SPENCERVILLE-It was week one of the high school football season at Memorial field on Friday night when the Spencerville Bearcats hosted the Ridgemont Golden Gophers. The Bearcats rallied from a 13-0 deficit to pick up the 29-19 victory.
“I don’t think the start of the game was part of the game plan,” said Spencerville head coach Kyle Koenig. “They popped us right from the start and it was kind of unexpected and that put us on our heels but I was proud of the way we responded tonight.”
Ridgemont had all the momentum in the first quarter as their first play of scrimmage went for an 82 yard touchdown run to put the Golden Gophers ahead 6-0 after the missed extra point.
The Golden Gophers then added once more as an 11 touchdown pass put the visitors ahead 13-0 in a blink of an eye.
Spencerville was able to get on the board toward the end of the quarter on a four yard touchdown run by Zach Looser and an offside penalty allowed the Bearcats to go for the two and converted to get Spencerville within 13-8.
The defense by both teams stiffened in the second quarter but that didn’t stop Grady Smith as the junior raced 92 yards through the heart of Hardin County to put the hosts up 15-13.
Spencerville started to experience some of the first week injuries such as stingers and cramps so it allowed the Bearcats to go deep on the bench in the third quarter. Freshman Kolten Grigsby was able to break through some tackles on his first career carry for a 21 yard touchdown to expand the lead to 22-13.
Ridgemont finally broke through the Bearcat defense on a one yard run but the two point try was unsuccessful and the lead stood at three at 22-19.
Spencerville stuck to their ground and pound rushing attack and was able to churn first downs and run nine minutes off the clock before Smith reached pay dirt for the second time of the night to put the Bearcats in the drivers seat at 29-19.
It was a balanced night for the Bearcats rushing attack as Looser finished with a team high 22 carries and 161 yards rushing with a touchdown while Smith finished with 14 carries and 131 yards and two touchdowns.
“We felt like with Trevor (Whitney) on the left side of the line that we would get a good push offensively,” said Koenig. “We really challenged the right side of the line to get going in the second half as they were starting to blitz people up the middle and we started going off tackle and had success with that.”
Spencerville improves to 1-0 on the season and will visit Wayne Trace next Friday night.
Box score
Ridgemont 13 – 0 – 0 – 6 – 19
Spencerville 8 – 7 – 7 – 7 – 29
Scoring recap
11:43 1st-Mason Howard 82 yard Touchdown run 6-0 Ridgemont
5:57 1st-8 yard pass from Connor Manns to Landon Eaton 13-0 Ridgemont
0:03 1st- 4 yard run by Zach Looser two point try good 13-8 Ridgemont
10:11 2nd- 92 yard run by Grady Smith extra point good 15-13 Spencerville
9:13 3rd-21 yard run by Kolten Grigsby extra point good 22-13 Spencerville
11:10 4th- 1 yard by Jevin Henderson two point conversion no good 22-19 Spencerville
2:01 4th- 2 yard run by Grady Smith extra point good 29-19 Spencerville
Total yards
Ridgemont 201
Spencerville 385
Turnovers
Ridgemont 1
Spencerville 1
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