UTICA — Two weeks worth of pent-up aggression by the Utica Redskins turned Friday night’s Mid-Buckeye Conference opener against the East Knox Bulldogs into a blowout.
After back-to-back losses at home to Granville and Heath, Utica wasted little time in showing its dominant side against the Bulldogs. A 73-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jason Hoar on Utica’s first play from scrimmage set the tone in a 55-13 victory over East Knox.
“Our kids executed quite well at the beginning of the game and we didn’t turn the ball over,” said Utica coach Randy Felumlee. “A lot of those executions led to some nice scores, which was good. It was nice to get a lead and keep it. We’ve had the lead in every football game this year, but unfortunately turnovers and bad play have gotten us beat twice the last two weeks. It was nice to get the lead, increase it and take care of the ball. Our defense played well and we got a lot of opportunities. This was a combination of a lot of positive things.”
Hoar had scoring runs of 73 and 1 yards, while Justin Newsome scored twice from 39 and 17 yards out, respectively. Hoar also hooked up with Scott Cline three times for 112 yards and three touchdowns. Cline’s grabs of 17, 38 and 57 yards helped the Redskins (2-2, 1-0 MBC) race out to a 48-0 lead in the third quarter.
“It is a great feeling to defend our house,” said Hoar. “Last year we went undefeated here, but this year we are 1-2. Hopefully this just continues.”
East Knox (0-4, 0-1 MBC) could never get anything going in the first half as four of its first five drives ended in punts. The fifth ended in a fumble, which Bryce Stewart recovered for Utica. The Bulldogs’ best starting position of the first half came after a 51-yard kickoff return by Chris Ware with eight minutes to go in the first half, but it ended after Derek Posey intercepted the ball for Utica.
“We practiced all week on stopping the quarterback, but we just got too far upfield and he got in behind us,” said East Knox coach Tom Holton. “He shook a couple of guys and he was gone. That’s tough. ...We knew they were a pretty good football team. We saw them on film against Granville, and Granville beat them, but it was close for most of the game. We knew the quarterback would be elusive, and it was our scheme to try and stop him. We just didn’t do it very well.”
Utica needed little help in the first half as it proved it could score quickly. With an average starting field position of their own 41-yard line, the Redskins’ offense clicked with an unstoppable rhythm.
“We played solid defense, we held onto the ball and our offense executed,” said Felumlee.
The Hoar-to-Cline connection seemed to be there every time Utica looked for it.
“We’ve been playing together since the seventh grade and we just click,” said Hoar.
Cline added, “We had good blocking too. Our line did a great job of giving us some time to get the ball out there.”
East Knox showed some life in the second half, moving the ball better. They picked up six first downs after just four in the first half, and the Bulldog defense slowed Utica, which tried to hammer out its running game in the second half.
“We played a little better in the second half, but we didn’t play very well the whole game,” said Holton. “We picked it up a little in the second half. ... We changed our front to a 50 and in the second half they weren’t throwing the ball as much, so that helped a little bit.”
East Knox had just three drives in the second half, including a 3 minute, 56 second drive that resulted in their first touchdown. Devin Wears capped an eight-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 3:38 to go in the third quarter. The Bulldogs’ last drive lasted 6:20 and was wrapped up with a 14-yard touchdown run by Chase Cottrell at the 5:35 mark.
Hoar had a strong night for Utica, passing for 183 yards and rushing for another 138. Newsome rushed for 77 yards on seven carries, and Ryan Combs had 50 yards on 12 attempts. In addition to Cline’s receiving yards, Jake Torrens made a 40-yard grab. Newsome had a catch for 16 yards, and Artie Douglas had one catch for 15 yards.
“This gives us a tremendous boost,” Hoar said. “It is a great feeling.”
East Knox quarterback Tyler Clement passed for 98 yards on an 8-of-13 performance. Wear had three catches for 47 yards and seven carries for 26. Colton Tucker had 12 carries for 41 yards, while Clement added 24 yards on the ground. Dakota Anderson had three catches for 35 yards and Khai Haralson made two grabs for 16 yards.
East Knox is back in action on Friday night, hosting winless Centerburg in a cross-county battle.
“We have to learn from this and get better,” Holton said. “That’s the only direction we have to go. ... We’ve got to improve in all phases of our game. We have work to do.”
Utica, meanwhile, will set it sights on host Northridge.
“Our kids are still growing; we are still an inexperienced football team,” said Felumlee. “It is nice to get a win, but we still need to get better. It is one step at a time and the next step is Northridge. The last two weeks have been pretty tough so it is nice to get a win.”
