London seniors Noah Sollars and June Turner each rushed for touchdowns as the Red Raiders won their first regional championship in 30 years.
Bellbrook, which lost to Hamilton Badin in its last regional final appearance in 2021, was shut out for the first time all season and was held to less than 100 yards of total offense.
“They were very fast, very athletic, swarmed to the ball,” said Bellbrook coach Jeff Jenkins. “We put a couple nice little drives together, but we kind of killed ourselves with penalties and mistakes and got behind the chains. We’re not a real good offense when we’re playing from third-and-12.”
Bellbrook forced London to punt on its opening possession, but the Red Raiders pinned the Eagles deep in their own territory. After going three-and-out, they were forced to punt into the wind, giving London a short field inside Bellbrook’s 30-yard line.
A few plays later, Sollars scored on a 1-yard run to make it 7-0.
In the second quarter, the Eagles drove the ball to midfield and attempted a fake punt, but senior Riley Ferrin was pushed out of bounds a yard short. London drove into the Bellbrook red zone, but they weren’t able to score and took a 7-0 lead into the half.
“I just felt that once we started moving the ball, we started shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit,” Jenkins said. “We couldn’t get those long drives to get it into scoring position. I felt like if we would’ve scored when we were down 7, it would’ve kind of flipped the script for us, but it just didn’t happen. The momentum stayed in London’s favor.”
With about nine minutes remaining in the game, Turner broke loose for a 43-yard gain to give the Red Raiders first-and-goal from the 5. A few plays later, he scored from 10 yards out to make it 13-0.
On its next possession, Bellbrook drove into London’s red zone for the first time, but Turner intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the threat with less than four minutes remaining. The Red Raiders were able to run the clock out to seal the victory.
The game was played in blustery conditions with winds up to 20 miles per hour.
“I didn’t feel like the conditions had a great impact on the game,” Jenkins said. “They executed pretty well. It may have made an impact on the score on both sides. We knew this was going to be a slugfest and a heavy run game on both sides. We got behind so we had to get more into the passing offense to make up those points and it just didn’t work in our favor.”
London (14-0) advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 1994. The Red Raiders will face Columbus Bishop Watterson (14-0) in a D-III state semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29, at a site to be determined. Bishop Watterson beat Steubenville 37-7 in the Region 11 final.
Bellbrook, seeking its first state semifinal appearance in school history, finished the season 12-2. The Eagles had won 12 straight games since falling to Tippecanoe 28-7 in Week 1.
“I’m incredibly proud of them,” Jenkins said. “12 wins is the most wins in Bellbrook school history in 60 years. They definitely took a step forward with the program. We’re disappointed in the outcome tonight, we felt like we could’ve done quite a bit better, but all credit to London. They’ve got a great team. They’re 14-0 and well-deserving to be the regional champs.”
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