by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
There may be a new coach at the helm and a different approach to the game, but Bloom-Carroll showed why it’s been at the top of the league the last several years.
Host Circleville went toe-to-toe with Bloom-Carroll for most of the first half but the Bulldogs used a powerful running game to pull away for a 42-6 win Friday.
“We preached to our kids all week long that it was going to be a four-quarter dog fight. We talked about that they’re a four-time defending league champion team for a reason and a two-time final four appearance team for a reason,” Circleville coach Steve Evans said. “They’ve played championship caliber football for a long time now.
“We talk about where we want our program to go and those are the type of teams we have to be able to compete with.”
Both teams were looking for something to happen in the first quarter as the first four possessions of the game ended with punts.
Bloom-Carroll got a break on the fifth possession as Circleville fumbled and the Bulldogs’ Collin Willett recovered. A 23-yard run from Andrew Marshall, a 12-yard rush from Chase Plantz and a 28-yard scoring run from Marshall put the Bulldogs on the board.
The next two possessions ended with interceptions as Jett Jones intercepted Circleville’s Scott Moats and then, six plays later, Ayden Reedy intercepted Bloom-Carroll’s Ethan Thanthanavong.
Circleville ended up going three-and-out after Reedy’s interception and the Bloom-Carroll put together a four-minute drive.
Using 12 plays to cover 61 yards, the last yard came when Thanthanavong connected with Michael Stevenson on a one-yard TD pass for a 14-0 lead with 19 seconds left in the half.
“I thought we did a great job in the first half competing,” Evans said. “We turned the ball over twice and you can’t do that against a team like that.”
Bloom-Carroll took over in the second half as all four Bulldog possessions wound up in the endzone.
A nine-play drive to start the half finished with Marshall scoring from four yards out.
After a Circleville punt, Brodyn Bishop took the first handoff and went 57 yards for a score.
It looked like the Tigers had stopped Bloom-Carroll on the third possession and the Bulldogs’ field goal attempt went wide. However, a Circleville penalty gave Bloom-Carroll a first down and then Dylan Armentrout went the last seven yards for a TD.
Bloom-Carroll’s final score came on a 17-yard run by Cole Sherman with 9:14 left in the game.
Circleville then mounted an eight-play drive with Moats scoring from 26 yards out.
Circleville recovered a Bloom-Carroll fumble on the kickoff return and moved as close as the 25 before time expired.
The Bulldogs moved the ball predominantly on the ground Friday as they racked up more than 400 rushing yards.
Dylan Armentrout accounted for 150 of those and Bishop picked up 125.
Circleville was limited to 132 rushing yards with Jude Blair picking up 77.
Both teams completed seven passes. Bloom-Carroll picked up 76 yards in the air and Circleville had 41.
Up next
The Tigers (3-1, 0-1) are home again next week to welcome in Logan Elm (3-1, 1-0) for the fifth edition of the Backyard Brawl.
The Braves have a 3-1 edge since the Kingston National Bank Trophy was introduced into the excitement of the Circleville/Logan Elm game and LE is coming off a 28-7 win over Hamilton Township.
“Logan Elm is playing very well and they’re going to come in just as excited and fired up,” Evans said. “We just have to start with ourselves. We’ll evaluate things and I’m sure we’re going to get on the film and see mistakes we made tonight and correct those mistakes.
“The emphasis is on ourselves and trying to get better each day.”
Bloom-Carroll (3-1, 1-0) will try to extend its 17-game MSL-Buckeye winning streak next week when it hosts Amanda-Clearcreek (0-4, 0-1)
Bloom-Carroll 42, Circleville 6
By Quarters 1 2 3 4 F
Bloom-Carroll 7 7 21 7 42
Circleville 0 0 0 6 6
First Quarter
BC — Andrew Marshall 28 run (Treyton McKee kick), 1:01.
Second Quarter
BC — Michael Stevenson 1 pass from Ethan Thanthanavong (Treyton McKee kick), 0:19.
Third Quarter
BC — Andrew Marshall 4 run (Treyton McKee kick), 9:04.
BC — Brodyn Bishop 57 run (Treyton McKee kick), 7:50.
BC — Dylan Armentrout 7 run (Treyton McKee kick), 2:23.
Fourth Quarter
BC — Cole Sherman 17 run (Treyton McKee kick), 9:14.
CV — Scott Moats 26 run (kick failed), 3:53.
TEAM STATISTICS
BC CV
First downs 12 20
Rushing yards 42-404 34-132
Passing yards 76 41
Comp.-Att.-Int 7-13-1 7-14-1
Total yards 480 173
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 5-26 6-65
Punts-Ave. 6-42 2-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Bloom-Carroll — Dylan Armentrout 20-150, Chase Plantz 7-29, Ethan Thanthanavong 1-8, Brodyn Bishop 6-125, Andrew Marshall 5-69, Collin Willet1-0, Cole Sherman 2-23. Circleville — Scott Moats 9-27, Jude Blair 17-77, Drew Thornsley 2-16, Ashdon Rickard 4-17, Hudson Phalin 1-(-2).
PASSING – Bloom-Carroll — Ethan Thanthanavong 6-13-1-41, Brodyn Bishop 1-1-0-0. Circleville — Scott Moats 7-13-1-76
RECEIVING – Bloom-Carroll — Dylan Armentrout 1-14, Ethan Thanthanavong 1-0, Brodyn Bishop 2-9, Jett Jones 1-9, Jayse Rockwood 1-8, Michael Stevenson 1-1. Circleville— Jude Blair 1-(-7), Nolan West 1-7, Daniel Cutliff 3-19, Joe Streitenberger 1-32, Jacob Johnson 1-22.
Circleville’s Scott Moats runs for a touchdown.