Bellbrook falls short against London

SPRINGFIELD, Oh. – The Bellbrook Golden Eagles had been flying high coming into Friday night’s Ohio Division III, Region 12 title game against London, riding a 12-game winning streak since a season-opening loss and two straight emotional last-second playoff victories due to the accurate foot of kicker Riley Ferrin.

That ride came to an abrupt halt Friday night, however, as Bellbrook found themselves blanked at the hands of the Red Raiders, who win the regional title with a 13-0 whitewash of the Golden Eagles. London remains unbeaten and nabbed its first regional title in 30 years.

The game didn’t start out the way Bellbrook hoped it would.  Already missing their leading rushing in RB Vincent Epifano – who had rushed for 1,219 and 11 TDS – the Golden Eagles found themselves in a hole early, as the London defense would force the Golden Eagles to punt from their own end zone to start the game. The punt went out of bounds inside the Bellbrook 30-yard line, giving London excellent field position which they would take advantage of, with QB Chris Mason converting a 4th-and-5 with a 15-yard completion to wideout Steven Gravely and then putting it in the endzone three plays later on a one-yard run by RB Noah Sollars to make it a 7-0 game.

That would be the only scoring until the fourth quarter, as both defenses took control in the wind and rainy conditions. In such tightly-contested battles, however, it often only takes one play to break a game open and that’s what happened for London in the final quarter. After forcing a Bellbrook punt and taking over at their own 45-yard line, running back June Turner took a handoff and rumbled for down to the Bellbrook goal line before being tackled. Turner and the Red Raiders would cap the drive off, however, with Turner taking it in from 10-yards out after a penalty to make it 13-0. Turner would finish the

The London defense would hold Bellbrook, the Southwestern Buckeye League champions, to a season-low 90 yards of total offense and scoreless for the first time this season. Turner, on the other hand, would run 18 times for 144 yards and one  score for the Red Raiders, while Sollars added 53 yards on the ground and one touchdown.

BOX SCORE
London 7-0-0-6 -13
Bellbrook 0-0-0-0-0

SCORING PLAYS
L: Noah Sollars 1-yard run (Jay Prebula kick)
L: June Turner 10-yard run (kick unsuccessful) 

RECORDS: London 14-0; Bellbrook 12-2
UP NEXT: London will face Columbus Watterson (14-0) in Ohio Division III state semifinals; Bellbrook’s season is complete

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