James Brink ran the opening kickoff back and caught a touchdown pass, and Chase Even scored two late rushing touchdowns to help the Rams beat the Big Blue 38-20 at Virgil Schwarm Stadium.
“Unbelievable,” Badin coach Nick Yordy said. “The way the game started with the return, the kickoff — I think I fell down, I got the penalty. I was the one that fell down on the field, I was running so much.
“But the way the game started, and then offensively, we were scrambling. For our kids to just be resilient and battle through that — being down 14-10 at the half — we told them that we were in a ballgame. We were just one score away. We were fine. We just needed to go out there and play. They really did that in the second half.”
The Rams trailed 14-10 at halftime but rode the legs of Even and a resurgent offensive line to pull away late, spoiling Hamilton’s opener in front of a packed house.
Even finished with 92 yards on just two carries, breaking free for touchdown runs of 56 and 36 yards in the second half. Rocco Milazzo chipped in 46 yards and a score, while quarterback Colt Emerson went 4-of-7 for 89 yards through the air. Brink hauled in a 65-yard strike to set up another score.
Badin (1-0) ran for 182 yards overall but was outgained by Hamilton 338-271 in total offense. The Rams leaned on their offensive line after halftime despite injuries mounting.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“Unbelievable job,” Yordy said of his front five. “We had kids going down left and right all over the field. Hopefully our guys will feel better and heal. But we were scrambling. We were scrambling to get guys out there to make sure we run our offense. We did what we had to do. The O-line stepped up in the second half in a big way.”
Hamilton (0-1) got 227 yards on 22-of-33 passing from quarterback Jayden McClain. He connected on a 23-yard touchdown to Elijah Jones, which gave the Big Blue a 14-10 lead just before the half. Jones finished with 110 yards on 12 catches, while Jordan Bryant added 57 yards receiving.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
But the Big Blue sputtered late as the Rams’ defense forced McClain to throw a total of three interceptions.
“We’re an inexperienced team, and I’ll tell you, we’re better than what we showed tonight,” Hamilton coach Arvie Crouch said. “But special teams killed us. That started the whole trend, and we’ve got to get that fixed. There’s nobody who works special teams more than me, and it was just a letdown.”
Crouch admitted he was frustrated by Hamilton’s conditioning.
“I’ve got some young guys in there, mixed with some older guys with inexperience, and it really showed down the stretch,” Crouch said. “I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed at how bad of shape we were in. I thought we were in pretty damn good shape, and we had guys falling left and right with cramping and stuff like that. Just an embarrassing showing tonight.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The Rams leaned on their halftime adjustments and the motivation of senior leaders.
“We got out to a slow start, but we figured everything out at halftime and made some adjustments and got after it,” Badin senior lineman Pete Pendergest said. “We’ve been working for this since November, December. Our only focus has been Hamilton. Every film session. Every practice session. All the late days. It paid off.”
Badin outscored Hamilton 28-6 in the second half. Even’s explosive runs provided the final dagger.
“It felt good,” Pendergest said. “We need to get him more touches.”
Hamilton will look to regroup with a trip to Sycamore to start Greater Miami Conference play, while Badin travels to Dixie Heights in Kentucky.
“We’ve got some things to figure out — no doubt,” Yordy said. “But I think the fact that our kids just hung in there and battled — because it would have been really easy for them to just start getting down. They battled. They hung in there, man, and I’m so proud of them. They did an awesome job.”
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