By Cort Reynolds
ARCADIA – The visiting Ada High School football team scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to defeat Blanchard Valley Conference foe Arcadia soundly 36-6 on a rare Thursday night game, September 26.
Ada led just 14-6 at halftime, but senior quarterback Levi Green passed for two touchdowns to help the visitors pull away after intermission.
The Bulldogs improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the BVC after earning their third consecutive win. The Redskins fell to 0-6 overall and 0-4 in the BVC with the one-sided defeat.
“We came out a little slow in the first half, but we only had three possessions,” said Ada fourth-year head coach Toby Smith. “We scored on two, so it just appeared to be a bit slower than it really was.
”We made some adjustments at half, and they worked for us,” he explained. “Defensively, they were trying to exploit us with their tight end. We saw this and simply moved our defensive player to a different position in order to help him, as well as help the rest of our linebackers.”
Ada scored on its second possession via a 76-yard, seven-play drive. Green capped the march on a 22-yard scoring scamper with 1:54 left in the first period.
The extra point kick by Andrew Allen made it 7-0 Bulldogs, and they never trailed.
Arcadia answered with a time-consuming 66-yard, 13-play march to score its lone touchdown of the night. Nickolas Myers took a pitchout from quarterback Tripp Brubaker and found paydirt from five yards out to cut the Ada lead to 7-6 with just under six minutes left in the first half.
The Redskin scoring drive ate up 7:11 of clock. But Brubaker’s extra point try misfired to keep the Bulldogs on top by a point.
Ada took over on its own 37 after the ensuing kickoff, and responded with a scoring march of its own. The Bulldogs covered 63 yards in nine plays to re-assert control.
Green scored on a four-yard run to give Ada a 13-6 advantage. Allen’s second PAT made it 14-6 at intermission.
Ada scored on its first possession of the third period behind a 54-yard drive that took nine plays. Senior running back Kaine Fisher hit paydirt from four yards out to stretch the lead to 20-6.
Allen added the extra point kick for a 21-6 margin.
The Bulldogs had a short field to work with on their next scoring possession after the defense forced a turnover on downs at the Redskin 26. Ada went 26 yards in three plays to find the end zone and effectively put the game out of reach.
Green connected with junior Zack Zimmerman at the 17 and he ran it into end zone the rest of the way for a 22-yard TD reception.
Green ran in a two-point conversion to put Ada comfortably ahead 29-6 as the third quarter ended.
The Bulldogs scored again on their third consecutive second half possession to provide the final margin of 30. Ada covered 60 yards in five plays to put the game well out of reach.
Green hooked up with Trevor McGue for a 23-yard TD aerial, and Allen booted the extra point to balloon the lead to 36-6 with just under seven minutes remaining to play.
The Ada defense held Arcadia scoreless for a fifth consecutive possession to finish off the victory.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 7 7 15 7 36
Arc 0 6 0 0 6
Notes, quotes and stats
The game was played on a rare Thursday night due to the league not having enough officials to cover all the Friday contests. Riverdale also played Leipsic Thursday in another BVC bout.
The Ada offense rolled up 329 yards on 38 plays (8.7 per play), while Arcadia was held to 205 total yards on 51 snaps (4.0). The Bulldogs compiled 17 first downs to 12 by the Redskins.
Twelve of the Ada chain-movers came via the ground, with five more through the air. Nine of the Redskin first downs were via the rush, with three coming by the pass.
The Bulldogs netted 192 rushing yards and added 137 yards aerially. The Redskins threw for just 62 yards, and totaled 143 yards on the ground.
Green rushed for 103 yards and two TDs on 16 carries. He also completed nine of 12 passes for 137 yards and two scores. In all, he accounted for 240 total yards in offense.
Senior back Fisher ran the ball nine times for 86 yards and one score. He also caught three passes for 18 yards. All told, he netted 104 yards from scrimmage.
Grabbing one reception apiece were Zimmerman (22 yards, one TD), McGue (23 yards, one TD), Gavin Oldfield (26 yards), Kolton Dysert (25 yards), Kayleb Hickman (13 yards) and T.J. Griffith (10 yards).
Zimmerman led the defense with 10 assists and three solo tackles. Landon Simon made five solo tackles and four assists. Brody Erickson had three solos, four assists and two tackles for losses, including a sack.
Blake Zoladz and Ian House (three solos) were each in on six stops.
Brubaker completed eight of 12 aerials for 70 yards for the Redskin passing attack. He also rushed nine times for 43 yards. Meyers netted 88 yards rushing and one TD on 26 runs.
Ada committed one turnover on a fumble, while Arcadia was guilty of no miscues. The Bulldogs scored on five of their seven possessions.
Ada was penalized three times for 29 yards, while Arcadia was flagged once for five yards. The Redskins totaled 28:55 of possession time, while Ada had the ball 19:05.
The Bulldogs converted three of four on third down and were 1-1 on fourth. Arcadia was successful on five of 14 third down tries, and was 4-6 on fourth down.
Ada did not punt once.
Winless Arcadia has been outscored 203-41 this season.
With their third straight win, the Bulldogs remain in good playoff position after the midway point of the season, and they also remain in BVC title contention.
Liberty-Benton and Pandora-Gilboa are tied for first in the league at 3-0, followed by Ada and Leipsic at 3-1. Van Buren is 2-1.
The Bulldogs, at least temporarily, move into sole possession of third in the Div. 7, Region 26 computer rankings after the Thursday win. Columbus Grove (5-0) is ranked first and Edon (5-0), coached by former Ada mentor Bob Olwin, is second.
Bulldogs visit Falcons
Ada travels to face new league foe Riverdale in another Blanchard Valley Conference road contest October 4 as the Bulldogs resume Friday night play.
The Falcons (2-4, 1-4 BVC) knocked off visiting Ada 40-27 last year in week two when they were non-conference foes.
Riverdale lost 40-10 at home to Leipsic (4-2, 4-1 BVC) also on Thursday night. The Falcons are ranked 23rd in the 27-team Div. VI, Region 22 standings coming.
Riverdale has scored 67 points (11.2 ppg) and allowed 188 (31.3 ppg) through six games. Against their common opponents with Ada so far, the Falcons are 1-1. They beat Arcadia 21-7 and lost 31-7 to visiting Arlington in week two.
The Red Devils then edged the Bulldogs 44-43 the next week on a last-second TD pass to hand Ada its only loss so far this season. The Bulldogs trounced Arcadia 36-6.
Ada has compiled an impressive 214-98 scoring margin through six games. They average 35.7 points a game and give up 16.3 ppg through six contests, with one shutout.
The Bulldogs are 3-0 away from home, and 2-1 at War Memorial Stadium.
The next Ada home game will be in week eight on Homecoming Friday, October 11 vs. Van Buren (3-2, 2-1 BVC). VB stomped Riverdale 48-0 in week five, and knocked off visiting Arlington 21-14 in week four.
The Black Knights have played four home games in a row, and visit McComb (3-2, 1-2 BVC) Friday to start a three-game road stretch.
Ada later visits Pandora-Gilboa (3-2, 3-0 BVC) in a key week nine battle.
