however, on the back of a much-improved Christian Benson. Benson tossed a screen pass to halfback Hunter Thomas, who dashed behind the lines of the Warriors to get into field goal range. The ensuing kick went far to the right, no score.
Unwilling to pass up an opportunity to get ahead first, Watkins Memorial’s Parker Hill earned his first of three touchdowns on a twelve-yard run, breaking Chillicothe tackles all the way to the end zone to open the scoring in the second quarter. The score remained 6-0 as the PAT bounced off the left goalpost.
The Warriors were poised to score again minutes later after quarterback Liston Shroyer launched a deep ball into the end zone, only to have the play called back on a penalty. Watkins Memorial bounced back ready to score again before the half, but Chillicothe’s Kam Smith tipped a pass and juggled it into his gloves to record an interception and deny the score.
In the second half Parker Hill continued to dominate Chillicothe’s defense – which typically excels at stopping the run – rushing for a total of 256 yards en route to the victory for the Warriors. Shroyer threw nine for twelve for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Chillicothe quarterback Christian Benson completed half of his throws for 102 yards and a touchdown, a significant improvement from his last two games in which he threw less than 100 yards combined. Hunter Thomas, who was on pace for a 1,000-yard season as of last week, struggled against the Warrior’s defense, posting 13 total yards on the ground.
Watkins Memorial dominated the offensive side of the ball, tallying 328 total yards compared to 134 for Chillicothe. Though the Cavs never turned the ball over, they just couldn’t march up the field to threaten the ever-increasing lead that the Warriors imposed on them.
Two losses can be enough to eliminate teams from week eleven, and with this loss Chillicothe needs to retool and prepare for a run at the FAC championship as two losses to fellow division II schools may be enough to guarantee another year of missed playoffs.
Watkins Memorial (2-1) will look to continue building momentum in their home stand against Newark Catholic, while Chillicothe (1-2) returns home to play Centennial in an effort to get their season back on track.