By Cort Reynolds
Host Ada High School football team played Waynesfield-Goshen tough but lost 28-0 in the season opener at War Memorial Park Stadium on a warm Friday night.
The Tigers took the lead on the first play of the season, a long kickoff Grant Breitigam return for a touchdown, and never trailed.
"He got a couple good blocks, hit a crease and made a nice run," said W-G head coach Shane Wireman. "That got us the momentum and settled us down early. That was the key play to the whole game, I think."
Ada won the toss but deferred the opening kickoff.
Waynesfield took the kick and Grant Brietigam weaved his way 92 yards to paydirt to make it 7-0 14 just seconds into the fray.
A short punt gave W-G good field position at the Bulldog 44. On third and seven Drew Breitigam scrambled right and hit a wide-open Brody Barrington in the right corner of the end zone for a 28-yard TD strike.
"That was timely, they flushed our QB and mixed up their coverage," said Wireman. "Drew kept his eyes downfield and made a play."
The second extra point kick by freshman Lane Steinke extended the lead to 14-0 with 7:09 still left in the opening stanza.
Wyatt Green rolled a 44-yard punt out of bounds at the Tiger 15 after the ensuing Ada possession.
Breitigam connected with Dalton Jordan on a 37-yard reception. But Levi Green stopped the drive with a leaping interception at the Bulldog one.
Jalee Bolden put together a 14-yard run and Spencer Wall scrambled nine yards to get Ada out of poor field position.
However, Jayden Elliott intercepted a Green pass at the 34 and returned it 29 yards to the Bulldog five.
After a holding call moved the Tigers back from the one, on third down Breitigam rolled left and slung an 11-yard TD pass to Jordan in the left front corner of the end zone with 9:06 left in the half.
Ada then authored its best drive of the half. The Bulldogs marched 47 yards to the W-G 18 as Green converted a fourth and one play on an eight-yard sneak. But the drive stalled. On fourth down, Wyatt Green's 35-yard field goal try went just wide left.
The Bulldogs put together a scoring threat at the end of the half. Green hit Trevor McGue over the middle for 18 yards. Then on the last play of the quarter, Green threw deep into a crowd where Kaine Fisher leaped up and hauled in a 30-yard reception--but time expired.
Ada stopped the Tigers on their first drive of half two, but were then pinned back on their own 13. On third and two, Green was stopped short to force a punt. Green's punt rolled out of bounds at the 49.
A quick screen right to Jordan gained 13 yards. Breitigam scooped up a bad snap and scrambled 15 yards. On third and eight a pass to the corner of the end zone was just overthrown, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave W-G first and goal at the nine.
Biederman rumbled eight yards to the one. On fourth and goal, Bolden stuffed Biederman for a loss of three to stymie the drive.
Ada took over at its own four with just over three minutes left in the period. A third down pass fell incomplete.
After a punt, a 15-yard penalty gave W-G the ball on the Ada 32.
Breitigam launched a 31-yard TD pass to the deep right corner of the end zone, connecting with Jordan for a TD with 11:51 left in the game. The Steinke extra point kick made it 28-0.
Bolden had a long run on the next Ada drive. But a fumble gave the visitors possession near midfield.
W-G drove downfield with a couple passes to Jordan. But a fumbled snap amid presure from Max Puerto led to a fumble recovered by Levi Sousley at the Ada 42.
Bolden broke a tackle and ran for six yards. Green scampered right and stutter-stepped for nine yards and a first down. Another bruising run by Bolden picked up 14 yards to the Tiger 22.
After a penalty, the elusive Gren scrambled 11 yards to the W-G 15. But a fourth down pass fell incomplete to thwart the drive with 45 seconds left.
"I thought our special teams did a nice job, we were fortunate that play opening fell into our hands," said Wireman. "It was a big momentum swing."
1 2 3 4 F
W-G 14 7 0 7 28
Ada 0 0 0 0 0
Notes, quotes and stats
Waynesfield out-gained Ada 259-236 in total offense as Ada ran 53 plays to 49 by W-G. The Bulldogs averaged 4.5 yards per play compared to by 5.3 the Tigers.
The Bulldogs rushed 37 times for 134 yards (3.6 average). The Tigers ran 30 times for just 83 yards (2.8 per run).
"Ada did a nice job slowing our run game down," said Wireman. "They forced us to throw and look elsewhere for offense."
Green completed four of 11 passes for 81 yards with one interception. Wall completed four of six aerials for 41 yards as Ada compiled 102 yards through the air.
Ada compiled 11 first downs to 14 by W-G. "I thought Ada challenged us and they were hard-nosed up front," Wireman noted. "They had a couple linemen get dinged up."
Bulldog Jalee Bolden netted 51 yards on 10 rushes. Levi Green netted 47 yards on 17 runs. Wall added 30 yards on nine carries.
"Green is a shifty runner and will be a good player," said Wireman.
Fisher caught two passes for 33 yards. Six other Bulldogs snared one pass apiece.
Breitigam completed 11 of 18 aerials for 176 yards and three TDs with one interception. Jordan hauled in seven aerials for 112 yards and two TDs. Barrington had one TD catch for 28 yards.
Biederman rushed 15 times for 69 yards.
Both teams committed two turnovers, with each team throwing one pick and funbling once. Ada was penalized six times for 65 yards, and W-G was flagged five times for 40 yards.
Ada converted two of 12 third down tries and one of two on fourth down. W-G converted five of 12 attempts on third down, and was 0-2 on fourth.
The Bulldogs won the time of possession battle, 28:08 to 19:52.
Ada (0-1) hosts non-league foe Arlington (1-0) next Friday, August 26. The Red Devils got by Paulding 21-12 in their opener.
