Western blanks Trojans; Big Red win

GREENWICH — After a slow start, the Western Reserve football team scored five times over the second and third quarters in a 39-0 win at South Central Friday night. With the win, the Roughriders (5-2, 3-1) set up a massive Week 8 Firelands Conference game against Crestview (5-2, 4-0) at Bachelder Field on Oct. 10. "We didn't execute very well in the early goings, and we need to make sure we clean that up," Western Reserve head coach Ty Stevenson said. On Western's second drive of the second quarter, Landyn Wiegel broke off a 20-yard touchdown run, but the extra point was no good for a 6-0 lead. The Roughriders started the drive at the South Central 45-yard line. On Western's next possession, Cooper Roe ran for 30 yards, then Colton Meagrow found Tyler Wood for an 18-yard pass to the 1-yard line of the Trojans (1-6, 1-3). Wiegel then punched it in from a yard out on the next play, but the kick was again no good for a 12-0 lead. That is where the score stood at halftime until Roe opened the second half with a 10-yard TD run. Again the PAT attempt was no good, but Western was up three scores at 18-0. After Wiegel picked up 20 yards on a rush, Meagrow threw a bubble screen pass to Brexton Fraelich, who took it the distance for a 50-yard TD pass and catch to extend the lead to 24-0. The Roughriders scored once more in the third. After Meagrow found Hayden Dobias for 28 yards, Wiegel again scored from a yard out. Dobias added the PAT for a 31-0 lead. With the starters out, Western's Payton Kerby then scored on a 26-yard run to close out the scoring in the fourth quarter. Dobias also added the PAT to close out the scoring. Western needs a win over the Cougars to knock them out of a first-place tie with Monroeville (5-2, 4-0) in the FC race. The Eagles still have road games at Crestview and St. Paul (3-4, 2-2). The stakes are also raised in the playoff picture. Western is expected to enter the game as the No. 11 seed in Division VI Region 22, while the Cougars are No. 12 in Region 23. The top 12 teams qualify for the state playoffs. "I thought our defense played really well," Stevenson said. "Anytime you can get a shutout on the road, it's always a good thing. But we can't have the slow start next week against a very good Crestview team." Plymouth 20, New London 12 NEW LONDON — The Big Red played a game of keep away to pick up their first win of the season Friday night at Wildcat Stadium. Plymouth ran the ball 59 times and attempted five passes in the win, while limiting New London (2-5, 0-4) to just 16 pass attempts and 10 rushes for a 64-26 edge in snaps. The Big Red (1-6, 1-3) set the tone right away with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a 1-yard TD run by Ben Trimmer. The opening drive took 8:20 off the clock. The try for two failed, but Plymouth led 6-0 at the 3:32 mark of the first quarter. Midway through the second, Plymouth then got a defensive touchdown as Cullen Mason intercepted a Jarrett Mencl pass and returned it 25 yards for the score. That gave the Big Red a 12-0 lead with 6:22 left in the first half after the try for two failed. New London then answered immediately. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Landon Harrison caught a 66-yard TD pass from Mencl just 20 seconds after the Big Red score to cut the deficit in half at 12-6. That is where the score remained until 8:30 left in the game when quarterback Lincoln Distl capped another long Plymouth drive with a 1-yard TD. Running back Isaiah Miller then ran in the 2-point conversion. Miller ran 23 times for 129 yards to pace Plymouth, while Distl added 64 yards and the TD on 19 attempts. Trimmer ran 13 times for 49 yards and a TD. For NL, Mencl was 7-of-15 passing for 100 yards with the TD pass to Harrison. The Big Red visit Monroeville next, while the Wildcats travel to Mapleton (2-5, 1-3). Plymouth 6 6 0 8 — 20N. London 0 6 0 6 — 12ScoringPLY — Ben Trimer 1 run (pass failed)PLY — Cullen Mason 25 interception return (pass failed)NL — Landon Harrison 66 pass from Jarrett Mencl (pass failed)PLY — Lincoln Distl 1 run (Isaiah Miller run) Lakota 42, Willard 12 KANSAS — The Crimson Flashes fell to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the SBC River Division with Friday's loss to the host Raiders. Nate Griggson ran 12 times for 114 yards and 2 TDs for Lakota (4-3, 1-3). Nick Elchert completed 6-f-8 pass attempts for 72 yards and a pair of TDs to Avery Shilling and Brady Kern. It gets no easier for the Flashes, who host Hopewell-Loudon (6-1, 3-1) after the Chieftains just saw their SBC win streak that dated back to 2019 snapped in a 29-26 home loss to Margaretta (6-1, 4-0).