Ever since Saturday, February 25, 2017, I have eagerly anticipated
today’s (Thursday, August 24, 2017) arrival. Does the date of August 24TH hold
any significance? The day does contain minor significance. Since 02/25/2017, I
have not covered any athletic contests. I have not even attended any athletic
contests. Back on 02/25/2017, I covered a College Basketball Double-Header (on
the campus of Cedarville University). It has been a long 6-Months! Believe me.
The wait has been EXTREMELY LONG. In just a few minutes, the wait will be over.
At this very moment, I am sitting inside of Xenia, Ohio’s Doug Adams Stadium.
For the second, consecutive year, I will begin my Ohio High School Football
Coverage on a Thursday night. To open the 2016 Season (Thursday, August 25,
2016), my coverage started inside of Beavercreek High School’s (BHS) Miami
Valley Hospital Stadium (MVHS). The Beavers hosted Xenia High School (XHS).
Tonight, Beavercreek has made the short trip to Xenia.
Since
2014, XHS has not defeated BHS. Inside of MVHS, that game took place. Can the
Buccaneers end the Beavers’ 2-Game Winning Streak? Regardless of tonight’s
outcome, these archrivals will put on a game which no one should be able to
forget. Xenia was the first team to start on Offense. Right away, Beavercreek
made an interesting move. To start the game, the Beavers (Beavercreek) made an
Onside Kick. Unfortunately, BHS did not recover the ball. Xenia started on its
own 30-Yard Line. Instantly, the Buccaneers went for the BIG PLAY! On 1st
Down and 10, Jonny Shampton, Jr. threw a deep pass downfield. Meechi Harris was
the intended target. To his team’s dismay, Harris dropped the ball (11:50). Harris
was wide-open. Had he caught the ball, nothing would have stopped him from
reaching the end zone. On 2nd Down, Shampton, Jr. kept the ball. He
proceeded to take the ball to the Beavers’ 44-Yard Line (11:44). From that
point, the drive would not gain yards. Instead, it lost yards. After going
three plays and out, the Buccaneers faced a 4th Down and 17 from its
own 33-Yard Line. At 9:14, Harris punted the ball away.
After
a short punt, Beavercreek took over on its own 31-Yard Line. The Beavers went
straight to a running attack. The first two rushes ended in First Down being
obtained. At 9:04, Xenia’s Defense was penalized for a Face Mask Violation. With
7:33 on the clock, XHS’s Defense made another mistake. The ball was positioned
on XHS’s 35-Yard Line. BHS’s Offense faced a 3rd Down and 2. The
Buccaneers committed an Offside Violation. As a result, the 5-Yard Penalty gave
Beavercreek a First Down. With Quarterback Cody Hocker leading the way, the
Beavers stayed with what was working. That would be a Running Game. Unfortunately,
the ball would not move far. The Beavers ended up with a 4th Down
and 1 on Xenia’s 21-Yard Line. At the snap of the ball, a rush and fumble took
place. Beavercreek ended up extremely lucky. The team avoided a big mistake.
The Beavers’ Offense recovered the ball. Better yet, the ball was recovered on
Xenia’s 17-Yard Line. BHS had obtained a First Down. BHS turned a negative into
a positive.
From
Xenia’s 17-Yard Line, rushing would move the ball to the 8-Yard Line. On 4th
Down and 2, Beavercreek’s Kaden Wenger picked up the First Down (3:50). The
ball rested on the 4-Yard Line. On 1st Down and Goal, Wenger ran the
ball again. This time, he stopped running in the end zone (3:27). The Extra Point
Kick was good. Beavercreek leads Xenia 7-0. On 3rd Down and 10,
Xenia’s Offense was on its own 15-Yard Line. With 1:52 remaining in the 1st
Quarter, the Offensive Drive ended. Shampton, Jr. was intercepted by
Beavercreek’s Cameron Etienne. The Beavers’ Offense went on to go three plays
and out. On 4th Down and 11 from the Buccaneers’ 16-Yard Line,
Beavercreek’s Marcella Cash attempted a Field Goal. To Cash’s dismay, her Field
Goal Attempt was No Good (29.3 Seconds). At the end of the 1st Quarter,
Beavercreek leads Xenia 7-0. Before the 1st Quarter ended, Xenia’s
Offensive Drive started on the team’s 20-Yard Line. Rushes by Sincere Wells
(13-Yards) and Shampton, Jr. (17-Yards) moved the ball to Midfield (50-Yard
Line).
As
the 2nd Quarter got underway, it was the Buccaneers’ time to avoid a
major mistake. On 1st Down and 10, the snap from center did not go
as planned. The ball was fumbled. However, Xenia’s Offense recovered the loose
ball. The team had lost 2-Yards. The next play ended with a rush by Corey
Burnette. Plus, there was an added bonus. Beavercreek’s Defense was penalized
for a Personal Foul. That penalty gave XHS a 1st Down and 10 on the
Beavers’ 31-Yard Line. XHS went three plays and out. On 4th Down and
15, Xenia was forced to punt (9:41). Harris’ punt was a good one. The ball
landed on BHS’s 2-Yard Line. For his team, BHS’s Wenger took control of the
ball. He proceeded to run the ball twice. His second run went for 64-Yards
(8:57). After such a great play, what would happen next?
On
1st Down from Xenia’s 29-Yard Line, there was a fumble (8:33).
Beavercreek recovered its fumble. On 3rd Down and 9, the ball was on
Xenia’s 28-Yard Line. Chris Lawrence scampered 16-yards to the Buccaneers’
12-Yard Line. The continued rushing got the ball to the 1-Yard line. On 1st
and Goal, Stevie Llanas took the ball into the end zone (5:49). Cash’s Extra
Point Kick was good. Beavercreek now possesses a 14-0 Lead. With 5:47 remaining
before Halftime, the Beavers attempted another Onside Kick. This time, the
Beavers successfully recovered the kick. BHS’s Offense ended up not doing much
with the ball. The drive was hindered by a Holding Violation too. At the 4:33
mark on 3rd Down and 14, the ball was on XHS’s 49-Yard Line. Hocker
threw a pass. The pass was intercepted by XHS’s Jelani Tucker.
Tucker’s
positive play went on to mean absolutely nothing. When Xenia’s Offensive Drive
started, Shampton, Jr. was sacked. The Buccaneers proceeded to go three plays
and out. On 4th Down and 15 from its own 23-Yard Line, Xenia was
forced to punt. Beavercreek went three plays and out. With 1:15 remaining in
the First Half, the Beavers faced a 4th Down and 5 from the
Buccaneers’ 49-Yard Line. Instead of punting the ball away, Beavercreek
attempted a long Field Goal. The Field Goal Attempt was No Good. Without Xenia
scoring any points, the 2nd Quarter ended. At the end of the First
Half, Beavercreek leads Xenia 14-0. When the Second Half got underway,
Beavercreek started on its own 31-Yard Line. Led by the running of Wenger;
Lawrence; and Hocker, the Beavers managed to move the ball to Midfield (50-Yard
Line). The Beavers ended up with a 4th Down and 3. BHS attempted to
obtain a First Down. At 8:29, Wenger took the handoff. He obtained 1-Yard.
Xenia took over possession on its own 49-Yard Line.
Xenia
went three plays and out. On 4th Down, the Buccaneers had to punt.
XHS would soon get the ball back. On 2nd Down and 10 from its own
16-Yard Line, Tucker intercepted Hocker again. When he stopped running, Tucker
was in the end zone (6:48). The Extra Point Kick was No Good. Xenia trails
Beavercreek 14-6. Beavercreek’s next possession started on its 25-Yard Line. On
2nd Down and 8, Wenger made his way to Xenia’s 49-Yard Line (6:03).
The Beavers continued to stick with Wenger’s rushing. After three, consecutive
runs, the ball rested on the Buccaneers’ 33-Yard Line. A 9-Yard Run pushed the
ball to the 24-Yard Line. Jordan Williams (5-Yards) and teammate Wenger
(4-Yards) got the ball to the 15-Yard Line. A rush on 3rd Down and 1
picked up a 2-Yard First Down. Then, BHS put forth another trick. On 1st
Down and 10, the Beavers performed a Reverse Play. The ball ended up in Jake
Maloney’s hands. Maloney reached the end zone. The Extra Point Kick was good.
BHS’s lead now stands at 21-6.
As
the 4th Quarter got underway, Xenia faced a 4th Down and
1 on its own 38-Yard Line. When the ball was snapped, Shampton, Jr. was sacked
(11:56). Xenia’s Defense took the ball right back. On 1st Down and
10 from the Buccaneers’ 36-Yard Line, the Beavers fumbled the ball. The Buccaneers
recovered the fumble (11:50). XHS did not want the ball. On 3rd Down
and 3 from its own 44-Yard Line, XHS fumbled the ball. BHS’s Defense recovered
the loose ball (10:23). With the ball resting on Xenia’s 46-Yard Line,
Beavercreek started its Offensive Drive. From this point forward, matters for
Xenia got worse. Wenger went on to rush the ball twice. After Xenia was
penalized for a Personal Foul, the ball was on the 33-Yard Line. Immediately,
Beavercreek was penalized for a Holding Violation. On 1st Down and
20 from Xenia’s 45-Yard Line, Chris Lawrence took the handoff. He ended up
dropping the ball. Fortunately, Lawrence managed to regain possession of the
ball. He was stopped on the 45-Yard Line. There was no gain. Once again, Wenger
took over. On 3rd Down and 19, Wenger rushed the ball to the 16-Yard
Line (7:59). That 28-Yard Run gave BHS a 1st Down and 10.
With
7:34 remaining in the game, Wenger ran to the end zone. Cash’s Extra Point Kick
was good. Now, Beavercreek leads Xenia 28-6. On 3rd Down and 6,
Xenia’s Offense was positioned on its own 44-Yard Line. Shampton, Jr. picked up
the First Down. He moved the ball to Beavercreek’s 44-Yard Line (6:40). Then,
Shampton, Jr. completed a pass to Harris. Unfortunately, Harris was tackled for
a 2-Yard Loss. The next play ended with Shampton, Jr. being sacked. On 3rd
Down and 16 from Midfield (50-Yard Line), the Buccaneers fumbled the ball. The
Beavers recovered the fumble (4:39). The ball was on Xenia’s 23-Yard Line. Led
by the rushing of Wenger (2-Rushes for 4-Yards) and teammate Drew Nanda (1-Rush
for 5-Yards), the ball moved to the Buccaneers’ 14-Yard Line. On 4th
Down and 1, Wenger picked up 5-Yards (2:20). At the 1:10 mark, the Beavers had
a 2nd and Goal on the 7-Yard Line. Lawrence pushed the ball to the
1-Yard Line. With 22.6 Seconds remaining in the game, Hocker placed the ball in
the end zone. Cash’s Extra Point Kick was good. Xenia would not break its
losing streak to Beavercreek. By the Final Score of 35-6, Beavercreek earned a Blowout
Victory. As the game came to an end, Beavercreek’s Student Section
created the following chant. “This is our House!” Who could argue
with them?
