Circleville got the season off to a strong start with a 35-0 win over visiting Huntington Friday night.
“Anytime you can put 35 points on the board and shut somebody out, it’s a good night,” first-year Circleville coach Steve Evans told WKKJ radio.
The Tigers started out with a 1-yard scoring run from Angelo Travis and a 60-yard run from Scott Moats to take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. An 8-yard run from Travis in the second quarter had Circleville with a 21-0 lead at halftime.
The Tigers had some setbacks early in the second half but came through with a touchdown pass from Moats to Wyatt Thatcher later in the third quarter and capped the game’s scoring with a 3-yard TD run from Legend Clifford in the fourth.
“I was not pleased with our start for the third quarter. We came out and fumbled, the defense held them four-and-out, we got the ball back and fumbled again,” Evans told WKKJ. “We didn’t come out and have a good start.”
Part of that trouble Evans attributed to the struggles of the past where the Tigers had won only one game in the past three seasons. Friday’s was the first home win for Circleville since 2017’s opener against Miami Trace.
“They don’t know how to win yet,” he said. “Just having that taste tonight and the thrill of that victory, it means so much to the program.
Circleville piled up 20 first downs on 334 yards of offense while holding the Huntsmen to four first downs on 69 yards.
Up next
The Tigers welcome in Southeastern next week. The Panthers fell 40-0 to Northwest in their opener Friday.