CAMDEN – All roads to a WOAC football championship led to a week 9 showdown between 8-0 Preble Shawnee #10 AP DV and 8-0 Tri-Village #5 AP DVI in what many expected to be a high-scoring offensive display … but in the end it was Tri-Village doing most of the scoring with nice balance passing and running the football for a 40-7 victory, clinching a share of the WOAC Title that they can win outright with a win next Friday at home against Arcanum.
Preble Shawnee elected to kick to start the game, and the decision appeared to be a good one as they sacked the Patriots twice, forcing a punt near the goal line, and the Arrows got a short field to start their first possession at the 35-yard line.
Tri-Village Griffin Richards broke up a pass from Brody Morton to Caleb Blankenship at the goal line, and the Arrows, on 4th down at the 20-yard line, attempted a field goal to try and get on the board first. Senior Kicker Colton Schroeder, also on the league-winning soccer team, had just booted the kickoff through the end zone … but his line drive field goal was wide left and no good.
The Patriots’ second possession would end up in a 6-play drive with Trey Sagester throwing a strike over the middle to Griffin Richards for a 13-yard TD, capping an 80-yard drive for the game’s first score at 5:33 of the first quarter.
Tri-Village would stop Preble Shawnee on their second possession near midfield, and they would put together a second drive that resulted in another Sagester to Richards strike on the same slant pass, this time a 12-yard TD for the duo to go up 14-0 at 1:41 in the first quarter.
Preble Shawnee found some success on their next drive, moving the football to just past midfield, but the Patriots thwarted a couple of pass attempts from Morton to Blankenship, the last one at the goal line, as Griffin Richards tipped the ball away to force a punt.
Preble Shawnee would get the first break and turnover of the game on the Patriots’ 4th possession with Sagester losing the ball on the snap in the gun, and it was recovered by Shawnee at the 22-yard line.
Preble Shawnee, facing 4th and three, elected not to kick a field goal, opting for a halfback option pass that Caleb Blankenship tossed to an uncovered Andrew Unger for the easy grab, bringing the score to 14-7 with 7:10 remaining in the first half.
Tri-Village responded without missing a beat, moving the ball down the field this time, getting a few good runs from Colt Camacho and the third connection in the half from Sagester to Richards to answer the score, but a missed extra point left the PATS in front 20-7 with 4:12 to go.
Preble Shawnee got a couple of big plays on their next possession, but would stall out, turning the ball over on downs at the 22-yard line.
There was just enough time for Sagester and company to work the ball down to the 12-yard line as the Arrows denied them a score to end the first half.
In the first half, Trey Sagester was 16/23, 173 yards, 3 TD strikes, all to Griffin Richards, who had six receptions for 68 yards and three scores. Noah Finkbine also had six catches for 67 yards and Kingston Shafer 2 grabs for 33 yards. Tri-Village also rushed for 82 yards on 23 carries, Colt Camacho had 32, Staley Colston 28 ,and Trey Sagester 22 yards.
Tri-Village dominated in the first half and held the Arrows to just 84 total yards of offense, but more importantly, contained Brody Morton, who had 9 rushes for 34 yards.
The question wasn’t whether Tri-Village could score the ball, whether they could be physical enough to play a whole game, and good enough defensively to stop Shawnee. The same Shawnee team that had their way with Ansonia earlier in the year and history over the last couple of years in the head-to-head favoring the Arrows.
Shawnee would come out of the break looking to score early and after a couple of Morton completions, a good run by Maurer the Arrows would have four cracks inside the ten but came up empty handed as the Patriots bent but didn’t break for a second time in the game as Morton’s 4th down pass to Blankenship in the endzone was broken up by Richards.
Tri-Village took over at the 2-yard line, and they would put together an impressive drive into the red-zone, but a Sagester pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage and intercepted to stop the drive.
On the very next play, Morton’s pass to Mauller was met with a hard hit from Lathen Wehr, jarring the ball loose, and Noah Finkbine scooped it up for an easy score with the PATS moving ahead 26-7.
(Dale Barger photo)
The question about the Patriots’ stamina and physicality was becoming clear as they held the Arrows to three and out. Then, on the feet of sophomore Colt Camacho’s 3-carries for 80 yards, scoring on the first play of the 4th quarter, put the Patriots up 33-7.
TV forced another punt by Shawnee, and Staley Colston carried for a few tough, hard runs in the middle, with Camacho leaping over the goal line for his 2nd TD, this one from 45 yards, as the Patriots put the game on ice, going up 40-7, and what would be the final score.
Tri-Village went into a tough place to play and came out with a convincing win, they were hungry and prepared to go take it, unlike last year where the Arrows were the more physical team taking it to them.
“You know, we were super inexperienced last year. We played them in game two, and they were loaded with guys; they took it to us. We remembered that talked about it all summer, put up signs in our locker room as a constant reminder. So, any extra fuel we can get is important for kids, and they felt like they had something to prove tonight. Last year the Arrows were more physical, they heard it, seen in on social media and took it to heart. That is exactly what you want to happen and they responded,” Tri-Village coach Matt Hopkins said.
Not only was Hopkins pleased with his team’s physicality … but he was very happy with the offensive line played that allowed the team to run and throw the ball and do it with complete balance. Earlier in the week senior lineman Logan Delong suffered a broken leg and you’re never sure how that will affect the team and with the exception of some hiccups and a couple of sacks on the first drive of the game they settled in and played well.
While the passing game was on point in the first half the running game would take over in the 2nd half which can be attributed to the line play over the course of the game wearing down the other team. The Patriots would rack up 500 yards of offense 234 in the air and 266 on the ground.
Trey Sagester was 21-30, 234 yards, 3 TDs all to Griffin Richards 8 catches for 139 yards. Coach Hopkins talked about the dynamic duo, who he jokingly said argue like a couple of married people all week long.
“Those two guys are really special, right? It’s hilarious watching them fight, but when it’s game time, they both are on the same page and are going to connect, and they do, just like it’s backyard football, where they create the play, and they do a really good job. And I’m really happy for both of them as they got us going in the first half,” Hopkins stated.
If you focus too much on the passing game, then the Patriots have a couple of sophomore running backs that can hurt you as well in Colt Camacho and Staley Colston. On the ground, Camacho ran 13 times, 152 yards, and Colston 16 times for 83 yards, and a lot of that starts up front with the line as well.
“Last year, we didn’t really have that running back who could gain those yards, and we put a lot on Trey’s shoulders, and he did a really good job being the first-year starter and quarterback. But now we can get him some help being able to hand off to Colston and Camacho and so Trey doesn’t have to be the guy every night. We’ve got a really good offensive line, and I was really proud of them tonight, they (Preble Shawnee) got some big dudes on the other side, just big, beefy dudes, hard to move. And we really, we really did a good job of being nasty, being physical and getting after it a little bit,” Hopkins commented.
Aside from the offense getting the job done, the defense also turned in an outstanding game as they held Preble Shawnee 37 points below their average and allowed only 191 yards of total offense, 129 rushing and 62 passing.
The defense is led by Noah Finkbine, a versatile, athletic kid who makes plays all over the field both offensively and defensively. He had nine catches in the game for 73 yards, had a scoop and score for a TD in the 3rd quarter, but more importantly drew the assignment of keying in on Brody Morton to eliminate the big plays he can generate with his feet.
“He spied Morton all night long, and he did a really good job. You’re never going to just stop Morton completely; he’s too good, too athletic to stop, but Noah was able to contain him a little bit, and that was key,” Hopkins praised.
Hopkins also mentioned the job Griffin Richards did on Blankenship.
“I thought Griff played a heck of a game defensively on Blankenship. He gets in good position, and it makes those throws even harder to connect when our defense is getting pressure on Morton, and he’s got to hurry some throws a little bit, because we made him uncomfortable, and that is hard to do,” Hopkins explained.
That pressure was coming from all over, led by Dom Black, Landen Moore, Hunter Ridout, Hunter Johnsman, and Finkbine. Black would stand-out in the game on both sides of the ball living up to the hype and recognition he has garnered so far this year from Division One Colleges.
On this night, the Patriots walk off the field heads held high proving to all those who questioned if they could be physical enough for the whole game and if the offense could score and defense could stop the like of the athletes and big dudes on the other side of the ball something they hadn’t been able to do the previous two seasons in the WOAC.
One reporter stated to Hopkins, “I don’t think you left any questions about who the class of the league in football is this year,” Hopkins smiled and then gave praise Preble Shawnee.
“That’s a really good football team. Dave Maddox (Preble Shawnee’s coach) does a great job, and he’s always got those guys ready to play, and we’re pretty good buddies. We know we’ve got to be really good when we play him, and our guys answered the call,” Hopkins concluded.
