Upper Scioto Valley’s Alex Sanders fights for yardage against Waynesfield-Goshen’s Hunter Craig during Friday night’s game at USV.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
MCGUFFEY — Big plays on offense and a stout defensive effort propelled Waynesifeld-Goshen to a convincing 42-14 win over Upper Scioto Valley in the Northwest Central Conference opener for both teams Friday night.
With the win, the Tigers remain unbeaten at 4-0 on the season and Upper Scioto Valley falls to 2-2 on the year.
“This is huge,” Tiger head coach Shane Wireman about bumping off the defending NWCC champions last year. “We were confident after the first three games but this team (USV) has had our number the last two years …but our guys brought it up front. We have some good size and some good linebackers.”
Tiger signal caller Drew Breitigam showed off his versatility that led to the big plays and touchdowns. The W-G quarterback had touchdown tosses of 14,91,43 and 40 yards as he went 9 of 14 for 203 yards and four touchdowns.
Tiger receiver Dalton Jordan was the main target as he hauled in four catches for 97 yards and three touchdowns.
On the ground, running back Aiden Beiderman also got in on the big plays as he raced 98 yards for a score late in the game to push the contest to a running clock. Beiderman finished the night with six carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Beiderman had an early score where he went in for four yards.
“We talked earlier in the year that we knew we had a quarterback that had some ability and might catch some teams by surprise and he is doing a great job with kind of bouncing and when to take those chances and when to be just smart with the football,” Wireman said. “We had it third and long and then hit those big plays and that was huge for us.”
The Tiger defense, which had given up just seven points all season, put in another strong performance as they neutralized the Rams rushing attack and forced USV to go to the passing game. The Tigers have outscored the opposition 139-18 this year. USV’s final touchdown came on the final play of the game.
On the ground, USV managed 112 total yards.
USV quarterback Maddox Underwood rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown. USV running back Alex Sanders was limited to 30 yards on 16 carries.
“I think anybody that is going to be beat them you have to load the box and stop them,” Wireman said. “They did show the ability to throw the ball a little bit and that caught us by surprise with the personnel we had on the field and we kind of switched it up in the second half. They are a grinder team and there kids are physical.”
Jordan, who had the three touchdown catches, also had an interception that led to a Tiger score.
Waynesfield-Goshen owned a 35-7 lead over Upper Scioto Valley at halftime.
Big plays led to the Tigers breaking out to a 28-0 lead.
A 40-yard pass from Drew Breitigam to Dalton Jordan capped off seven play drive that led to the Tigers first score. After the successful extra point, W-G led 7-0 with 5:12 left in the first quarter.
A second big play, a 91-yard touchdown pass from Breitigam to Jayden Elliott, led to the Tigers second score and after the made extra point, W-G led 14-0 with 9:30 left in the first half.
An interception by W-G led to the Tigers’ third touchdown. Jordan intercepted a USV pass at his own 40 and ran it back to the Tiger 35 yard line. Three plays later Aiden Biederman bulled his way in from four yards and W-G led 21-0 with 7:11 in the first half.
Jordan’s second touchdown of the evening came after Breitigam found the Tiger receiver in the end zone for 14 yard to cap off a 77 yard drive. With 1:14 left in the second quarter, the Tigers led 28-0.
Despite the limited time, USV finally sustained a drive and in that minute and 12 seconds marched 70 yards for the touchdown when Maddox Underwood plunged his way in from four yards out and with 12 seconds remaining in the first half, W-G led 28-7.
The Tigers scoring was not done yet. After the Rams attempted an onside kick, the Tigers took over at the Rams 48 with one second on the clock. W-G got five free yards on an offside penalty to put the ball at the 43. With that one second, the Tigers returned to Jordan from 43 yards out for the touchdown and at halftime, the Tigers led 35-7.
