Barnesville clinches MOVL title with win over Shenandoah
By: Payton Brooker, Sullivan Beach
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BARNESVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) — The battle for the MOVL title was up for grabs on Friday night as the Barnesville Shamrocks tried to claim the conference title outright as they took on the Shenandoah Zeps. Both of these teams on Barnesville’s homecoming were dead set in getting this win ahead of their playoff games.
The crowds on both sides of the field were on their feet for this matchup and the first half told the story for their seasons so far.
In the first two drives, both teams picked up a forced fumble, but the Shamrocks would score first after an interception by Luke Detling leading to the next play. The Shamrocks would throw a TD pass on a trick play from Taison Starr to Jason Castello for 44 yards. Starr wasn’t done scoring in the first quarter because he would pick up his second TD on the goal line after a loose snap on a Zep’s punt.
The Zeps quietly began a comeback, and this was all led by Shenandoah’s freshman quarterback Braxton Barrett. Barrett would lead the Zeps to the Redzone where he would find Hunter Yates for a touchdown. The Zeps closed in from the Shamrocks 2 score advantage with the combo from Barrett and Yates again. Barrett would find him for a big 70-yard touchdown to put the score at the half tied 14-14.
The Shamrocks weren’t going to be taken down lightly in the second half as their defense put a hurting on the Zeps with two more interceptions and multiple sacks for the Zeps, leading to several three and outs.
On the offensive side of the ball, Starr continued to find ways into the endzone with two more touchdowns of his own, one through the air by CJ Hannahs for 18 yards and on the ground making 4 total touchdowns for him in the night. Taison Starr got a little shaken up towards the third quarter, but quickly recovered to score his fourth touchdown.
“I was feeling that my team needs me, and I was putting it on for them and my community”, Starr said. “So, I had to get back out there and show what Barnesville football was all about”.
Barnesville showed on this Friday night in the conference as they won this close game 28-14. With this win, the Shamrocks clinched the MOVL-Scarlet division title outright with Barnesville being the only team to go undefeated in conference play. Coach Blake Allen said during halftime that he was determined to pick up the intensity to win this game against Shenandoah.
“They were doing the little things better and executing”, he said. “We just needed to pick up the intensity in the second half, and we did that.”
The Shamrocks will have a tall order ahead in their final game of the regular season as they take on division five rival the Union Local Jets. Meanwhile, the Shenandoah Zeps look to earn a win before their playoff journey as the Zeps face county rival Caldwell Redskins.