Beech powers Blue Devils into semis

BELLWOOD - Bellwood-Antis' Zach McCaulley had 1,201 yards rushing entering Friday night's District 6 Class A quarterfinal against Blacklick Valley, but Vikings coach Bill Zamboni was more worried about stopping fullback Tyler Beech.

"I thought going into the game 38 [Beech] was their toughest back," Zamboni said.

As it turned out, he was right. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound junior ran through and around Blacklick defenders en route to three touchdowns and 113 yards rushing to lift the second-seeded Blue Devils to a 34-14 win at Memorial Stadium.

"He's a very good runner," B-A coach John Hayes said. "He's got quick feet and a good burst. Once he gets through the hole, he's a pretty good runner in the open field. He's pretty strong too. He's got a lot of heart. He gives you everything he has both offensively and defensively."

"They blocked real good up front," Beech said, "and I could break it. And after 20 yards, everybody was still blocking. We just played real good."

McCaulley didn't do too badly either, running for 138 yards on 17 carries in three quarters as the 10-0 Devils amassed 409 total yards. Travis Taylor started at tailback in place of McCaulley, who spent the first quarter on the sideline because he missed some practice time.

"It's not a big thing," Hayes said. "He missed a couple minutes of practice, and our policy is to miss a quarter. As soon as the quarter was over, he did good."

"I knew they had all three backs that were very good," said Zamboni, whose seventh-seeded team finished at 8-3, "and a quarterback who threw the ball well."

The game was scoreless through the first quarter and into the second until the Devils went on a six-play, 73-yard drive that ended with quarterback Nate Plummer throwing a pretty 30-yard scoring strike to Trey Campbell in the back of the end zone with 6:20 left in the second.

"That was a secondary receiver," Hayes said. "We were just looking to get the first down. He was going to run, and as soon as he planted to run, he looked up and saw Trey all alone."

The Devils scored again on their next series with two big plays. On Danny Noye's 29-yard run to the BV 25, BV lost defensive end Eli Murphy, who was carted off the field with a dislocated ankle.

On the next play, Beech bolted through the left side of the line, sidestepped safety Tyler McEvoy at the 5 and scored with 2:06 left in the half.

On the first possession of the second half, Beech completed a seven-play, 65-yard drive by breaking tackles on his way to a 13-yard touchdown run. Plummer's PAT made the score 21-0.

A fumble by Brendan Julock, who ran for 109 yards on 19 carries, set B-A up at the BV 18. Three plays later, Beech carried three defenders into the end zone on a 9-yard touchdown run.

"I had a little push though," Beech said.

Ted Worthington scored BV's first touchdown on a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter. Julock scored the last one with three-tenths of a second left in the game on a 2-yard run. In between, McCaulley bolted for a 33-yard touchdown run with 2:56 left.

The Devils will get to scout tonight's game between third-seeded Portage and sixth-seeded Marion Center in preparation for next week's home semifinal.

"We're glad to move on," Hayes said. "These games are all tough, and that was a good football team."

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Blacklick Valley0 0 0 14 - 14

Bellwood-Antis0 14 13 7 - 34

Second quarter

BA-Campbell 30 pass from Plummer (Plummer kick), 6:20.

BA-Beech 25 run (Plummer kick), 2:06.

Third quarter

BA-Beech 13 run (Plummer kick), 9:20.

BA-Beech 9 run (kick failed), :35.

Fourth quarter

BV-Worthington 6 run (run failed), 9:07.

BA-Z. McCaulley 33 run (Plummer kick), 2:56.

BA-Julock 2 run (Stiles pass from Worthington), :0.3.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Blacklick Valley-Julock 19-109, Worthington 14-43, Manda 9-16, Stiles 3-13. Bellwood-Antis-Z. McCaulley 17-138, Beech 10-113, Noye 2-59, Taylor 7-42, B. McCaulley 1-3, Plummer 2-(-1), Shaw 1-(-4).

PASSING: Blacklick Valley-Manda 8-14-0-65. Bellwood-Antis-Plummer 4-9-1-59.

RECEIVING: Blacklick Valley-Julock 3-31, Worthington 2-24, Stiles 2-22, McEvoy 1-7. Bellwood-Antis-Campbell 2-35, Minori 2-24.

INTERCEPTIONS: Blacklick Valley-Worthington. Bellwood-Antis-none.

TEAM STATISTICSBVBA

First downs1219

Yards rushing45-18140-350

Passing (comp.-att.-int.)8-14-04-9-1

Yards passing6559

Total yards246409

Fumbles lost1-10-0

Penalties-yards3-312-12

Punts-avg.4-34.72-35.5