Western routs Mapleton for second straight
Sep. 24—ORANGE TWP. — Western Reserve head coach Ty Stevenson thought his team found something a week ago.
The fifth-year head coach of the Roughriders saw it on display Friday night.
Fresh off a 49-29 win over Plymouth on Sept. 16, Western Reserve dominated host Mapleton by limiting the Mounties to 89 yards in a 31-0 Firelands Conference win at John E. Camp Stadium.
After a 1-3 start, the win was the second straight for Western, which improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the FC.
"Our kids had a great week of practice and were really locked in tonight," Western Reserve head coach Ty Stevenson said. "I"m really happy for them tonight."
The Mounties (3-3, 0-2) entered Friday averaging 35.6 points per game. But they fumbled on the third play of the game, and the 'Riders recovered at the Mapleton 33-yard line.
Five plays later, quarterback Rhett Grose scored the first of three rushing touchdowns from three yards out, and the first of four Sarah Handke PATs gave the 'Riders a 7-0 lead at the 10:01 mark of the opening quarter.
Western then started a 8-play, 85-yard scoring drive with 3:31 left in the first quarter. Grose pushed in from a yard out to make it 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter. Logan Wiegel had a 52-yard run to set up the score.
After yet another defensive stop, the 'Riders turned in a 5-play, 81-yard scoring drive to go ahead 21-0.
Grose passed to Wiegel for 20 yards, then connected with Chris Buchanan four plays later for a 45-yard TD pass with 4:13 left in the second quarter.
After Mapleton failed to convert a fourth-and-1 at the Western 40, the 'Riders went on a 9-play, 55-yard scoring drive that saw Grose score from a yard out again for a 28-0 lead with 10:34 left in the game.
An interception by Grose on defense then set up a 31-yard field goal by Handke with 2:31 left in the game to close out the scoring.
"She drilled it," Stevenson said. "She's doing a nice job."
Of Mapleton's 89 yards in the game, 39 yards came inside the final two-plus minutes with backup players in the game.
"Our defense did an outstanding job of reading keys and running to the ball," Stevenson said.
Grose ran 20 times for 66 yards and his three scores while completing 6-of-10 pass attempts for 107 yards with the TD to Buchanan, who caught four passes for 88 yards. Weigel ran 15 times for 122 yards and caught three passes for 27 yards.
Connor Dawson added 51 yards on 10 attempts.
"Our offensive line did a great job at the point of attack, and our backs ran really hard tonight," Stevenson said.
Western will host St. Paul (4-2, 3-0) in a key FC and computer points game next Friday at Bachelder Field in Collins.
W. Reserve 7 14 0 10 — 31
Mapleton 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring
WR — Rhett Grose 3 run (Sarah Handke kick)
WR — Grose 1 run (Handke kick)
WR — Chris Buchanan 45 pass from Grose (Handke kick)
WR — Grose 1 run (Handke kick)
WR — Handke 31 field goal
