Shawnee rolls past Bath

BATH TOWNSHIP — At the beginning of the season, there were a few question marks concerning the Shawnee offense.

After Friday’s 42-0 shellacking of Bath, some of those questions might be answered.

Shawnee (2-3, 2-2 Western Buckeye League) rolled up 407 yards of total offense, en route to its second consecutive shutout victory of the season.

Senior running back CJ Sewell led the Indians with 135 yards rushing on 17 carries and a touchdown.

Sophomore quarterback Seth Rosenbauer completed 8-of-11 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Shawnee was solid as well, holding Bath (2-3, 1-3) to 120 total yards for the game. The Wildcats managed to record just six first downs. Sophomore running back Aaron Smith rushed for 100 yards on 27 carries.

Shawnee coach Dick West pointed to the maturation process of Rosenbauer behind center as one of the keys to his team’s impressive outing.

“He’s only a sophomore, so he’s going to make some mistakes,” West said. “But, he’s getting better every week.”

Shawnee scored on its first two possessions of the game.

After Bath went three-and-out on its first possession of the contest, the Indians mounted a 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive capped by a two-yard run by Gavin Painter.

Shawnee forced a turnover on Bath’s next possession when Smith fumbled the football for the Wildcats, giving Shawnee the football back on Bath’s 36-yard line. Three plays later, Painter plunged in from one yard out, giving the Indians a 13-0 advantage.

West said his defensive unit did a good job of taking away Bath’s offensive game plan.

“Our defense — especially our front seven — did a good job of putting pressure on their quarterback,” West said. “This took the pressure off our secondary, too.”

Bath quarterback Cameron Garver completed 1-of-10 passes for 8 yards. Bath first-year coach Chris Miller said Shawnee’s defense was difficult to match up with.

“They’re a very physical team,” Miller said. “(Zac) Rosenbauer (6-foot-3, 250 pounds) is a great football player. He would sometimes line up on the inside and that made it difficult to block him.

“The difference tonight was up front. They just pushed us around. I don’t think we even got a first down in that third quarter.”

There was even a Rosenbauer-connection on the offensive side of the football.

With two minutes left in the first half, Seth found brother Zac open for a 13-yard TD pass, giving Shawnee a 21-0 lead.

Rosenbauer’s other TD pass was a 17-yard strike to Luke Morgan at the 4:30 mark of the third quarter, giving the Indians a 29-0 lead.

West said despite scoring 104 points in its last two games, his team still needs to get better.

“Our offensive line needs to be able to push people off the football, if we want to get to where we were last year,” West said. “But, we just need to keep improving.”