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Physical Defiance pounds Van Wert 35-18

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By TIM McDONOUGH
mcdonough@crescent-news.com
VAN WERT -- Before the Bulldogs of Defiance hit the road to take on Van Wert in an important Western Buckeye League game for both squads, Defiance mentor Jerry Buti talked about how his team needed to be physical to win the ballgame.

On the flip side, Van Wert head coach Bob Priest talked about how his team had an opportunity to gain some respect for the Cougar program if it could beat Defiance, of course, starting by playing well up front.

Following a 35-18 win by Defiance (4-1, 3-1 WBL) over the Cougars (3-2, 3-1 WBL) in which the Bulldogs were the more physical team up front on both sides of the ball, Buti got what he was looking for, while Priest was left disappointed.

"I thought our offense was outstanding tonight, our offensive line did a great job of pushing people off the ball," said Buti. "Travis (Spitnale) ran well and he did a great job of making some big cuts for big yards. Defensively, once we figured out what they were doing, our kids did a good job. They're a good football team with a lot of speed and even when we were up, we never felt like we could relax."

Said Priest: "It comes down to this, our offensive and defensive lines didn't play well. Our coaches know this and our kids know this. Our program is going to be based on stopping the run and running the football, but tonight we didn't stop the run, we didn't play physical and we didn't fly to the football.

"Give credit to Defiance," continued Priest. "Their offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and their backs ran hard. Our offensive line didn't block anyone all night long. Every time we tried to throw we were pressured and to me that's very disappointing."

Leading 7-6 midway through the first quarter, Defiance took advantage of a short punt by Van Wert to take over the ball at the Cougar 37-yard line.

It was the passing game that put Defiance in front 14-6 when Jordan Gonzales finished off a 3-play drive with a perfect 16-yard scoring toss to Craig Gutman with 4:26 to play in the opening stanza.

Early in the second quarter after the Defiance defense stopped Van Wert on a fourth-down play, the Bulldogs went back to their bread and butter ... running the football. Wideout Alex Nofziger, lined up as a wing, finished off an 8-play drive by running 20 yards to paydirt to give the visitors a 21-6 lead.

"I thought our offensive coaches did a great job with the gameplan, we went into some different formations to try and get the ball to all of our athletes," said Buti. "That went well and Jordy (Gonzales) also threw the ball well. Overall I thought our offense was outstanding."

Defiance offensive lineman Dakota Westrick admitted following the win that a week of hard work in practice paid off for the Bulldogs.

"We hit the sleds a lot this week and worked hard on sustaining our blocks and it paid off," said Westrick. "We worked hard on coming off the ball quickly, staying low and tonight we pounded it right at them."

The Cougars cut the deficit to 21-12 when quarterback Tim Hoverman, who scored all three of Van Wert's TDs, found the end zone on a 9-yard run with 5:20 to go in the second quarter. But, Van Wert had opportunities to cut into the DHS lead, but the Bulldogs clamped down on defense.

Taking over at its own 48 with 1:27 to go before halftime following a Van Wert punt, Travis Spitnale took a Gonzales hand-off, broke through the middle of the defense, cut to the outside and out-raced the Cougars to the end zone for a 52-yard score. That gave DHS a 28-12 lead at the half, taking the winds out of Van Wert's sails.

"Once I got the ball, Sebring gave me a good block to seal off the linebacker and I got to the outside," said Spitnale who finished the game with 164 yards on 24 carries. I thought they were going to catch me, but I think two of their guys ran into each other."

In the second half, Defiance played ball control on offense because it was winning the battle up front, while defensively, the Bulldogs pinned their ears back and went after the Cougars. Defiance finished the game with eight sacks, three by end Jacob Moser, two by linebacker Max Peter and one each by Jacob Suman, Serge Mayeku and Mark Sebring.

Said Sebring: "We were able to get them in third-and-long situations and when that happened we just went after them. We blitzed and blitzed and usually someone got in there."

When the gun went off, Defiance won 35-18 and remained in the hunt for the WBL title. Meanwhile, Van Wert suffered just its first league loss, but lost what Priest said was a "great opportunity."

"This was an opportunity for us to elevate our program to another level and we didn't get the job done," concluded Priest.

Connor Massillo led Van Wert with 104 yards on 16 carries, while also catching one pass for 70 yards. Gutman finished with five catches for 64 yards and pair of scores, while Nofziger returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a TD.

Defiance is back in action on Friday on the road at Lima Shawnee in a pivotal game in the WBL.

Note: Before the game, Defiance presented Van Wert mentor Bob Priest a check for $2,000 for the Tyler Priest Fund. Tyler Priest is the son of Bob who was severly injured earlier this year in an accident.
Said Priest: "I want to thank the student council, the football team, the teachers and the community of Defiance personally for making a $2,000 donation to my son's fund. I can't tell you how much that is appreciated. I think it says a lot for the school and community and again, I want them to know how much we appreciate it."

DEFIANCE VAN WERT
First Downs 13 9
Rushing Yards 46-247 39-173
Passing Yards 76 89
Total Offense 399 262
Passes Attempted 8 7
Passes Completed 6 3
Had Intercepted 0 0
Fumbles 0 1
Fumbles Lost 0 0
Yards Penalized 3-25 2-10

Defiance 14 14 7 0 -- 35
Van Wert 6 6 0 6 -- 18

Defiance - Nofziger 85-yard kickoff return (Sebring kick).
Van Wert - Hoverman 35-yard run (kick failed).
Defiance - Gutman 16-yard pass from Gonzales (Sebring kick).
Defiance - Nofziger 20-yard run (Sebring kick).
Van Wert - Hoverman 9-yard run (pass failed).
Defiance - Spitnale 52-yard run (Sebring kick).
Defiance - Gutman 23-yard pass from Gonzales (Sebring kick).
Van Wert - Hoverman 1-yard run (pass failed).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Defiance - Spitnale 28-164; Sebring 6-44; Nofziger 3-31; Gutman 2-9; Gonzales 8-(-1). Van Wert - Massillo 16-104; Hoverman 19-53; Sites 3-14; Tindall 1-2.
PASSING: Defiance - Gonzales 5-7-0-71; Murray 1-1-0-5. Van Wert - Hoverman 3-7-0-89.
RECEIVING: Defiance - Gutman 5-64; Nofziger 1-19. Van Wert - Massillo 1-70; Williams 1-14; Tindall 1-5.