Grove City Christian spoils Berne Union’s homecoming game
By: Landon Levine
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SUGAR GROVE, Ohio (WOUB) – The Grove City Christian Eagles (6-1, 4-0 in MSL-Cardinal) visited the Berne Union Rockets (4-3, 2-1 in MSL-Cardinal) in a MSL-Cardinal matchup and cruised to a victory of 46-7.
The game got off to a quick start with an onside from Grove City Christian, which it was able to recover. However, two plays later, the Eagles fumbled it right back to the Rockets. With a back-and-forth defensive quarter, it looked like nobody was going to score. A punt that ended up on the 1-yard line pinned the Eagles deep in their own territory.
On the first play of the Eagles’ drive, senior Douglas Housley found senior Josiah Harmeyer for a 99-yard touchdown. As the Rockets got the ball back, sophomore Carson Kiger found junior James Hocking for a 61-yard pass that was followed up with a 3-yard rushing touchdown from senior Mayson Walton to end the first quarter at 7-7.
The second quarter was all Grove City Christian on both sides of the ball. They started off opening the quarter with the long ball. Housley found senior John Gibson for a 41-yard touchdown. With Berne Union possession and Kiger rushing, totaling 50 yards on the drive, the Eagles would find a way to stop the Rockets, forcing a fumble.
With a drive that was led by the legs of senior William Fillinger, it would be capped off with a nine-yard touchdown catch by junior Bennett Cook. Housley would end the half with three passing touchdown. On the very first play of Berne Union’s next drive, a pass would be picked off by senior Tyler Benedum. Fillinger would make sure the Eagles capitalized on the turnover with a 16-yard rushing touchdown.
The Rockets finally looked like they had a drive that led them to find the end zone again, but the Eagles would force another turnover with an interception by senior Kenneth Hammons and that would lead the Eagles into the half up 27-7.
The third quarter would continue Grove City Christian’s dominance. The first drive from the Eagles out of the half would be all Fillinger, as he would have over 50 rushing yards in that drive and find the end zone with a 10-yard score. With Berne Union still struggling to find its way in offense, it would end up punting the ball back to the Eagles. After a quick drive, Housley would find senior Tyden Timlin for a 3-yard passing touchdown, which would result in a running clock for the rest of the game and put the Eagles up 39-7 at the end of the third.
The fourth quarter we would see a quarterback change from the eagles with freshman Caleb Johnson. After trying to run out of the clock, they would find themselves in a third-and-long situation where Johnson would see Harmeyer wide open for a 65-yard touchdown to cap off the game with a 46-7 Eagles final.
Grove City Christian found their biggest success from Housley, who finished the game with 244 passing yards and four touchdowns. His strength was being able to spread the field as all four touchdowns went to different players, the biggest recipient being Harmeyer, who would end the night with 172 yards on three receptions, with two of them finding the end zone. Berne Union would have some bright spots as Hocking and junior Ashton O’Rourke would combine for 238 yards on 12 catches.
Looking ahead, Grove City Christian will look to keep their winning streak alive against (Grandview Heights). Berne Union will look to get back on the win column as they play Fisher Catholic (5-1, 3-0 in MSL-Cardinal)