Crescent-News.com - Defiance defense dominates Wapakoneta

By TIM McDONOUGH
mcdonough@crescent-news.com
WAPAKONETA -- The Defiance defense came out hitting on Friday night on the road at Wapakoneta, as the Bulldogs limited the Redskins to just 54 yards of total offense in a dominating 35-9 Western Buckeye League victory.

The win keeps Defiance (3-0, 2-0) unbeaten on the season heading into a big league showdown on Friday at home against unbeaten St. Marys, while Wapakoneta falls to 1-2 overall and to 1-1 in the league.

"On tape they were scary offensively, but I think that's the first time we've played against that style of offense and played that well," commented Defiance head coach Jerry Buti. "What I liked is that we hit people. We had guys running to the football and making plays."

"The Defiance defense played solid, they were very aggressive and they tackled well tonight," stated Wapakoneta mentor Doug Zimmer. "Offensive, we didn't execute the way we wanted, we certainly didn't throw it the way we wanted to. If you can't throw the ball against Defiance, you're not going to have any success."

The Bulldogs set the tone on the first series of the game when defensive back Alex Nofziger picked off a Patrick Huffman pass intended for Josh Kelley at the 50 and returned it all the way to the Wapakoneta 16-yard line.
Just four plays later, workhorse running back Travis Spitnale was in the end zone on a 6-yard burst to give Defiance a 7-0 lead at the 9:29 mark of the first quarter.

"Defiance made us pay early with the turnover by executing what they do best," said Zimmer. "It was disappointing, I don't think we played the way we're capable of playing. But Defiance played well so give them credit."
Wapakoneta got on the board early in the second quarter, taking advantage of a blocked DHS punt by Kiel Hegemier to set up shop deep in Defiance territory. Unable to move the ball, Dan Dripps kicked a 22-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.

That was as close at the Redskins would get.

The Bulldogs marched down the field, capping off a 15-play drive (all runs) with Spitnale's second touchdown of the game on a fourth-down play at the Wapak five. Spitnale finished the game with 127 yards on 31 carries.
After stuffing the Wapak offense again, the visitors started another scoring drive with 3:36 to play before the half at their own 39. Mixing the running of Spitnale and the passing of Jordan Gonzales, the Bulldogs drove deep into Wapak territory.

With less than 1:30 to go at the Redskins' 23, Gonzales hooked up with Craig Gutman on a beautiful pass and catch, with Gutman laying out to make the catch before falling at the 1-yard line. Gonzales finished the drive with a QB keeper and the Bulldogs led 21-3 at that half.

"I thought the play that put the nail in the coffin was Gutman's catch right before half," said Buti. "That was a great catch, to me that was the play of the game."

Both Gonzales and Gutman were confident the play could work with Wapakoneta filling the box to try and stuff Spitnale.

Said Gonzales: "That play was big, especially before halftime. When we went to the line I looked at the coverage and I knew Craig would have a chance. I rolled out and put it up there, he made a great catch and good things came from it."

"Jordy came in and called the play and I immediately told him to look for me," said Gutman. "They were playing man and I knew I could beat the kid. I ran the route, there was contact, but I just kept my eyes on the ball and caught it. I thought I was in, but I guess not."

It was more of the same in the third quarter as Defiance limited Wapakoneta to just three total offensive plays, while adding 14 more points to the scoreboard.

Gonzales threw his first touchdown pass of the season on an 8-yard play to Nofziger to finish an 8-play drive with 7:23 to go in the third quarter, before Sean Murray came on to throw a 5-yard TD to Nofziger with 2:20 left in the quarter. At that point the Bulldogs led 35-3.

In all, Nofziger finished the game with three catches for 26 yards and two scores, while also picking off two passes on defense.
"It felt amazing to score and it felt amazing to make plays on defense," said Nofziger. "Our offense played well, our defense played well, it was just a complete win tonight."

Wapakoneta's lone highlight of the game on the ensuing kickoff when Jason Bartlett returned a kickoff 85-yards for the Redskins lone score. The PAT was off the mark, however, leaving Wapak behind 35-9.

Despite dominating, Defiance did leave Wapakoneta on a sad note. Sophomore quarterback Drew Small was injured on his only play of the game when he was tackled heading for the Wapakoneta sideline. Small injured his leg and had to be taken from the field by ambulance.

"There were two lowlights to game, Drew Small's injury and us giving up the kickoff return," said Buti. "But I thought our kids came to play and they'll need to have that same attitude this week against St. Marys."

"Give Defiance credit, they played well on both sides of the ball," concluded Zimmer. "We had one big play on the return, but we needed several big plays to beat them and we didn't get it done."

Defiance is home on Friday against St. Marys with first place in the WBL at stake, while Wapakoneta is home against Ottawa-Glandorf.

DEFIANCE WAPAK
First Downs 16 2
Rushing Yards 59-228 23-46
Passing Yards 76 8
Total Offense 304 54
Passes Attempted 12 15
Passes Completed 8 2
Had Intercepted 0 2
Fumbles 3 0
Fumbles Lost 1 0
Yards Penalized 4-30 3-25

Defiance 7 14 14 0 " 35
Wapakoneta 0 3 6 0 - 9

Defiance - Spitnale 6-yard run (Sebring kick).
Wapakoneta - Dripps 22-yard field goal.
Defiance - Spitnale 5-yard run (Call kick).
Defiance - Gonzales 1-yard run (Call kick).
Defiance - Nofziger 8-yard pass from Gonzales (Call kick).
Defiance - Nofziger 5-yard pass from Murray (Call kick).
Wapakoneta - Bartlett 85-yard kickoff return (kick failed).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Defiance - Spitnale 31-127; Gonzales 7-40; Perez 5-28; Sebring 4-15; Small 1-8; Gutman 1-4; Stuck 2-4; Call 5-3; Pritchett 3-(-1). Wapakoneta - Erb 9-16; Bartlett 3-14; Lawrence 3-10; Martin 6-3; Morey 1-2; Huffman 1-1.
PASSING: Defiance - Gonzales 6-10-65-1-0; Murray 2-2-11-1-0. Wapakoneta - Huffman 2-10-8-0-1; Martin 0-5-0-0-1.
RECEIVING: Defiance - Gutman 3-35; Nofziger 3-26; Spitnale 1-9; Ramos 1-6. Wapakoneta - Lotridge 1-6; Bartlett 1-2.