Zane Trace beats Piketon, takes control of SVC
By: Cameron Young, Vernon Eguakun
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ZANE TRACE Ohio, (WOUB) – On Friday night in a rematch from last year Zane Trace were able to use home field advantage to get their revenge vs the Piketon Redstreaks on military appreciation night 38-20.
The game started out with both defenses forcing stops and then midway through the first quarter the Zane Trace pioneers were able to force a turnover. Hayden Brannigan was able to force a fumble and it was recovered by his teammate Daniel Barnhart, but the pioneers were not able to capitalize off this turnover.
Driving down in the 2nd quarter the Redstreaks drive looked promising but then quarterback Alan Austin suffered an injury that would end his night and the Redstreaks would rotate Luke Gullion and Brent McGuire at QB for the rest of the night. Midway through the second quarter with the score tied at 0 the Zane Trace pioneers were able to break the deadlock with a 79-yard rush from Junior Blake Phillips.
The pioneer defense held strong on the next possession and then their offense started cooking in the late 2nd relying on the ground game from senior fullback Daniel Barnhart. With the defense being keyed on the run in the red zone this set up a play action pass from QB Carter Langley to a wide open Nalin Robinson to make the Score 13-0.
Piketon with 2 minutes left in the 2nd quarter were able to push the ball down the field and found themselves deep in the red zone with a minute left. With the clock going down the Pioneers were able to make 3 straight stops and then came 4th and goal came with 15 seconds and the Pioneers stopped them again keeping the Redstreaks scoreless in the 1st half.
Zane Trace head coach Heath Hinton talked about the fight his defense had to make those key redzone stops.
“That kind of stuff is fun, getting down there and seeing how tough you are. That last drive before halftime is a tough one if they scored and made it 8-13 really would have changed the complexity of the game. I really think our kids are playing tough and not getting on anybody for making a mistake were just trying to love them up and keep them going”
That redzone stop gave Zane Trace momentum entering the 3rd quarter as they started with the ball and were able to drive the ball down the field then QB Carter Langley was able to find his Receiver Senior Auston Ison for a touchdown.
With this game looking like it was going to get out of hand the Redstreaks needed a touchdown, and they got one from Sophomore Running back Buddy Wilson to make the score 20-6. The Pioneers on the next drive got right back into the endzone as they went back to the running game from Blake Phillips who scored his 2nd touchdown of the game.
But the Redstreaks would not give up late in the 3rd quarter on a 4th and 8 Luke Gullion was able to find Brent McGuire for a much-needed touchdown to make the score 26-14.
Right off the bat in the 4th quarter Fullback Barnhart took his handoff 50 yards to extend the Pioneers lead 32-14.
Yet again the Redstreaks were not going to quit as Brent McGuire who had caught the previous touchdown was able to get back in the endzone off a QB draw to make the lead 32-20.
Zane Trace was able to run some clock down to 3 minutes left when they punted so the Redstreaks had no option but to score down double digits. Then to seal the game Zane Trace sophomore defensive back Aaden Dunn got an interception to make the score 38-20. The Redstreaks would run the ball for the remainder of the game to make the final score 38-20
Not a big night QB Carter Langley as he finished the game 4-9 for 59 yards 2 TD 1 INT but it was the running game that got Zane Trace the win as Blake Phillips had 9 carriers for 127 yards and two touchdowns and Daniel Barnhart had 10 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown
But what’s it going to take for the Pioneers to go 5-0?
“We’re gonna have to learn through the process”, Hilton said. Getting 1 percent better every day, we will watch our film get a quick lift in and watch our JV guys and come back on Monday ready to play and ready to practice a little harder
Zane Trace (4-0, 1-0 in conference) will play Huntington at home next Friday for a conference showdown
Piketon (2-2, 1-0 in conference) will look to bounce back as they play Unioto at home next week.