Records might get thrown out the window when Dayton and Bellevue meet in the “Battle for the Paddle”, but when a team has 15 seniors and won three straight in the series, the direction tends to lean that way.
The Greendevils used a lot of senior production Friday night for a 38-14 victory over the Tigers, winning their fourth straight in the most contested rivalry in the state.
Friday was the 150th meeting, the grounds crew at O.W. Davis Field reminding fans with a “1” in front of the 50 yard-lines in doing so.
“We have the advantage right now. I got older kids, I got 15 seniors. Next year I graduate kids, they come up. This game continues to be a battle forever and ever,” Greendevils coach Jesse Herbst said. “Ebbs and flows of small school football. I love this rivalry.”
In the end it was Dayton’s rushing attack that wore down Bellevue. The Greendevils finished with 251 yards on the ground. First it was Mason Johnson getting to the outside early and finding open space down the sideline. Then as the game wore on, D’Angelo Jimenez wore down the Tigers defense up the middle. When it wasn’t those two, quarterback Chad Nickell was tucking and running. The three tallied 222 of the rushing yards and accounted for all five touchdowns, Nickell with three, Jimenez with two.
“That’s our whole philosophy. We want to run the ball and run the ball and shorten the game. Long drives and keep our defense off the field. That’s Class A football,” Herbst said.
The final score wasn’t indicative of how tight this one was played. The Tigers had their chances in the second half, most notably when Jordan Pendleton returned a punt to the Greendevil 21. Trailing 14-8 and looking to either tie or take the lead, two false start penalties on fourth down proved crucial, Eric Iacobucci-Puchta picking a pass off and returning it to the Bellevue 43.
Three plays later it was Nickell finding the end zone from nine yards out.
“Big gamechangers. There’s always four or five plays that make a difference in a game and there’s one of them,” Herbst said.
What was Bellevue looking to make things 14-14 or 16-14, suddenly turned into a Dayton 22-8 edge.
“Typical hard-nosed, hard fought game. All I can ask of our kids, wrong end of the scoreboard and it sucks, but all I can ask is my kids played hard,” Tigers coach Chad Montgomery said.
The Tigers continued to stay in it, Landon Corley’s seven-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession making it a one-score game again at 22-14 with 11:19 to play.
But Dayton imposed their will with a 10-play, 58-yard drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock and finished with a Jimenez five-yard touchdown run up the middle.
The Greendevils tacked on another touchdown late on Nickell’s four-yard run, his third touchdown of the night. Nickell also recovered a punt block and walked into the end zone from a couple yards out in the first half. The Greendevils have now forced 17 turnovers in seven games.
Bellevue forced two turnovers of their own, their first score of the night coming on a 68-yard scoop and score by Ben Trimnell to tie things up at eight in the first.
“Defensively we made some adjustments, tried to make them run inside and started to clamp down,” Montgomery said. “We just fell down 16 in the fourth, had to get out of our offensive gameplan and that isn’t our brand of football.”
The Tigers finished with 132 total yards. They dropped to 3-4 on the season with Newport on tap Thursday. Dayton improved to 3-4, playing Newport Central Catholic at Covington Catholic, also on Thursday. The Thoroughbreds defeated Newport on Friday in the other Class A, 3rd District game, setting up the winner of the Dayton-NewCath game clinches a home playoff game.
GREENDEVILS 38, TIGERS 14
BELLEVUE — 8-0-0-6 — 14
DAYTON — 8-6-8-16 — 38
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(D) Jimenez 4-yard run (10:42) Johnson run
(B) Trimnell 68-yard fumble return (2:30) Pendleton run
2nd Quarter
(D) Nickell punt block recovery for TD (6:28) Run failed
3rd Quarter
(D) Nickell 9-yard run (3:36) Johnson run
4th Quarter
(B) Corley 7-yard run (11:19) Pass failed
(D) Jimenez 5-yard run (5:16) Johnson run
(D) Nickell 4-yard run (1:24) Simpson run
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Bellevue 36 (Woodyard 5/15), Dayton 14 (Nickell 1/4)
Rushing Yards: Bellevue 96 (Pendleton 13-41, Corley 9-34, Woodyard 12-21) Dayton 251 (Johnson 9-90, Jimenez 15-72, Nickell 8-60, Iacobucci-Puchta 3-15, Simpson 1-14)
Receiving: Bellevue (Sizemore 2-17, Dickerson 2-10, Pendleton 1-9) Dayton (Jimenez 1-14)
Turnovers: Bellevue 2, Dayton 2
Penalties: Bellevue 8-54, Dayton 11-86
Records: Bellevue (3-4, 0-1), Dayton (3-4, 1-0)