Bath's strong second half sinks Elida

ELIDA - After slipping into halftime with a 9-7 lead over Elida, Bath football coach Todd Clark's halftime speech was simple.

"Don't turn the football over," he said.

His team responded, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter and adding one more in the fourth, en route to a 30-13 victory at Elida.

Bath (2-4, 1-4 Western Buckeye League) fumbled the football twice in the first half, losing both of them.

"(I told them) to keep the football off the ground," Clark said of his halftime adjustments. "You can't win big games by turning it over like that. Luckily, we did some things to overcome that."

Bath took little time as it scored on its first possession of the game. Freshman running back Aaron Smith (93 yards, 13 carries, 2 TDs) capped off an 8-play, 62-yard opening drive with a 3-yard scamper around the left side for a touchdown. The point-after was missed, making the score 6-0.

After Elida went three-and-out on its first possession, Bath's offense worked its way from Elida's 28-yard line, eventually placing its kicker, Matt Loudon in position for a 37-yard field. Loudon nailed the field goal attempt from the left hash mark, putting Bath ahead 9-0.

Then in the second quarter, one of those turnovers Clark alluded to came to the forefront.

The Bulldogs recovered a fumble by Smith at Bath's 20-yard line and five plays later, Desmond Ragin went off right tackle from 1 yard out.

In the third quarter, however, Bath's offense began to take over.

On its first possession, Smith broke loose on a pitch from quarterback Cameron Garver and ran 14 yards for the score. It took the Wildcats just nine plays to cover the 59-yard scoring drive.

"Offensively, the offensive line was blocking well and our backs were hitting the holes hard," Clark said.

Bath scored its second TD of the third quarter on a 20-yard pass reception by Gavin Painter. Garver (7 of 10, 86 yards) found Painter in the right flat and the junior running back outran the coverage.

That TD reception was the only catch by Painter on the evening. However, Painter led all rushers with 145 yards on 17 carries.

Elida (0-6, 0-5) added another score late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Alex McAdams found Michael Knotts in the corner of the end zone.

Matt Eilerman led Elida with 8 catches for 78 yards.

Elida coach Jason Carpenter said his team needs to find a way to make the big play.

"It comes down to crunch time," Carpenter said. "They need to be able to step up and make the big play."

Painter led Elida with 46 yards rushing on 8 carries. Carpenter said Painter has been his most durable running back this season.

"I can't say enough about him," Carpenter said. "He blocks, he runs hard ... he's done it all year for us."

Clark said his team is hopefully on its way up.

"We're finally starting to get some kids healthy," Clark said. "We've had so many people banged up since the St. Marys game."