New Weapon Emerges as Tippecanoe Trounces Troy

Sophomore Levi Jones ran for over 100 yards as Tippecanoe clinched at least a share of the MVL Miami division and overall league titles by running the ball and forcing turnovers at Troy.

Troy, OH — When Larkin Thomas completes only six passes for Tippecanoe, that is probably either a really good or really bad sign for the Red Devils football team. 

Friday night, the returns were all positive as Tipp dominated Troy 35-0 at Memorial Stadium, and that started with a big return. 

After the Red Devils defense forced a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession, Bentley Heckman grabbed a punt at his own 42 yard-line and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown. 

The junior caught it on the run, dodged a tackler then weaved his way right through the middle of the Troy coverage before hitting the accelerator and sprinting to the end zone to make it 7-0. 

After threatening to add to the score twice but coming up empty because of a blocked field goal and an interception, the Red Devils (8-1) got a golden opportunity when Tipp senior Talan Hoover grabbed a screen pass that went off a Troy receiver’s hands in the backfield and returned the interception to the Troy 8-yard line. 

Thomas took advantage two plays later when he juked a tackler in the backfield then rumbled into the end zone from five yards out for a 14-0 lead with 11:09 left in the second quarter, and that remained the score when the teams headed to the locker room for the half. 

The Red Devils got the ball to start the second and marched 70 yards in 10 plays, taking more than four minutes off the clock before Levi Jones followed a pulling lineman into the end zone from a yard out to make it 21-0. 

Jones added another touchdown from three yards out early in the fourth quarter to cap a nine-play drive, then Thomas finished the scoring with a 6-yard run in the final two minutes. 

That capped an all-around team win as the Tippecanoe defense held talented Troy sophomore Casey Anderson, the MVL’s leading rusher entering the night, to 40 yards on nine carries. 

“The Anderson kid’s a good running back, and we see him on film,” Tippecanoe coach Matt Burgbacher said. “He could take the ball to the house at any point in time so we couldn’t let him get in the open field.” 

Tipp has won eight in a row since getting pounded by Bellbrook on opening night. 

The Golden Eagles entered this week 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Division III poll (Tipp is No. 5), so that has proved to be the definition of a good loss, and the teams could yet meet again in the Division III playoffs. 

Tipp has gone its own way, winning eight in a row by no less than 27 points. 

This was the Red Devils’ third shutout in a row, but Burgbacher felt it was more challenging than the final score indicated — and he was grateful for that. 

“We’re playing our best football right now. Every week we’ve gotten better. We were ready for this game. We needed this game. We’ve had a couple games here that it just got out of hand early. We needed to compete for four quarters, and our guys did,” he said. 

Tipp clinched at least a share of the Miami Valley League Miami division title for the fifth year in a row, but Burgbacher said his team is in no mood to share. 

They’ll hope to become outright champs both of the division and the conference with a win over West Carrollton at home next week then get ready for the playoffs. 

“It’s one week at a time. We got one more week, but we’re going to enjoy this one tonight, and then hey, we’re back to work on Monday and we got to finish the regular season the right way,” Burgbacher said.  

Thomas completed 6 of 9 passes for 57 yards, all season lows. He ran 14 times for 39 yards with the Trojans seeming to key on the QB power and counters he frequently finds yards on. 

That worked out fine because the Red Devils have found a new weapon in Levi Jones, a sophomore who runs with more power than one might expect from a player listed 5-9 and 157 pounds. 

“I don’t really care about my size,” Jones said. “I’m just gonna try and help my team the best I can, and just get first downs, score touchdowns, help the city, represent the name across my chest, Tippecanoe.” 

He’s shifty in the hole and left Troy tacklers grasping air on multiple occasions while racking up a career-high 104 yards on 18 carries. 

“Levi’s just a great, great young man, very coachable young man, but he’ll be the first one to tell you it’s that offensive line there,” Burgbacher said. “You know we didn’t throw the ball as much as we wanted to tonight, but when the offensive line was doing what they were doing and taking some time off the clock, you know that wins football games.” 

Troy also entered on a seven-game winning streak after opening the season with a loss to Pickerington North, one of the better teams in Division I by all appearances, but a chance to snap a six-game losing streak to the Red Devils washed away in mistakes before the rain started falling in the fourth quarter.

“In a big game like this, the margin of error is small, and then when you have turnovers like that, it really puts you in a tough position,” Troy coach Ryan Jones said. “We put our defense in a really tough position in that first half. They’re too good of a football team to have those turnovers.” 

Troy has clinched at least a spot in the top eight in Division II, Region 8 according to JoeEitel.com, and the Trojans could still get a bye in Jones’ first season at the helm. 

“I feel like we’re in good position here,” said Jones, whose team conclude the regular season at Greenville next week. “Obviously, we’re disappointed. I thought the game would be a lot more competitive there, and I do think we competed with them pretty evenly for some of the game, but we turned it over too much, and then we had to play catch up, and that kind of limited what we can do offensively. 

“But these guys, I know they’ll bounce back. They have great character. They’ve shown that all year, and they continue to get better.”

The Trojans still lead the all-time series with Tippecanoe 24-9-2.