Southern Buckeye’s Jonathan Hurley rushes for a touchdown in the Warriors’ Sept. 16 win over Peebles.

 

By Wade Linville – 

The Southern Buckeye Warriors upped their overall record on the season to 3-1 with Saturday’s 60-0 routing of the visiting Peebles Indians. It was a gridiron battle that saw the Warriors dominate on both ends of the field from start to finish, scoring on nearly every offensive play they ran in the first quarter of play while their defense hardly gave up any yardage to rise to a commanding 36-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game.
“I was real happy with our offensive line and our defensive line,” said Southern Buckeye head coach Chris Tomlin following the win over Peebles. “Our offensive line was firing out and making blocks, and our defensive line was doing its job.”
The Peebles Indians took the first possession of the night, being held to fourth down and long after Southern Buckeye linebacker Finn Tomlin took down a ballcarrier in the backfield.
Southern Buckeye’s T.J. Stivers returned the Peebles punt to the Indians’ 47-yard line, where the Warrior offense took the field for their first drive of the game.
It took only two plays for the Warrior offense to reach pay dirt. Southern Buckeye running back Jonathan Hurley took his first carry of the night for a gain of around 20 yards. In their second play of the drive, it was Hurley taking a carry of more than 25 yards to the end zone. With the successful two-point conversion attempt that followed Hurley’s touchdown, the Warriors held an 8-0 lead with 9:18 to go in the first quarter.
The Southern Buckeye special teams forced a fumble on the kick off the followed and made the recovery to bring the Warrior offense back on the field to start their next drive of the night on the Peebles 25-yard line. On their first play of the drive, it was Dylan Lainhart taking a carry behind some excellent blocking for a 25-yard touchdown to leave the Indians trailing 14-0 with 8:50 remaining in the first quarter.
After the Southern Buckeye defense was able to hold the Indian offense to a three-and-out, it was Stivers returning the Peebles’ punt more than 60 yards for a touchdown. Following the successful attempt for the two-point conversion, the Warriors led 22-0 with 6:31 left on the clock in the first quarter of play. Stivers’ touchdown return marked one of three by the Warriors’ special teams in Saturday’s win.
The Southern Buckeye defense was also able to put some points on the board, as Jaiden Alcalde came through with a pick six after snatching an interception around the Peebles’ 15-yard line and taking it to the end zone to lift the Warriors to a 30-0 lead with 5:11 to go in the first period.
At that point, both coaches agreed to allow the running-clock rule go into affect, a rule that doesn’t typically go into affect until the second half.
The Warriors were able to reach pay dirt once more in the first quarter, as Lainhart broke tackles and got some good blocks on his way to a 50-yard touchdown run, leaving the Indians trailing 36-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Hurley racked up more than 225 rushing yards in Saturday’s win with carries that included a 50-yard run, a 70-yard run, a 45-yard run, and a 60-yard run.
Exceptional performances on the offensive and defensive lines for the Warriors in Saturday’s win included those of Jansen McCord and Patrick Morris.
“They were firing on all cylinders,” Tomlin said of his Warriors’ performance in Saturday’s victory. “Hopefully we do it again on Friday against West Union.”
The Warriors will return to Koehler Field On Friday, Sept. 22 to host the West Union Dragons.