MILLERSBURG – How’s this for a double dose of frustration?
First, the New Philadelphia football players, coaches and fans had to fight through the traffic jam through Amish Country on Rt. 39 on a late Friday afternoon in the fall to get to West Holmes for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
Next, the Knights were the opponent waiting on them.
Unbeaten West Holmes scored its first of eight touchdowns only four plays into the game and then kept pouring it on as the Knights ran away for a 60-7 triumph over the Quakers at Knights Stadium.
West Holmes is 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the OCC to clinch at least a share of the conference championship. The Knights will win the OCC title outright with a victory next week at Mount Vernon and will host a first-round playoff game in Division IV, Region 14.
The Quakers are 5-4 and finish their first season in the OCC at 4-3. New Phila hosts rival Dover next Friday at Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium and remains in the playoff hunt in Division III, Region 9.
On Friday, West Holmes made quick work of a New Philadelphia team that had given up only 84 points all season, and just 13 points in its last three games.
The Knights returned the opening kickoff to the New Philadelphia 43-yard line, then turned things over to dynamic junior running back Sam Williams-Dixon, who took only four plays to cover the remaining yards and scored on a 5-yard touchdown run barely a minute into the game.
Williams-Dixon, who is being recruited by several major college programs, added one more TD run and finished with 80 yards rushing on 13 carries, all in the first half.
But he wasn’t the only West Holmes weapon – far from it, in fact. The leading rusher for West Holmes was senior Elisha Baldridge, who had only five carries but piled up 106 yards and a score.
Senior quarterback Mason Wolfe completed 14 of 18 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns – two to Kyle Maltarich and one each to Logan Zollars and Kellen Keener. Zollars caught another TD pass from sophomore backup QB Morgan Smith and was one of two Knights with more than 100 yards receiving – he had 129 yards on six catches and Maltarich had 110 yards on five catches.
The Knights finished with 534 yards of total offense that included 339 yards passing and 195 rushing.
West Holmes led 39-7 at halftime and cruised to three more touchdowns in the second half played with under the running clock rule.
New Philadelphia rebounded a bit from its rocky start, getting a big sack on the second West Holmes possession that led to a missed field goal by the Knights. But a costly Quaker interception near the goal line by Maltarich that he returned to the West Holmes 37 turned even more damaging when Maltarich got behind the New Phila defense on the next play for a 63-yard touchdown pass and a 22-0 lead.
The Quakers’ lone bright spot came in the second quarter when senior wideout Dan DiDonato sneaked past a couple of West Holmes defenders and sophomore quarterback Keaton Fausel hit him in stride for a 57-yard catch-and-run TD.
Fausel completed eight of 18 passes for 126 yards and junior running back Etnie Richardson led the New Phila rushing attack with 75 yards on 20 rushes. New Philadelphia had 209 yards of total offense, but also had two costly fumbles that were converted into points by West Holmes.
New Phila also converted a first down when senior punter Kurtis Tetzloff found some running room on the right side and tucked the ball to keep a drive alive in the first half.
West Holmes is averaging more than 50 points a game this season.
Phone: 330-343-8615
Address: 525 West High Avenue, Suite 160, New Philadelphia
Email: cjones1973@roadrunner.com
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