By Cort Reynolds
Host Waynesfield-Goshen pulled away from scrappy Ada with a big second half to win their non-league football season opener 42-12 Friday night at Tiger Field.
The deeper Tigers separated from a 14-6 halftime lead with 28 unanswered second half points to win, but it was not as lopsided as the final score indicates.
"I don't think the final scoreboard reflects how the game was played," said W-G head coach Shane Wireman. "It was a very hard-fought game. Ada is very physical up front, and has a couple of bruisers at running back."
A key play came after Ada recovered a short second half kickoff near the Tiger 30. The Bulldogs drove inside the W-G 15 and were threatening for a possible tying score.
But Tiger junior Jayden Elliott intercepted an Ada pass near the 10, and returned it 85 yards to the Bulldog four. The hosts then hit paydirt on a five-yard run to go ahead, 21-6.
"We had a mental breakdown on the kickoff to start the second half," Wireman noted. "But the turnover and long return led to a big momentum swing in our favor."
Building on that momentum, W-G then extended the lead to 42-6 with 21 more points to put the game out of reach.
Ada tallied a late touchdown to provide the final margin.
"Absolutely, the momentum swung on that interception return," said first-year Ada head coach Toby Smith. "We had to take some chances defensively to make stops, and eventually we wore down a bit in the second half.
"Turnovers and big plays played a big part in the outcome," Smith added.
W-G starts its season 1-0 while the Bulldogs, playing their first game since cancelling their season after week three in 2020, start out 0-1.
Tiger running back Blake Barnes scored on an eight-yard run with 3:46 to go in the first period to give W-G an early 6-0 lead. The extra point kick failed.
"Blake had a good game with three rushing touchdowns and well over a hundred yards," said Wireman. "Our run game did well."
Ada tied it on a six-yard TD run by senior quarterback Kadin Phipps with 1:049 to go in the second stanza. The point after try was no good to keep the score knotted at six-all.
Elusive W-G senior quarterback Cooper Roberts found paydirt on a four-yard run 6:42 before intermission. The ensuing two-point run by Roberts made it 14-6, and they never trailed after that.
Roberts tallied on the five-yard run with 8:48 left in the third period following Elliott's key interception return. Ryder Siebeneck kicked the extra point to increase the Tiger lead to 15.
Barnes then scampered 32 yards for another score at the 3:03 mark of the third period.
Elliott's five-yard TD jaunt extended the lead to 35-6 with 11:46 remaining.
Barnes then added a 70-yard TD run with 9:20 left to play. Siebeneck's fourth extra point kick finished the Tiger scoring with a 42-6 bulge.
Ada junior back Casen Jones found the end zone on a four-yard run with 19 seconds left to play. The extra point try missed to keep the final margin at 30.
"I thought our defense did a good job of gang-tackling," said Wireman. "We knew Ada had a big, physical offensive line but we did a good job of keeping their running game in check."
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 6 0 0 6 12
W-G 6 8 14 14 42
Notes and stats
Waynesfield out-gained Ada 290-207 in total offense. The Bulldogs rushed 41 times for 128 yards. The Tigers ran 24 times for 203 yards.
Roberts completed seven of 12 passes for 87 yards and also rushed for two touchdowns. He netted 42 ground yards on eight tries. Barnes snared four aerials for 48 yards.
Tiger Drew Breitigam added three catches for 39 yards.
Phipps led Ada with 62 yards rushing on 21 carries. He completed eight of 13 passes for 79 yards with twointerceptions.
Bulldog Jalee Bolden netted 25 yards on 12 tries. Levi Green added 24 yards on two carries. Jones netted 17 yards and one score on six rushes.
Jones caught two passes for 33 yards. Junior Levi Sousley snagged two passes for 27 yards. Freshman Kaine Fisher added three receptions for 15 yards.
The Bulldogs committed two turnovers, while the Tigers made no miscues. Ada was penalized four times for 35 yards, and W-G was flagged twice for 15 yards.
Waynesfield visits BVC rival Arcadia (0-1) August 27. Arcadia lost its opener to Hardin Northern, 29-21.
"It should be a good game, Arcadia is well-coached," said Wireman. "We beat them two years ago, and I think they beat us 36-32 last year."
Ada plays at non-league foe Arlington (1-0) next Friday. The Red Devils whipped Paulding 48-18 in their opener.
"We just have to look at the film and keep getting better," said Smith.
