Eagles burn down the furnace
By: Caiel Woody
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FRANKLIN FURNACE, Ohio (WOUB) – The Belpre Golden Eagles (2-2) came to The Furnace tonight facing the Green Bobcats (1-3) on their homecoming night. Both teams have young quarterbacks leading their offenses, with Green having freshman Liam McGuire and Belpre having sophomore Mason Baxter. The Bobcat youth is spread across the whole roster, whereas the Golden Eagles have plenty of wisdom guiding the team to their 46-14 win.
Getting the ball out of the coin toss, Belpre took the opening kickoff all the way home, but due to a holding penalty, the ball would be brought back past the fifty. They proceeded to drive down the field, getting into scoring range, but Green’s Kaiden Parsons would break on a high pass from McGuire, reeling it in for an interception, putting possession in Bobcat hands.
Taking the opportunity to get in the red zone fast, Green had trouble scoring due to Belpre’s strong red zone defense, forcing a turnover on downs, leaving the score untouched with three minutes left in the first quarter. Two plays later, Alex Parker would score by breaking a 46-yard beast-quake-esque run, putting Belpre up 6-0 with 1:53 in the first quarter.
Green’s first play back on offense ended in disaster when Jayden Gibbs forced a fumble that gave the ball right back to the Golden Eagles; then Baxter on the run would toss the ball up 17 yards to AJ Copen, leaving Belpre up 12-0 and ending the first quarter.
Continuing to lose the ball, the Bobcats would fumble yet again, recovered by Jayden Francis, giving Belpre the ball yet again; however, this time Green would force a fumble, getting it back with 9:58 left in the second quarter, but a muffed snap would end the drive. Belpre would make quick work of the Bobcats’ defense, hitting Malakai Ensor for a huge catch that put them up 19-0 after the extra point with 7:22 left to go in the half.
Following a failed offensive drive by Green, the Golden Eagles would hand it off to Kaden Hutchinson up the gut to go up 26-0 after the extra point was good, and then Slade Atkinson would nab a pick-six off McGuire, leading the PAT to a 33-0 lead.
Green now had the ball back with only 4:04 left in the half to put something on the board, and with a 45-yard dot to Gabe Blevins, the score would be 33-6 with 3:21 in the first half. On the kickoff back to Belpre, Copen fumbled the ball, and Kaleb Mutter fell on it to give possession back to the Bobcats on the Golden Eagles’ 24. Despite the great field position, Green’s offense stalled, going for it on fourth and ten, resulting in a turnover on downs; then, with the ball back, Baxter found Malik Currie in the paint for another Belpre touchdown, and with a failed extra point, the Golden Eagles went up 39-6 with 52 seconds in the half. Elijah Evans would be at the helm for Green during their minute drill, but on his second pass he was intercepted by Carson Woodford, who took it back for a Belpre touchdown. After the extra point was scored, the Golden Eagles were up 46-6 to close the first half.
A 46-14 victory gave Belpre their first winning record since 2019, with their most wins in a season since 2020 under their new head coach Brian Hutchinson, who happens to be a Belpre native.
They get to start conference play with serious momentum and a matchup against a 0-5 Federal Hocking. Green, on the other hand, will have to find a rhythm quickly, starting conference play with a Thursday night game against an undefeated Symmes Valley.