Badin blew out New Richmond in the first two quarters Friday to earn a running clock for most of the second half, and the backups closed out a 41-14 win in a Division III, Region 12 second-round playoff game at Hamilton’s Virgil M. Schwarm Stadium.
The top-ranked Rams (12-0), who built a 41-point lead in just over 14 minutes of play, now advance to meet Wapakoneta (11-1) on Nov. 11 at a neutral site to be determined. The Rams are two wins away from a return to the Final Four. Badin lost in the state final last year. Wapakoneta beat Bellbrook 29-0 on Friday.
“It was a big win for our team, and I think we let the region know what we’re about today,” Badin wide receiver Braedyn Moore said. “... Past few weeks we came out flat knowing we were gonna beat our opponents. But today (coach Yordy) told us come out with a little fire in our bellies, and I think we did that.”
Badin set the tone from the opening drive Friday when the Rams cruised down the field to get on the board with Carter Russo’s 3-yard touchdown. The defense followed suit, forcing punts on New Richmond’s first two drives before Dominic Pate intercepted A.J. Metzger’s pass on the Lions’ third drive.
By then, the Rams already had a 21-0 lead with help from a pair of Alex Ritzie touchdown passes to Moore – the second of which came on a short field following a pooched punt that went out of bounds around the New Richmond 30.
Pate’s interception set up a third touchdown for Moore, which he punched in from the 4 on a direct snap out of the Wildcat to make it a 27-0 lead with 2:08 left in the first quarter.
New Richmond punted, turned the ball over on downs and missed a 32-yard field goal on their final three drives of the half, but Badin didn’t slow down offensively. Russo added a second touchdown for himself, this time a 29-yard run, and Moore collected his fourth score of the night on a 31-yard pass from Ritzie to put the Rams ahead 41-0 with 9:48 left in the second quarter.
“We had a feeling that we may be able to outrun them in some areas and especially Braedyn and Carter, and once we got outside, they had a hard time keeping up with us and credit to our O-line,” Yordy said. “Our O-line has gotten better every week and to be at this point get to play another week, hey, we’ll take it.”
Badin changed quarterbacks after that, sending in sophomore Cooper Ollis, and the Rams started running the ball with freshman Lem Grayson and sophomore Cole Houston. They punted for the first time on their final drive of the first half.
The Lions finally started moving the ball on the Badin’s second- and third-string defense, and Metzger accounted for their first touchdown on a 5-yard run with 8:20 left in the third quarter. Metzger topped 3,000 yards for the season on the second to last drive.
New Richmond was nearing the red zone again early in the fourth quarter, but Grayson picked off a pass in the end zone with 8:42 left. The Lions got another chance after a stop on defense, and a trick play helped them earn a quick eight points when Trey Sininger took a reverse and completed a 24-yard pass to Cooper Tidball for the final points of the game.
Ritzie finished with 174 yards passing and three touchdowns with no interceptions, Russo had 105 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, and Moore had five catches for 84 yards and three touchdowns to go along with his one rushing score.
“First half was exactly what we wanted to do,” Yordy said. “We talked to the kids about coming out fast, getting off to a fast start, which we did, and I think our defense played great. Obviously, we had our backups in for the whole second half, so they got a couple of touchdowns and it is what it is. But there were some great efforts. Braedyn Moore, Carter Russo, these guys are just playing well right now. So we just gotta keep going.”
Division I, Region 4
Lakota West 35, Princeton 0: Mitch Bolden connected with Eudes Gonzales Jr. on a 9-yard touchdown strike along with rushing for a pair of scores to lead Lakota West.
Bolden finished with 84 passing yards and 84 rushing yards. Trent Lloyd also had a rushing TD and Tyler Bohn knocked through a pair of field goals.
Lakota West advances to face Elder.
Division III, Region 12
Western Brown 39, Monroe 36: The host Broncos (11-1) outscored the Hornets (7-5) 21-14 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.
It was Western Brown’s second win this season over Monroe. The Broncos beat the Hornets 65-51 in Week 2.
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