Shawnee tramples Kenton

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP - One time it was Brandon Stephenson.

The next time it was Isaiah Irons.

Shawnee's 1-2 running attack kept finding holes behind Shawnee's earth movers up front.

Shawnee ran for 391 yards to power the Indians to a 35-7 victory over Kenton on Friday at Shawnee.

Stephenson was the biggest beneficiary of the line. He ran for 197 yards on 29 carries. Stephenson had touchdown runs of 4, 2 and 13 yards. Irons had 119 yards on 14 carries, including a 29-yard score.

"A lot of our runs (in the first half) were right off the center and that's where the biggest holes were," Stephenson said. "Our guards were sweeping out their linebackers. Our O-line and tight ends did a great job."

Shawnee stands 1-1, 1-0 in the Western Buckeye League. Kenton is 0-2, 0-1 in the WBL.

The Indians led 21-0 after the first quarter and 28-0 at the half.

"We were real happy in the first half that we were able to open up some nice holes for our backs," Shawnee coach Dick West said. "Last week (against Columbus St. Francis De Sales) we didn't have anything to run through. So they (the backs) were real excited and the line blocked real well. ... When you have backs running for that many yards, it's the linemen."

On the Indians' fourth play from scrimmage, Stephenson went off left tackle for 57 yards to take the ball to the Kenton 9. Three plays later, he capped the seven-play, 78-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown to give Shawnee a 7-0 lead.

Kenton freshman quarterback Maty Mauk triggered the five wide receivers, no-back attack and looked impressive at times. But with 10 new starters on offense, all were learning on the fly.

Mauk's first pass was picked off by Shawnee's Chad Gillis at the Shawnee 47. On Shawnee's second play of the drive, Stephenson bounced outside for 33 yards to take the ball to the Kenton 20.

Three plays later, Stephenson strolled in from the 2 to give Shawnee a 14-0 lead with 6:14 left in the first quarter.

Next, it was Irons' turn to rumble.

Irons' 29-yard touchdown run off left tackle pushed the Shawnee lead to 21-0. Josh Miller's 22-yard touchdown pass to Sheldon Hall gave the Indians a 28-0 lead with 8:28 left in the first half.

Kenton's defense clogged the inside running lanes in the third quarter. Shawnee responded by running outside in the final quarter to seal the game.

Leading the way up front for Shawnee were center Andrew Schaad, guards Jeff Frueh and Mark Walters, tackles Jared Brown and Nick Delwiche and tight ends Nick Truesdale and Cody Lehman.

Mauk completed 27-of-44 for 227 yards. He threw one touchdown, but was intercepted three times.

"We're playing a lot of younger players. The key is you try to improve and get better," Kenton coach Mike Mauk said.

West said of Mauk, "He's good. I watched him last year in eighth grade and I always thought he would be very, very good."