By Greg Keim
RENSSELAER — The Rensselaer Central Bombers played ball control in the second half on the way to a 35-0 win over the Fairfield Falcons in a Class 2A high school football regional championship game Friday night in Rensselaer.
The second and fourth quarters were the telling points for the Bombers as they tallied 21 points before halftime and added 14 more in the final stanza.
“The one thing we have said all year is that we are not very big up front,” Fairfield coach Bob Miller said. “Our kids played with heart, but we couldn’t match their physical play.”
The Bombers had big lines anchored on both side of the ball by 6-10 (310) junior Ben Davisson, who was surprisingly agile for his size.
“At times we stopped them on defense, but their running backs behind that big run was too much for us,” Miller said. “Rensselaer is a good team. You can’t take anything away from them.
“We are not big so we rely on our quickness. We just couldn’t get things going on offense. We had some chances, but we didn’t make the plays.”
The Bombers used a variety of formations in the first half to open a 21-0 lead over the Falcons.
Rensselaer began the game in an I formation, switched to the wishbone early in the second period before going to a shotgun spread for the rest of the first half.
Fairfield moved the ball in the first quarter. The Falcons took the opening kickoff and had a 10-play drive before being forced to punt. Fairfield drove to midfield before a sack by the Bombers moved the ball back to the F-44.
On their second possession, Fairfield took over at the R-44 and in eight plays moved the ball to the R-10. The Falcons were then called for a holding penalty which moved the ball back to the R-20. Following incomplete passes on third and fourth downs, Fairfield attempted a 37-yard field goal by junior Derek Vogelzang that was short.
The Bombers then scored on their next three possessions. Junior Colton Puevich had the first one at 9:40 on a 4-yard plunge. Junior quarterback Nick Green then tossed a 10-yard TD pass to junior tight end Brody Eagle at 3:50 and with senior Justin Bohannon on a 20-yard screen at 0:42.
Eagle kicked all three PATs.
Rensselaer controlled the ball in the second period, running 22 plays compared to eight for the Falcons.
The Fairfield defense was on the field quite a bit. Leading tacklers for the Falcons were senior Micah Noble 11, freshman Kyle Ostrander eight, junior Tanner Foust and sophomore Zach Newcomer both seven, junior Alex Hostetler five and senior Doug Beiler four.
Fairfield finishes 10-3 while Rensselaer Central, now 11-2, moves on to face Fort Wayne Luers in a Class 2A semistate game next week.
