Eastwood dominant in win over Rossford (10-1-11)

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LUCKEY — Eastwood’s football team was just one play shy of a perfect first half Friday night.
The Eagles’ bid for perfection was spoiled by a botched coin toss, of all things.
But it hardly mattered.
Eastwood played well offensively and defensively en route to a 69-14 victory over Rossford in a Northern
Buckeye Conference game.
The Eagles, ranked 14th in Division IV, remained perfect at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
Third-ranked Genoa is the only other undefeated team in league play.
Eastwood — helped by interceptions from Kyle Schlumbohm and Chase Beam, and Bobby Brooks’ blocked punt —
scored touchdowns on its first 10 possessions for a 69-0 lead.
The Eagles built a 55-0 lead at the half, scoring their first seven TDs on just 12 plays in a span of
only 119 seconds.
Their only mistake came when they elected to kick into the wind in the first quarter. Eastwood won the
toss and deferred its option to the second half. Rossford then chose to receive, and the Eagles
inadvertently chose to kick into a strong wind.
But Eastwood quickly bolted to a 35-0 lead on TD runs of 78 and 5 yards by Isaiah Conkle, two 2-yard
scoring runs from Zach Conkle, and a 63-yard TD pass from Jake Schmeltz to Austin Gottfried. The Eagles
turned the two interceptions and the blocked punt into three of those five TDs.
“Our guys played well. It was a good team effort,” Eagle coach Jerry Rutherford said.
Eastwood finished the game with 567 yards, including 328 yards rushing.
Rossford totaled 212 yards, but only 95 in the first half. The Bulldogs fell to 1-5, 1-2 after ending a
35-game losing streak last week against Woodmore.
“They’re a good team and we knew they were good,” Rossford coach Todd Drusback said. “You can’t give a
good team a short field and gifts like we did. We got behind the eight-ball real quick.”
The interceptions and the blocked punt quickly turned the game into a rout after Isaiah Conkle scored on
a 78-yard run just 2:28 into the game.
Schlumbohm’s interception and 50-yard return to the Rossford 2-yard line enabled Zach Conkle to score on
the first play for a 14-0 lead.
Brooks’ blocked bunt and recovery on Rossford’s next possession gave Eastwood the ball at the Bulldog 23
and the Eagles scored three plays later. Zach Conkle scored on a 2-yard run for a 20-0 lead.
Beam’s interception and 9-yard return to the Rossford 27 resulted in Isaiah Conkle’s 5-yard run three
plays later, increasing the lead to 34-0.
The five first-quarter TDs came in a span of 8:52, the last three coming in the final three minutes of
the period.
“The defense is getting stops and they’re coming up with turnovers,” Rutherford said. “We’re getting
great field position and our offense is taking advantage of that. We had eight possessions in the first
half and that’s the result of our defense playing so well.”
Eastwood has allowed just 21 points in its last three games. The Eagles have come up with 18 turnovers
this season, including 13 interceptions.
“The defense has been playing well and it did again tonight,” Rutherford said.
The offense was just as productive. The Conkles — who are All-Ohio sprinters on the track team in the
spring — combined to rush 12 times for 197 yards and six touchdowns, even though they didn’t have a
carry in the second half.
Eleven different backs had carries for the Eagles, but no player had more than six attempts.
The strong rushing attack was complemented by the passing of Schmeltz and Blake Kohring, who completed
5-of-6 passes for 239 yards and TD passes of 80 and 79 yards to Kyle Dierker.
“Our guys have bought into the Wing-T,” Rutherford said of his offense. “We’re executing really well.”

The Eagles are averaging 50.5 points and 292.6 yards per game. Eastwood has the ability to run inside and
outside, and the passing game has steadily improved.
“They know how to run (the offense) and they understand what we want to do,” Rutherford said. “We can do
a lot of things and we’ve added a few things to allow us to throw the ball. Our kids feel and we feel,
as a coaching staff, you can’t take everything away from our offense right now. There’s going to be
something we can do.”
EASTWOOD 69, ROSSFORD 14
ROSSFORD 0 0 6 8 —14
EASTWOOD 34 21 14 0 —69
E — I. Conkle, 78 run (Derek Snowden kick)
E — Z. Conkle, 2 run (Derek Snowden kick)
E — Z. Conkle, 2 run (kick failed)
E — Gottfried, 63 pass from Schlmeltz (Derek Snowden kick)
E — I. Conkle, 5 (Derek Snowden kick)
E — K. Dierker, 80 pass from Schmeltz (Derek Snowden kick)
E — Z. Conkle, 57 run (Derek Snowden kick)
E — I. Conkle, 55 run (Derek Snowden kick)
E — Kohring, 1 run (Derek Snowden kick)
E — K. Dierker, 79 pass Kohring, (Derek Snowden kick)
R — Vidra, 15 pass from Clay (kick failed)
R — Nordhaus, 9 pass from Clay (Vidra pass from Clay)
TEAM STATISTICS
Category R E
First downs 13 16
By rushing 4 11
By passing 9 5
By penalty 0 0
Total net yards 212 567
Rushing 61 328
Passing 151 239
Attempts 23 6
Completions 15 5
Interceptions 3 0
Punts/average 7/29.3 0/0.0
Penalties/yards 4/12 3/20
Fumbles/lost 1/0 3/2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: (R) Clay, 16-(minus 17); Stolar, 10-41; Maxwell, 1-3; Vidra, 1-23; Reed, 6-15; Losiewicz,
1-(minus 4); (E) I. Conkle, 6-121; Z. Conkle, 6-76; K. Dierker, 1-10; Kohring, 3-4; Keyes, 4-79; Beam,
1-8; Krukemyer, 2-0; Peters, 2-4; Glaze, 3-3; S. Dierker, 2-19; B. Schlumbohm, 6-4.
PASSING: (R) Clay, 15-22-3—151; Reed, 0-1-0—0. (E) Schmeltz, 4-4-0—160; Kohring, 1-2-0—79.
RECEIVING: (R) Nordhaus, 3-27; Stolar, 4-15; Vidra, 4-89; Sloan, 4-20. (E) Gottfried, 1-63; Z. Conkle,
1-13; K. Dierker, 3-163.

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