Noah Sollars fights off a tackle attempt by Jacob Salyer during a water-logged and lopsided game dominated by the Red Raiders. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Noah Sollars powered a potent running game and the Red Raiders’ defense did the rest, limiting the five-star Ohio State recruit to just 77 yards passing in a Central Buckeye Conference game.
London, OH – Neither the challenging weather conditions, nor facing one of the country’s top prep quarterbacks, distracted London on Friday night.
Bellefontaine senior signal caller Tavien St. Clair, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound Ohio State commit who entered the game having thrown for 14 touchdowns and 1,154 yards through five games, ended the Red Raiders’ season a year ago in the second round of the Division III playoffs.
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London actually split with the Chieftains last fall and could end up facing St. Clair and his teammates again if the teams run into each other in this year’s Division III, Region 12 playoffs.
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For now, the Red Raiders can rest on the fact that they stuck to what they know best – controlling the line of scrimmage with a punishing running game – while dominating Bellefontaine 51-6 on the opening night of CBC Kenton Trail Division action.
London improved to 6-0 overall while the Chieftains dropped to 4-2.
“We just try to be London,” Red Raiders coach Kyle Cutler said. “That’s all we know how to be. Bellefontaine’s got a great team, and obviously you know the talent. (St. Clair) is an impressive player. It was one of those games where everything came together and kind of snow-balled, and we were able to get out in front. We were just pleased with the results. Our guys play hard, and that’s all we ask of them. There were times we executed and we took advantage of some opportunities.”
Slugfest or Slogfest? Either way, London’s offensive and defensive lines dominated Bellefontaine, powering the 51-6 rout.
According to Chieftains coach Jason Brown, St. Clair was “day-to-day” throughout the week after going down with a left knee injury during his team’s 49-14 win over Indian Lake on Sept. 20.
He started the game but didn’t play much of a role in the final outcome, with his first completion of more than 10 yards not coming until the final two minutes of the first half and with his team already down 30-0.
St. Clair connected with Braylon Newcomb for a 31-yard touchdown with 10.3 seconds to go before halftime, but the Chieftains struggled to get much going offensively.
For the game, St. Clair finished 5-for-10 passing for 77 yards, with just one of those completions coming during the second half.
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St. Clair played most of the first three quarters standing mostly in the pocket as the Chieftains navigated windy conditions that turned into a downpour by the beginning of the second half.
“We didn’t play very well, made some mistakes early, and didn’t get the momentum,” Brown said. “They’re the kind of team that if you don’t have momentum, they can get downhill on you, and they got downhill on us pretty good. Physically for (St. Clair), he looked good. We didn’t make plays when we had a chance to make plays. We have to come back tomorrow morning and get better. We let an early mistake turn into two.”
London seemed to relish in the conditions particularly early on as it established an effective running game behind an offensive line featuring senior guards Brecken Kennell and Jesse Rojas and senior center Detrick Portman.
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Senior running back Noah Sollars, who had rushed for 468 yards and nine touchdowns over London’s first five games, rushed for 35 yards on his team’s opening drive – including plunging in for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal.
London was tenacious on defense, as in this takedown of Carter Caudill by Isaiah Near.
Bellefontaine junior running back Carter Caudill ran for 28 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive, but London’s Jaydon Cooper recovered a fumble three plays later at the Red Raiders’ 29.
That set up a 25-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play of the ensuing drive from senior Chris Mason to senior June Turner that made it 15-0.
“We preach getting off to a good start, and we work harder than anybody in the state of Ohio,” Mason said. “I heard so much that we were going to lose this game. Tavien St. Clair, Ohio State this, Ohio State that, but it doesn’t matter when we do our thing. It’s a stepping stone of what we want to accomplish.
Daquanne Parks drove a dagger into Bellfontaine as he returned the second half kickoff 64 yards leading to a 4-yard Red Raider touchdown.
It’s a great win, and we’re very happy about it. I had a lot of yards on quarterback sneaks. (The weather) didn’t really affect our game plan. We went in and accomplished what we wanted to accomplish.”
Sollars added a 10-yard touchdown run with 3:48 to go in the second quarter.
London also hurt the Chieftains on special teams. Sophomore Daquanne Parks returned a punt 64 yards to set up a 4-yard touchdown by Mason that made it 30-0 and junior Steven Gravely returned the opening second-half kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
Sollars rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries and Mason threw for two touchdowns to go along with his rushing score.
“We’re big on culture, and we have hard practices,” Sollars said. “Coach is always giving us tips on what to do to get better, and we always have each other’s backs. Everybody’s been doubting us, saying we couldn’t do it. We’re a small school, small town, and we’ve got a chip on our shoulder.”
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