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BARNESVILLE - The Barnesville Shamrocks and Toronto Red Knights have had quite the opposite fortunes the last few weeks.
While the Knights and the 'Rocks started their respective seasons off in a similar fashion at 4-0, week five seemed to be where the seasons stopped mirroring each other.
The Shamrocks cleared their first major hurdle of the season, with a 14-point victory over River and defeated Worthington Christian, while the Red Knights stumbled against a previously winless Oak Glen squad and took a tough 36-point beating from Edison. Friday evening's game saw these trends continue, as the hosts rolled to a 62-0 win to improve to 7-0 and send the banged up Knights to their third-straight loss and a 4-3 record.
"We were harping on the guys, I thought last week we got a little sloppy in the second half, so we were really harping on them and wanted to play four quarters tonight. Even when we got the running clock, we told the young guys; 'Even when you go in there, we want you to play with the same intensity' and man, they responded! A lot of guys got on the board tonight, made plays, so I'm really proud of our guys," stated Barnesville coach Blake Allen. I talked to Coach Franke before the game, and they are really beat up right now and they had to play some young guys. I think they are going to be fine when they get healthy. It's just kind of one of those games where a lot of lucky breaks went our way, our kids kept playing, and I'm really proud of them."
When asked about his team's struggles on the evening Red Knights coach Josh Franke stated: "To be honest with you, injuries have kind of really piled up for us. We started a lot of young kids tonight, we had five freshmen start on defense and four freshmen on offense. Obviously, that's a lot of inexperienced kids playing against a really good Division V school. Those kids went out there, they did their best and tried to execute. First quarter obviously, I think we were right there, things didn't really start coming off the rails until the second quarter, but it just seems like a landslide. Once things started going bad, they just escalated quickly."
To echo Coach Franke's point, the first quarter was tightly contested. Toronto opened with a three-and-out, punting to the hosts who started at the visitors' 47 for their first possession. Barnesville saw talented senior quarterback C.J. Hannahs utilize his arm and legs on the drive, along with junior back Taison Starr. The 'Rocks' initial score came when Hannahs collected a bad snap that nearly cleared his head, skirted through the line avoiding would-be tacklers, and dashed up the middle for a 26-yard touchdown. Kicking specialist Evan Lough split the uprights, giving Barnesville a 7-0 lead with 7:18 remaining in the first.
The teams traded possessions over the duration of the opening stanza until Starr picked off Reg Knights QB Zeb Kinsey to kill a Toronto drive on the hosts' 41. The Shamrocks pieced together a nine-play drive over the end of the first and start of the second, finished off when Starr followed a trio of blockers across the goal line from five yards out to score. Lough was true again for a 14-0 advantage with 11:22 left before halftime
This could be defined as where things started to snowball for the Knights. On the ensuing kickoff, a Toronto returner allowed the ball to bounce, however instead of rolling out of bounds, as it appeared to be headed, the ball knuckled towards the end zone. Barnesville senior Easton Little proved to be an opportunist, pouncing on the pigskin for a six-pointer. Lough kicked another PAT to put the hosts up 21-0 with nary another second off the clock.
Barnesville's defense held strong again forcing a three-and-out with the Shamrocks taking possession at their own 25 following the punt. This time, the Red-and-Green needed just two plays, as Hannahs dropped back in the pocket and lofted a pass to junior wideout Luke Detling, who found position under the ball, deked a Knights cornerback, and sprinted towards the end zone for a 61-yard score. The sophomore Lough was true again for a 28-0 lead, 8:38 before halftime.
Toronto's offense found traction on their next drive, highlighted by a fake punt by Dominic Bouscher, who found daylight and ran 40 yards to the hosts' 32. Bouscher and Kinsey traded carries, getting the visitors to the Shamrocks' seven with a first-and-goal, however, the defensive unit of Barnesville, along with a personal foul call on the visitors, pushed Toronto back to the 32, snuffing out the drive.
Barnesville put seven more on the board before the bands saw the field, as Starr took a first down carry 68 yards to the house. Lough was on point again, pushing the score to 35-0 and triggering the mercy clock once the second half started.
Barnesville started the third quarter with the ball and found purchase in the end zone again, this time with Hannahs dropping a short screen to Casey Carpenter on third down, who in turn found his way around the defense to score from 35 out. Lough's PAT pushed the edge to 42-0, which stood after three.
With the benches of both teams emptied, Barnesville managed to score 20 more points in the final stanza. With 5:58 remaining in the game, Toronto saw the ball lost on a snap and roll into the end zone. Shamrocks sophomore defensive lineman Montgomery Evans hopped on the miscue for a score. Lough's kick was wide for a 48-0 showing.
Shamrocks frosh Easton Huntsman picked off Toronto backup quarterback Brock Hughes the following play, and his classmate Koby Jones burst up the middle from the 38 to find paydirt. Lough's kick pushed the advantage to 55-0.
Scoring concluded when Barnesville freshman Logan Craker appeared to have a sack on Hughes and stripped the ball away. The ninth grader rumbled 35 yards for a score and the Lough kick pushed the score to its final number of 62-0.
Hannahs finished the night with a tidy 7-11 passing line for 152 yards and two scores, as well as 45 infantry steps and a touchdown. Starr rolled to 102 yards and a score on seven touches and Detling snagged two catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. Toronto was limited to just 120 total yards and was victimized by six fumbles, three of which they lost, and a pair of interceptions.
Barnesville will look to keep things going next week when they visit Monroe Central, while Toronto will seek to right the ship against Weirton Madonna.
Barnesville 62, Toronto 0
Toronto 0 0 0 0 - 0
Barnesville 7 28 7 20 - 62
B — Hannahs 26 run (Lough kick)
B — Starr 5 run (Lough kick)
B - Little recovers lose ball in end zone (Lough kick)
B - Detling 61 pass from Hannahs (Lough kick)
B -Starr 68 run (Lough kick)
B - Casey Carpenter 35 pass from Hannahs (Lough kick)
B -Evans recovers loose ball in end zone (kick failed)
B -Jones 38 run (Lough kick)
B -Craker 35 fumble recovery (Lough kick)
Rushing: Toronto 36-62 (Kinsey 21-28; McEwen 5-5; Bouscher 4-42; Board 2-1; Hughes 4-(-14)); Barnesville 22-202-4TD (Starr 7-102-2TDs; Hannahs 5-45-TD; Castello 1-(-5); Almaraz 4-11; Camden Carpenter 4-11; Jones 1-38-TD).
Passing: Toronto 7-15-58-1X (Kinsey 7-14-59-X; Hughes 0-1-0-X); Barnesville 8-13-163-2TD (Hannahs 7-11-152-2TD; Casey Carpenter 1-2-11).
Receiving: Toronto 7-58 (Bouscher 5-41; McGrath 1-11; Dickinson 1-6): Barnesville 8-163-2TD (Almaraz 1-7; Detling 2-72-TD; Castello 2-33; Starr 1-5; Casey Carpenter 1-35-TD; Wise 1-11).
First Downs: Toronto 8; Barnesville 19
Penalties: 4-40; Barnesville 7-45
Fumbles: Toronto 6-3; Barnesville 1-0