Defiance downs Shawnee in WBL battle

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP - Through the first quarter and most of the second, the Shawnee defense bent quite a bit to the Defiance running game. But the Indians didn't break.

Over the course of a few minutes late in the second quarter, that all changed. Defiance finally found the end zone - twice - and Shawnee continued to have issues stopping the run. The Bulldogs added to their lead in the second half and charged to a 28-19 win, climbing into second place in the Western Buckeye League.

Even though Shawnee (4-2, 4-1 WBL) held a 13-0 edge through 20 minutes, 29 seconds of game time, the Bulldogs managed to chew up five first downs and 82 yards on their first four drives.

Defiance broke the ceiling with a six-play, 58-yard drive and a 1-yard touchdown rush from Travis Spitnale late in the half.

The Indians fumbled the ensuing kickoff, recovered by Defiance senior Steve Acevedo at the Shawnee 15 yard-line. Five plays later, Spitnale scored the second of his three touchdowns, another 1-yard plunge.

And just like that, Defiance stole momentum and the lead.

"They just sat back on their heels and let Defiance gain the momentum and never got it back," Shawnee coach Dick West said. "We just couldn't get it changed around."

Defiance (5-1, 4-1 WBL) scored twice in the second half to put the game out of reach. After holding Shawnee to negative 1 yard on three plays to open the second half, the Bulldogs went through a 12 play, 66 yard drive and gobbled up 5 minutes, 59 seconds.

The drive culminated with a bit of trickery. Quarterback Jordan Gonzales swung the ball to the right flat, where running back Craig Gutman collected the ball and let loose with an 18-yard TD pass to Alex Nofzinger.

Spitnale scored on yet another 1-yard rush with 7:31 remaining in the contest.

"The key coming down here, and the battle cry was out-hit them. Without out-hitting them, we wouldn't have had a prayer," Defiance coach Jerry Buti said. "The offensive line is the heroes of this game. They got 'er done tonight."

The Bulldogs dominated the line of scrimmage, pounding the Shawnee defense for 294 rushing yards. Spitnale had 28 rushes for 129 yards, while Nofzinger had nine carries for 48 yards from a wing back spot.

"They were more physical than us up front," West said. "Our guys were just standing up, getting pushed around. They had a lot of good misdirection plays, and our guys were looking around like they didn't know where the ball was."

Shawnee's offense never got on track, save for three big rushes from Brandon Stephenson, and a couple of big passes by Josh Miller. Stephenson rushed for 176 yards and two scores, on a 78-yard sprint in the first quarter and a six-yard sweep in the fourth. He also caught a 22-yard TD pass from Miller to open the scoring.

"We think we're pretty good tacklers, although Brandon Stephenson will make you look pretty bad, pretty quick" Buti said. "We went to a 40-defense and got our linebackers to flow a little bit. ... We had a little better flow to him in the second quarter."

Shawnee had one turnover in its previous five games, but coughed up possession three times against the Bulldogs (a fumble, interception and on downs). In addition to the fumbled kickoff, the Indians had three fumbles they recovered.

"We really pride ourselves in not having turnovers, and (the fumble) really killed us," West said.