By Cort Reynolds
Tense and undecided to the very end, the Ada High School football team kicked off its 2023 season with a thrilling 24-22 win over Upper Scioto Valley Friday night, August 18, at War Memorial Stadium.
The Ada defense made two late stands to preserve the small lead and give the Bulldogs a hard-fought opening night victory versus their non-league arch-rival.
Ada stopped USV on a two-point conversion try that would have tied it in the fourth period. The Bulldogs then came up with a fourth down sack late in the game, and a last-minute stop to hold on and win.
Bulldog Dalton Amos authored two key sacks of standout Ram quarterback Alex Sanders to keep Ada in the lead.
“Anytime you get a W it’s exciting, but we understand we have to do a lot of things better to continue to be successful,” Bulldog head coach Toby Smith warned.
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“We needed every stop we could get. We gave them one two-pointer when we didn’t tackle well,” he added.
The game was marred by constant penalties, many of which were costly to the Bulldogs.
“A couple of penalties were frustrating because we let ourselves get too emotional instead of just playing the game,” said Smith, who got his first opening night win at Ada in his third season.
Bulldog junior quarterback Levi Green and Ram senior QB Alex Sanders were a duel of fine signal-callers. The 6-2, 205-pound Sanders racked up 326 yards in total offense and three scores. Green, a 5-8 junior, rolled up 271 yards in offense and accounted for two TDs.
The teams traded punts on their first two possessions. Max Puerto launched a boot over the Ram return man that rolled 60 yards to the end zone for a touchback.
Each team had their quarterbacks mostly run the ball early on, but both defenses stiffened before allowing any penetration deep into their half of the field. After the first period of play, neither team had scored.
USV then took possession at their own six with 11:53 left in the first half, where Sanders would break the scoring ice with an impressive long run. He initially made a nice cutback and sliced through the Bulldog defense to the secondary.
After breaking free, he broke a tackle near midfield and outran the rest of the Ada defense 94 yards to paydirt. The drive took just one play and 19 seconds.
“We did not tackle well at all on that long TD run,” Smith lamented.
Junior Maddox Underwood then tossed a two-point conversion pass to a wide-open Mason Thompson that put the Rams ahead 8-0 with 11:34 left in the second stanza.
Ada took over at its own 37 and responded with a 63-yard, nine-play march to paydirt. Green ignited the drive on a key fourth-and-one run when he bounced off a tackler and sprinted 32 yards down the right sideline to the 14 to keep the drive alive.
On third and four at the Ram five, Green again bounced outside and sped around right end to an opening and a five-yard touchdown run at the 7:18 mark.
Logan Jolliff booted the extra point to cut the USV lead to 8-7.
Ram Ryan Roberts returned the ensuing kickoff 31 yards to the USV 32.
Bulldog junior linebacker Liam Vieira came up with a big four-yard sack of Sanders to force fourth and nine.
Then Sanders was sacked for a huge 11-yard loss again by Vieira to give Ada a turnover on downs at the Ram 32.
On the very next play, Green hit Kaine Fisher for a 31-yard gain to the one. A false start penalty set Ada back five yards. On third down, Green pitched out to Bolden on the right side and he rumbled five yards to paydirt with 2:44 left in the half.
“That was a momentum-changer we had to capitalize on,” Smith agreed.
Jolliff’s second point after kick extended the Ada lead to 14-8.
USV next put together a solid drive from its own 39. On third and 15, Sanders connected with Maddox Underwood for a fine leaping 32-yard reception at the Ada 14.
On third and 11, Sanders was dropped for a huge 14-yard loss by Ian House with 18 seconds to go in the half. On fourth and 25, Sanders hit Underwood on the right sideline for a gain of 21 yards, but he was stopped four yards short with eight seconds left in the half.
Ada took the third period kickoff and started on its own 35. On third and six, Green found Fisher along the right sideline for a 31-yard reception. Bolden ran for six yards, with a five-yard facemask penalty tacked on.
Green then connected with Kayleb Hickman on a 14-yard TD pass with 10:02 left in the third quarter to extend the Ada lead to 21-8. The drive covered 65 yards on five plays in 1:57 of time.
A personal foul on Ada kick-started the ensuing Ram drive, giving USV first and 10 at their 42. Underwood scurried 15 yards to the Bulldog 43. A holding penalty cost USV 10 yards.
Brody Erickson sacked Underwood for a big loss, but flags for targeting and a late hit turned it into a 30-yard gain for the Rams to the Ada 24.
“It really was a 40-yard penalty since we lost a sack on the play,” said Smith.
Sanders then kept the ball and weaved 21 yards to the Bulldog three for first and goal. On the next play, Sanders bulled into the end zone from three yards out over right tackle with 7:40 left in the third period.
Sanders then completed a two-point pass to Underwood along the right sideline as he was falling down. The Ram receiver then willed his way into the end zone to cut the deficit to 21-16.
The 71-yard scoring march was aided by Ada penalties and Sanders willing USV to score. A personal foul flag on the Bulldog defense was tacked onto the ensuing kickoff.
Ada took over at its own 20 after a touchback on the shortened kickoff.
Green kept up the middle and scampered 13 yards before cramping up. Bolden rushed for several yards with a facemask flag added on. Hickman snagged a pass over the middle and had a big gain called back for off-setting penalties.
Hickman then hauled in a Green aerial along the right sideline for a 19-yard gain. On third and three, Green rolled right and hit Hickman for a 12-yard gain to the USV nine.
A fourth false start flag moved Ada back five yards. Green connected with Fisher on the right sideline for 13 yards but another penalty negated the gain and lost 15 yards back to the 29.
On second and goal from the 29, a screen left to Fisher picked up 12 yards. On third and 17, a pass to the end zone fell incomplete. Off a low snap, Jolliff then cleanly booted a 34-yard field goal with 3:33 left in the lengthy third period to advance the Ada lead to 24-16.
The key field goal turned out to be crucial to the final score.
Roberts returned the following kickoff to the Ram 37. Underwood battled 11 yards to midfield on a determined run. Sanders then rumbled on a 17-yard scramble.
Roberts ripped off 14 yards around right end to the 19. On third and 11, Sanders threw off a tackler and tiptoed down the right sideline for 12 clutch yards to the Ada eight.
The third period ended with Ada on top by eight and USV sitting on the Ada five. Sanders was dropped at the Bulldog seven for a loss of two by junior linebacker House. An incomplete pass brought up fourth and goal at the seven.
A Sanders pass fell incomplete but pass interference gave USV another chance from the four. Sanders rolled right and threw incomplete to end the scoring threat as the defense held.
“The defense made a nice stop there,” Smith noted.
Ada took possession at its own four with 11:09 remaining to play.
A three-yard loss backed the Bulldog offense up to its one on third and 13. An incompletion then forced Ada to punt from its own end zone. The shifty Roberts returned the Puerto punt 11 yards to the Ada 26 to give USV excellent field position with 9:21 left.
On second down Sanders connected on an aerial to Underwood, who scampered into the end zone for a 23-yard TD reception with 8:32 left to play.
But in a key play, Sanders was then yanked down from behind on a big tackle by a pursuing Dalton Amos to preserve the Ada lead and thwart the two-point tie try.
The Bulldogs took over on their own 35 after the ensuing kickoff sailed out of bounds. Another quick three and out Ada possession gave USV the ball back with just over seven minutes to go at their own 36 after a 27-yard punt skittered out of bounds.
Underwood rambled 19 yards to the Ada 45 on the next play. Sanders battled seven yards to the 38. Roberts hammered his way 11 yards to the 27.
USV recovered its own fumble to lose two yards. On third and eight, Underwood was stopped for no gain. On fourth and eight with 3:21 left, Sanders was sacked by two Bulldogs and fumbled as he was dragged down.
Ada recovered and took over at the USV 48 with 3:11 left. Green made a pretty spin-move run for 17 yards to the Ram 31. Sanders shot the gap and stuck Green for a loss, bringing up third and nine at the 28. USV used its last timeout at the 1:44 mark.
Green scurried around left end for seven yards to force fourth and two at the 23. Ada called timeout with 59 ticks to go to discuss strategy. Bolden was tripped up for no gain to give USV one last chance.
The Rams took over at their own 23 with less than a minute left and no timeouts. Two incompletions brought up third and long with 28 seconds left.
Amos sacked Sanders again for another huge loss of 10, and USV was unable to get off another play as time expired deep in Ram territory to set off an Ada celebration.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 0 14 10 0 24
USV 0 8 8 6 22
Notes and stats
The close game was evenly-played, but fourth down stops by Ada on Sanders and better kicking helped spell the difference.
USV edged Ada in first downs, 16-15. The Rams compiled 385 yards in total offense on 55 plays, compared to 341 yards on 51 plays by the Bulldogs.
The Rams averaged seven yards per play, while the Bulldogs averaged 6.7.
USV rushed 39 times for 290 yards while Ada amassed 191 yards on 36 runs.
Green threw for 150 yards while the Rams netted 95 yards through the air.
Sanders rushed 29 times for 228 yards (7.9 avg.) and two TDS. Underwood netted 35 yards on five carries. Roberts added 27 yards on five totes of the pigskin.
Green topped Ada with 121 yards on 19 carries (6.4 avg.) with one TD. Bolden netted 70 yards on 17 runs with one TD.
Green completed nine of 15 aerials for 150 yards and one TD. Fisher led Ada with six receptions for 98 yards. Hickman hauled in three passes for 52 yards and a TD.
Sanders completed six of 14 throws for 95 yards and one score. Underwood caught four passes for 77 yards and a TD. Thompson had one reception for 20 yards.
Jolliff made a key difference with a field goal and 3-3 PAT kicking, as well as good kickoffs.
Ada converted three of 11 third downs, while USV made good on three of 10. Upper was 0-3 on fourth down, however. The Bulldog defense recorded four big sacks to none by the Rams.
USV committed one turnover on a fumble, while Ada had no miscues.
Sanders punted twice for a 40-yard average. Puerto booted four punts for a 35.5 average.
Unofficially, Ada had eight penalties for 95 yards. USV was flagged six times for 39 yards.
Ada visits Riverdale (1-0) next Friday. The Falcons ripped Crestline 53-8 in their opener.
