Eastwood downs Otsego, 42-14 (10-13-12)

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Eastwood’s Skylar Dierker runs the ball past
Otsego’s Austin Hefflinger, right, and A.C. Limes, during the first half.
(Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

LUCKEY — If the Eastwood Eagles were looking to prove that they are a legitimate
threat in the Northern Buckeye Conference, then they did just that, beating
visiting Otsego, 42-14, Friday night.
“Eastwood did a nice job,” said Otsego head coach Erik Johnson. “Their kids finished
the game strong, we weren’t able to do that … they executed and we didn’t.”
PHOTO
GALLERY

Despite
their 0-3 start to the season, the Eagles have been able to spark a five-game
winning streak to stay undefeated in the NBC.
“To get to this point after the start we had … you can just see how much
improvement we’ve had,” said Eastwood head coach Jerry Rutherford. “This is a
totally different locker room than it was Week 1 and 2 because we are so young.

“Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now … our coaches had a great
gameplan and we had a great week of practice. Coming into this game we were
ready to play.”
There was only one touchdown in the first half. Otsego scored with only 1:53 left in
the second quarter as A.C. Limes caught a pass from quarterback Ryan Smoyer
giving the Knights a 7-0 lead after a successful extra point attempt.
The Eagles came out after the half energized as Brent Schlumbohm ran in a 2-yard
touchdown only four minutes into the third quarter.
After forcing Otsego into a three-and-out series, Eastwood put together an 11-play
scoring series, incorporating hard-nosed rushing and throwing the ball once in
the series.
Devin Snowden capped the series with a 9-yard touchdown run giving the Eagles the
lead 14-7.
Before the end of the third quarter the Knights moved the chains into the red-zone as
Smoyer completed five passes in a row including a 37-yard connection with Cole
Gorski.
Otsego ended the third quarter with a 4-yard rushing touchdown from Smoyer with only
eight seconds left tying the game at 14-14.
“The kids gave a great effort in the first half and battled back in the third,” said
Johnson. “Unfortunately, Eastwood made adjustments to what we were doing, we
tried to adjust back through the game and we weren’t able to do that.’’
Smoyer registered 240 total passing yards with three interceptions, connecting with
six different receivers throughout the game.
“Obviously, we were concerned with their spread offense because Smoyer has had a
great career,” said Rutherford. “But our guys executed and we tell them it
doesn’t matter what you run cause it comes down to blocking and tackling.’’
The Eagles owned the fourth quarter, scoring four times while holding the Knights off
the scoreboard.
Skylar Dierker led the Eagles in individual rushing yards with 110 total, also
scoring one touchdown on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter, giving the Eagles a
21-14 lead.
The Eagle defense also managed to put points on the board in the fourth quarter as
Blake Kohring returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown , increasing
Eastwood’s lead to 28-14 with eight minutes left in the game.
Devin Snowden came up big for the Eagles, accounting for half of the Eagles six
touchdowns while rushing for 103 total yards in the game.
“Devin started as a defensive back at the beginning of the season and we’ve slowly
worked him into a spot in the offense,” said Rutherford. “He’s (Snowden) just a
dynamic player and he just makes plays with his moves … as a freshman he was a
22-foot long jumper so he’s a great athlete.’’
Snowden added touchdowns of 44 and 11 yards in the fourth quarter.
“I was excited because I wanted to help the team and I knew that it would be fun and
that I would get to carry the ball more,’’ Snowden said.
“We played our best that we have all season and we knew that we would have to coming
into this game,” Snowden added.
The Eagles improved to 5-3 overall and 5-0 in the NBC, goes to Woodmore next Friday.

Otsego, 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the NBC, hosts Lake.
EASTWOOD 42, OTSEGO 14
OTSEGO 0 7 7 0 —14
EASTWOOD 0 0 14 28 —42
O — Limes, 10 pass from Smoyer (Rodgers kick)
E — Schlumbohm, 2 run (Derek Snowden kick)
E — Devin Snowden, 9 run (Derek Snowden)
O — Smoyer, 4 run (Rodgers kick)
E — Dierker, 2 run (Snowden, Derek kick)
E — Kohring, 28 interception return (Snowden Derek kick)
E — Devin Snowden, 44 run (Derek Snowden kick)
E — Devin Snowden, 11 run (Derek Snowden kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
Category O E
First downs 12 18
By rushing 0 15
By passing 10 3
By penalty 2 0
Total net yards 261 460
Rushing 21 376
Passing 240 84
Attempts 43 5
Completions 23 4
Interceptions 3 0
Punts/average 5/30.8 4/27.0
Penalties/yards 6/68 5/45
Fumbles/lost 1/1 0/0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: (O) Cody Downs, 2-13; Smoyer, 1-4; Rohleder, 1-2; Gorski, 1-2. (E) Dierker,
17-110; Devin Snowden, 9-103; Conkle, 13-70; Schlumbohm, 16-54; Schmeltz, 4-20;
Seifert, 2-19.
PASSING: (O) Smoyer, 23-43-3—240. (E) Schmeltz, 4-5-0—84.
RECEIVING: (O) Hackworth, 7-73; Gorski, 4-63; Griffin, 4-34; Cody Downs, 4-19; Limes,
3-44; Josh Williams, 1-7. (E) Dierker, 2-16; Devin Snowden, 1-40; Coffield,
1-28.

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