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Turnovers make difference in season opener

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XENIA — Big plays made for an exciting first half at Doug Adams Stadium Friday, but in the end it were turnovers that made the difference in Fairborn’s 21-16 win.

Each team had four — including a 99-yard fumble recovery touchdown by Xenia’s Gavin Severt. However a fumble out of the end zone on a first-down play from the Fairborn 2-yard line midway through the third quarter, and a fumble on second-and-goal on the Fairborn 4-yard line in the final minutes effectively took at least 12 points off the board for the Bucs.

Ball game.

Xenia Coach Trace Smitherman had a pretty good idea what partly was to blame.

“It’s no scrimmages,” he said. “I don’t want it to be an excuse. (But) it’s reality.”

The Miami Valley League didn’t allow scrimmages so while some teams were able to get one practice game in, MVL teams weren’t.

There are also quite a few young players who need to be brought “up to speed,” Smitherman added.

But he acknowledged that the Skyhawks had a lot to do with the outcome.

“They were the better team,” Smitherman said. “They got after us.”

Fairborn Coach Randy Kerns won’t argue that.

“I think we dominated physically most of the first half,” he said.

Neither team did much in the air. Xenia had 66 passing yards — 38 coming on a TD pass in the second quarter — while Fairborn had 27 — 14 coming on a fourth quarter TD pass to make it a 14-13 game.

Fairborn amassed 256 rushing yards, while the Bucs had 159. Most of the yards for both teams came in the second half.

Individually, Fairborn’s Hunter Warner did a little of everything. He ran 22 times for 89 yards and touchdown, while recovering a pair of fumbles and making 11 tackles. QB Patrick Parrish ran 10 times for 51 yards and a score and also chipped in with four tackles. Lamar Collins ran four seven times for 72 yards, while Noah Johnson added nine carries for 44 yards.

Defensively Cam Hamilton had 11 tackles, while Jamison Anderson added 10, and Brody Munger eight.

For Xenia, Ramon Browder ran 19 times for 83 yards, while Cole English ran 13 times for 36 yards. VaSean Hoskins and Elijah Fields each had one catch for 27 and 38 yards respectively.

Ryon Foubert had 14 tackles, Jamell Smith and Isaiah Goodrum 13 each, and Tremell Wright and Isaiah Hoyt 11 each. Severt also had an interception he returned for 24 yards on the fourth play after his fumble recovery TD.

Fairborn hosts West Carrollton Friday, while Xenia visits Troy.

Bellbrook 48, Waynesville 0

The Golden Eagles built a 41-0 halftime lead and cruised to an easy win in the season opener.

QB Alex Westbrock completed 9 of 13 passes for 180 yards and four touchdowns. Seth Borondy ran 12 times for 161 yards, while hauling in four passes for 81 yards and three touchdowns. Cameron Strong bolted for 95 yards late in the fourth quarter and finished with 100 yards rushing. Taylor Jordan hauled in a 33-yard pass to open the scoring and finished with three receptions for 75 yards. Jonah Atchison scored on a 5-yard run to account for another TD.

Bellbrook hosts Franklin Friday.

Miamisburg 37, Beavercreek 8

The Vikings led 31-0 at halftime and 37-0 after three.

The Beavers scored with 39 seconds left on a Travis Terrell 3-yard run. Nick Etienne caught a pass for the 2-point conversion.

Beavercreek had 202 total yards, 71 on the ground and 131 in the air. QB Jack Barnett completed 14 of 30 passes. Etienne led the Beavers with 49 rushing yards.

The Beavers are at Springboro Friday.

Talawanda 26, Carroll 6

Ryan Chapman completed 7 of 17 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown and also ran four times for 55 yards to lead the Patriots. Caydon Caudill ran 12 times for 22 yards.

Sam Severt caught four passes for 39 yards and a touchdown, while Steven Chapman had a pair of catches for 33 yards.

Severt led the defense with 10 tackles, five solo and five assists.

It was a 13-6 game after Severt’s TD catch but that was as close as the Patriots would get. They visit Chaminade-Julienne Friday.

West Liberty-Salem 36, Greeneview 21

In a back-and-forth game, host West Liberty-Salem took a 7-point lead into the fourth and added an insurance score in the fourth in the Ohio Heritage Conference crossover game.

Dakota Mangan scored on a 73-yard touchdown run and Hunter Anderson added the extra point to give Rams 7-0 lead. WLS came back with a 25 yard run to cut lead to 7-6 and then took the lead on a 1-yard run and two point conversion. The Rams came back to tie it at 14 with a 2-yard TD run by Jayden Dehaven and Anderson point after. WLS then scored on a 33-yard pass to take a 21-14 lead at halftime.

Greeneview tied it on a 34-yard pass from Cole Dehaven to Craig Finley and the Anderson extra point. WLS scored the last 15 points of the game on a runs of seven and one yard.

Dakota Mangan had 107 yards rushing while Jayden Dehaven added 95. Caleb Allen and Ian Henry both had seven tackles.

The Rams host Southeastern Friday.

Northeastern 48, Cedarville 7

Cedarville trailed 26-7 after the first quarter and 48-7 at halftime in the season opener. The Indians host Madison Plains Friday. Stats were not available at press time. Cedarville hosts Madison Plains Friday.

Fairborn’s Patrick Parrish received the Clifton Spahr Integrity Award prior to Friday’s win over Xenia. He is presented the award by Athletic Director Kevin Alexander. The award is named in memory of long-time school educators Bill Spahr (Xenia) and Steve Clifton (Fairborn).
https://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/09/web1_DSC03928.jpgFairborn’s Patrick Parrish received the Clifton Spahr Integrity Award prior to Friday’s win over Xenia. He is presented the award by Athletic Director Kevin Alexander. The award is named in memory of long-time school educators Bill Spahr (Xenia) and Steve Clifton (Fairborn).

By Scott Halasz

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