By Cort Reynolds
McGUFFEY - The Ada football team raced to a 33-point halftime lead and thumped traditional rival Upper Scioto Valley 45-14 Saturday night in a makeup game postponed by bad weather Friday.
The Bulldogs ran out to the early cushion behind a big-play offense and cruised to the victory, quickly putting to rest any thoughts of a close contest.
Ada earned its first win as they completed the non-league part of their schedule 1-2. The Rams fell to 2-1 after their first 2-0 start in years.
"I was very happy with the way our kids responded after a very difficult defeat in week two," said Bulldog second-year coach Shawn Christopher. "We spent a week practicing extremely hard, and the kids came to work every day to prepare as well as they could.
"Once we were finally able to kick off (Saturday after the postponement) the kids had a fire that I have not seen in a quite a while," he noted.
Speedy Ada sophomore tailback Keagan Hull got the Bulldogs off to a strong start. On the second play, he took a handoff and burst around right end into the Ram secondary. He then sprinted 86 yards to paydirt untouched to put the purple and gold ahead, and they never looked back.
"Keagan Hull busting that first run I thought really set the tone for the night," said Christopher.
The Phillip Coulson point after kick made it 7-0.
On the next Ada possession, Ram sophomore Kadyn Hurley made a leaping interception of a Bulldog aerial. However, the Ada defense stuffed USV and got its offense the ball back.
Junior quarterback Brandon Hull then made a spectacular run to the end zone for the second Ada score. First he took a low snap out of the shotgun and ran left, where he juked a Ram defender and then put his head down to bowl over another would-be USV tackler near the sideline.
Hull then rumbled the remaining 40+ yards down the left sideline and dove across the goal line just inside the pylon as he was hit in midair, too late to prevent him from scoring.
His 55-yard TD highlight scamper gave the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead, and was named play of the weekend by WLIO TV sports.
"When Brandon made that great run, it kept our kids excited for the whole night," noted Christopher.
The Bulldogs scored on their third straight possession when Brandon Hull connected with senior Coulson on an eight-yard scoring strike.
The two-point conversion try failed to keep Ada ahead 20-0 after one period of play.
Brandon Hull hooked up with freshman Will McBride for a five-yard TD reception in the second quarter. Coulson's extra point kick extended the lead to 27-0.
Elusive junior wideout Zac Swaney then hauled in a 54-yard TD reception that gave Ada a commanding 33-0 lead at intermission.
Hull and Swaney connected on a 10-yard TD reception to make it 39-0 Bulldogs.
USV scored a pair of touchdowns to creep within 39-14 late in the contest.
Ada freshman running back Colby Curtis responded with a 95-yard TD run to close the scoring and provide the final margin of 31 points.
"I was extremely proud of our defense, especially Holden Purdy, for having such a contagious excitement that all 11 fed off of all game," said Christopher.
"The USV defensive line is probably one of the better defensive lines we will see all year," he added.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 20 13 6 6 45
USV 0 0 6 8 14
Notes and stats
Ada rolled up 519 yards in offense, 340 on the ground and 179 through the air.
Hull efficiently completed 11 of 14 passes for 162 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed five times for 71 yards and a score to account for 233 yards in total offense.
Keagan Hull rushed for a career-high 163 yards and one TD on eight carries. Colby Curtis added 95 yards on one long scoring carry. Swaney netted 11 yards on two tries. He also completed three of four passes for 17 yards.
Swaney caught five passes for 94 yards and two TDs. McBride snagged four aerials for 73 yards and a score. Coulson added three catches for 16 yards and one TD. Keagan Hull also caught two receptions for nine yards.
For the season, Brandon Hull has completed 60 of 90 passes (67 percent accuracy) for 721 yards with five TDs and two interceptions. He has also netted 235 yards rushing on 31 carries (7.6 avg.) with two TDs.
Keagan Hull has netted 217 yards rushing through three games on 17 tries (12.8 avg.) and two scores.
Swaney has caught 21 passes for 272 yards (13.0 avg.) and two TDs so far this year. McBride has 16 catches for 230 yards (14.4 avg.) and one TD. Coulson has made 15 receptions for 83 yards (5.5 avg.).
USV fell from fourth to ninth place in the Div. VII, Region 28 computer rankings with the defeat. Ada moved up from 22nd to 15th in the Div. VI, Region 23 computer ratings after the win.
Ada has been outscored by its opposition 91-78 this season.
Since the resumption of the USV series in 2014, Ada has won all six battles vs. their rival by an average of just over 30 points per game.
The Rams (2-1) host another county rival in Hardin Northern (2-1) Friday. HN ranks eighth in the Div. VII, Region 28 ratings, one spot ahead of USV.
