High school football: Ottawa-Glandorf rolls past Bath for WBL victory
Sep. 18—OTTAWA — The weather forecast was calling for clear skies for Friday night.
However, sounds of thunder started early in Friday's key Western Buckeye League football matchup at Ottawa-Glandorf between the Titans and visiting Bath.
As Friday's game progressed, the thunder produced lightning for the Ottawa-Glandorf offense, as the Titans jumped out early and then rolled to a convincing 35-0 victory over Bath.
With the win, O-G improves to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the WBL. Bath slips to 3-2 in all games and 2-2 in league play.
O-G did not take long to make a statement.
On the very first play of the game, Ottawa-Glandorf quarterback Landen Jordan connected with wide receiver Caleb Kuhlman for an 80-yard touchdown pass. With the extra point by Dylan Birkemeier, the Titans led 7-0, just 20 seconds into the contest.
"That's two weeks in a row we've gone for the big play right from the bat," longtime O-G head coach Ken Schriner said. "There were things that we scouted and we thought we had; and our quarterback (Jordan) read it and did a great job. He was right on the money throwing the ball tonight."
On the night, Jordan was 12 of 14 passing for 279 yards and five touchdowns. Kuhlman was his favorite target, hauling in four passes for 169 yards and four TDs.
That 7-point lead for O-G held up to the end of the first quarter.
Lightning struck two more times in the first half for O-G. Both TDs came from the Jordan/Kuhlman pass connection.
O-G's offense was on the move toward the end of the first stanza.
The Titans cashed in again, just moments into the second quarter.
Jordan connected with Kuhlman once more — this time a 4-yard TD pass, that capped off a short 3-play, 21-yard scoring drive for O-G. The extra point was blocked. The Titans now led 13-0 with 11:53 left to play in the first half.
The Titans were not done.
Before the halftime break, O-G drove 59 yards on seven plays to hit pay dirt once more.
Jordan connected with Kuhlman once more — this time, a 24-yard scoring strike. With the two-point conversion, O-G led 21-0 with 6:06 left in the half.
O-G's defense stamped out a Bath drive, late in the first half, to head into the halftime break with the 21-point advantage. O-G defensive back Justice Pope intercepted a pass from Bath quarterback Ian Armentrout to spoil a late first-half drive for the Wildcats.
Armentrout ended the game, 4 of 12 passing for 41 yards and one interception.
"Give our defense credit," Schriner said. "Anytime you get a shutout in the league, that's awesome."
In the first half, O-G rolled up 201 total offensive yards (22 rushing, 179 passing). Jordan was 8 of 9 passing with three TD passes to Kuhlman. Bath mustered just 51 total offensive yards in the first 24 minutes of action (30 rushing, 21 passing).
For the night, O-G's offense rolled up a total of 385 yards.
O-G scored less than four minutes into the third quarter on a 19-yard TD pass from Jordan to Parker Schnipke. The PAT by Birkemeier pushed the O-G lead to 28-0.
Then it happened again.
With 4:39 left to play in the third quarter, O-G rounded out its scoring, as Jordan connected with Kuhlman once more — this time, a 61-yard scoring strike.
"We're improving," Schriner said. "The first two weeks (losses to Eastwood and Wapakoneta), I think we stunk up the place. Both times out, we played very good teams. Now, I think we're getting better, and getting to where I think we can be.
"We're starting to figure out our playmakers. We're starting to figure out what we can do. We've made a few adjustments here and there. And we're really coaching them throughout the week. I think our guys are doing a great job of accepting what we are doing," said Schriner.
