Tipp’s Xavier Melton scores the first TD of the night for the Red Devils. (Press Pros Features Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
Tipp’s star-studded roster frustrated and abused Bellbrook, snapping the Golden Eagles’ 12-year regular-season streak without a shutout. Running back Xavier Melton gashed the Bellbrook defense early, then two familiar faces with new roles, Will Strong and Collin Isaac, joined the fun, rushing for a touchdown each.
Bellbrook, Oh – What makes week 1 the most intriguing week of football? You never know what to expect.
Alan Brads is a contributing columnist and writes sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.
You expect 90° and sunny, but you get 74° with a cool breeze.
You expect players to be out of shape, but you get 48 minutes of consistent football.
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You expect Tippecanoe’s highly touted quarterback to sling it all over the field, but you get three rushing touchdowns by three different backs: Xavier Melton, Will Strong, and Collin Isaac. Tipp’s rushing attack and a defensive line like a wrecking ball strangled Bellbrook in a 21-0 shutout.
No one knew where to set expectations for senior running back Xavier Melton due to a knee injury that threatened his availability. No one except Matt Burgbacher.
On the Red Devils’ first drive, they went no-huddle and gave Melton the carry on all five plays. In order, they resulted in a first down, first down, first down, no gain, touchdown.
Collin Isaac scores for the Red Devils in Friday night’s win over Bellbrook.
“We wanted to set the tone,” Burgbacher said. “We’d been prepping for these guys all summer. So we had a game plan… Our guys knew what we were running.”
Safe to assume Melton’s knee is fine.
“It was very intense,” Melton said. “Burgbacher gave us a big speech coming out of the locker room, and it was an eye-opener. This is our last first game. We’ll never be here again. So the energy was there, the line was there, everything was hitting perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Melton accrued 44 of 121 yards on the opening drive.
Burgbacher said Tipp started prepping for Bellbrook in June, with 10-minute “Bellbrook periods” during each practice. But Melton’s injury kept the scripted first drive from fully taking shape until this week.
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“It was made aware to me a couple of days ago,” Melton said. “I knew the pressure was gonna be on, but not just for me because I couldn’t have done it by myself. It was definitely a team thing.”
Maybe Melton’s questionable status kept Burgbacher from overthinking it for weeks. The play calls on their own were nothing special.
Tipps Defensive End Bryton Otto hovers over Bellbrook’s quarterback Aiden Caswell.
“The first four plays were the same play,” Burgbacher said. “When they stopped us there on the goalline, we changed it up a little bit.”
Will Strong, a senior slot receiver, or so we thought, subverted expectations in all the right ways. While he remained a favorite target through the air, he brought a new component to Tipp’s rushing attack.
“I identify myself as an athlete,” Strong said. “I just do whatever gives us the best shot to win.”
His speed and acceleration allowed him to sweep across the formation and wreak havoc on the edges with jet sweeps and handoffs, which further opened up Melton and Thomas to run the ball inside.
“[Melton] is Mr. Inside, and I’m Mr. Outside,” Strong said. “We make a hell of a duo.”
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Strong’s athleticism announced itself when he slipped around a pair of defenders, then beat the rest in a footrace for a 68-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 21-0 late in the third quarter.
“I saw a whole bunch of black jerseys, but then my instincts just took over,” Strong said. “My dad always tells me to trust my instincts, and I was able to make a play.”
Tipp’s Jackson Robbins helps keeps the game scoreless for Bellbrook.
Collin Isaac is best known for his contribution to Tipp’s defense. A season ago, he co-led the MVL with 153 tackles. But Burgbacher found a new spot for him to fill: the heavy hitter.
He only took two carries, but his first touch of the season, a 4th & 1 run up the gut, broke open, and he plowed his way to a 24-yard touchdown.
Isaac’s day job of keeping Bellbrook’s offense at bay went swimmingly. The Red Devils became the first team since 2013 to shut out the Golden Eagles in a regular-season game.
Three of Tipp’s first four defensive snaps resulted in TFLs. Altogether, it amassed seven TFLs and four sacks by six different players: Bryton Otto, Grant Titley, Brody Hogge, Carter Brooks, Ryan Kolb and Nicholas Wemple.
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Otto, a senior defensive end, loomed over Bellbrook’s left side on every snap. Otto stands at 6’5” with a wingspan that seemed to grow as the game wore on. He collected three TFLs and made running left a fool’s errand.
“We just trust the defensive play call, then I put my nose down and run through ‘em,” Otto said.
Red Devil Ryan Kolb takes down running back Gage Cameron.
With the running game unavailable, Bellbrook turned to the arm of quarterback Aidan Caswell and got mixed results.
“Bellbrook is a Wing-T offense,” Burgbacher said. “But they didn’t look like it so much today because we were able to take some things away”.
Short timing routes to senior receiver Noah Barrios helped move the sticks, but in the biggest moments, the passing game didn’t yield results.
In the second quarter, Tipp picked off two passes to end promising drives. First, safety Micah Pyles-Dodds intercepted an underthrow on a seam route, then, Max Deckard stole another throw, this one into the end zone, as the first half expired.
In the waning moments of the game, the result was sure, but the Golden Eagles hoped to avoid the shutout. After Otto barged into the backfield to push the Golden Eagles backward on second down, a fourth-down pass to the end zone fell flat in the face of pressure.
Tipp’s Max Deckard had an interception in the endzone, saving another failed attempt for Bellbrook to score.
The shutout win gives Tipp a 3-2 series lead and the first road win since the matchup was established as the annual season opener in 2021.
It also puts the rest of the state on notice that the offseason hype around Tippecanoe is real. The Red Devils beat a region 12 title contender by three scores, and didn’t need anything special from Larkin Thomas to do it.
Thomas completed 8/12 passes, including two jet passes and a screen.
“It’s one game,” Burgbacher said twice.
It’s a great win, but they haven’t accomplished much yet. Melton said the sign in the weight room that reads St. Mary’s: 16 Tipp: 14 isn’t going anywhere.
The road ahead is long, and it begins Saturday with preparing to host Piqua in league play.
“It’s one game,” Burgbacher said a third time. “We’ve got nine more. We’ve got a big one next week, but we’re gonna enjoy this one tonight.”
And the race is off.. as Will Strong hurdles a Bellbrook player on his 68 yard rushing TD in the first win of the season over Bellbrook.
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