FREDERICKTOWN — Fredericktown’s relentless offense scored at least two touchdowns in every quarter on Friday to win its Mid-Buckeye Conference opener against Northridge, 64-7.
The Freddies (4-0, 1-0) had more rushing yards than passing yards for the first time this season, in large part because of 128 fourth-quarter yards gained in running out the clock. Fredericktown also completed 9-of-15 passes for 181 yards and four touchdowns. The Vikings (1-3, 0-1) averaged less than 3 yards per carry, and threw for only 12 yards.
The Freddies established their dominance on the first play from scrimmage, as Tony Lybarger took off from his own 41 and raced 59 yards for a 6-0 lead. Northridge sustained its only scoring drive of the game, which resulted in a 1-yard Brandon Hall touchdown run to make the score 7-6 with 5:24 to play in the period. It was the first time Fredericktown trailed all season. That came to an end quickly, as Lybarger caught a 30-yard TD pass from Thomas Hinkle with 1:26 left in the quarter to put the Freddies up 12-7.
In the second quarter, Fredericktown had a pair of drives result in 7-yard rushing touchdowns by Hinkle, the first at the 4:50 mark and the second with 2:01 to play, which gave the Freddies a 24-7 lead. Fredericktown had one more possession in the half, and Hinkle found C.J. Ruhl for an 8-yard scoring pass with 36 seconds left. But even on a bad play Fredericktown found gold, as a botched snap was turned into a 2-point conversion catch from Tyler Hathaway to Zach Carter. The Freddies led 32-7 at the break.
Hinkle threw two TDs in the third quarter, a 16-yarder to Lybarger with 5:36 left and a 54-yarder to Ruhl at the 2:33 mark. Ruhl’s score made it 46-7. Fredericktown scored twice on the ground in the fourth quarter: Cody McGuire from 4 yards out with 10:07 left and Dillon Esteph a 49-yarder with 7:18 to play. Tyler Streby iced the cake with an 11-yard fumble return with 3:27 to play.
Hathaway caught five passes for 62 yards for the Freddies, and Ruhl had two catches for 62 yards and two TDs. Tony Stanley rushed for 100 yards on 20 carries for the Vikes.
Loudonville 35 Danville 7
LOUDONVILLE — Loudonville scored three touchdowns in a 1:45 section of the second quarter on Friday to race past Danville, 35-7.
The Blue Devils (0-4, 0-1) had nearly identical rushing numbers to the Redbirds (2-2, 1-0), 215 to 212. Passing was a different matter, with Loudonville hitting 3-of-7 throws for 134 yards and two scores to just 3-of-13 and 39 yards for Danville. Each team tossed two interceptions.
The teams traded drives in the first quarter, and for more than half of the second quarter before the Redbirds began to break out. Jordan Lance put Loudonville on the board, 7-0, with a 16-yard run with 6:54 left in the half. After getting the ball back, Cody Debo took off on a 20-yard TD run with gave the Redbirds a 14-0 lead.
The next couple of minutes was an offensive-minded fan’s delight. An interception gave Loudonville the ball again, and with 1:50 to play Debo broke off a 5-yard touchdown run to put the Redbirds up 21-0. After the kickoff, Heath Buckingham gave Danville a boost with an 85-yard TD run on the first play of its drive, but Lance hauled in 40-yard touchdown pass from Jake Krupp with 1:02 remaining to give Loudonville a 28-7 halftime lead.
There was only one more touchdown in the game, this one a 64-yard catch from Krupp to Debo with 3:56 to play in the third quarter.
Buckingham had 196 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries for the Blue Devils, and Chris Liptak ran eight times for 17 yards. Lance gained 111 yards on 14 carries for the Redbirds. Zack Brewer had a 24-reception for Danville, and Buckingham caught one pass for 15 yards. Debo led Loudonvile with two catches for 94 yards.
Danville will play at unbeaten Fredericktown at 7 p.m. on Friday.
