A pair of fumbles prevented them from putting the game away as soon as they could have, though, giving head coach Earl White plenty of teachable moments for a team with high hopes on the season.
“We made it hard,” White said as students celebrated around him. “We’ve got a lot of things to work on. When you have an opportunity to put games away, you gotta do a better job of finishing.”
CJ led 14-3 at the half thanks to a pair of long touchdown drives.
Aiden Lowery took a handoff inside right tackle and scampered 38 yards to put the Eagles on top with 2:46 left in the first half. That capped a CJ possession that began at the Eagles 16 and covered 84 yards in eight plays, all on the ground.
After forcing a punt, the Eagles got the ball back at their own 27 and put the double-wing offense back to work.
They marched 73 yards for a score, overcoming two false start penalties and a holding flag that wiped out a 32-yard touchdown pass.
Maddox-Ringer finished the drive with an 8-yard run on another inside handoff with 4:10 left in the second quarter.
The Eagles received the kickoff to start the second half and went right back to work, needing only six plays to find the end zone this time. Lowery finished the 71-yard march with a 3-yard touchdown run to put CJ up 21-3 with 9:31 left in the third quarter.
He finished with 157 yards on 15 carries while Maddox-Ringer ran 14 times for 106 yards in unofficial stats.
Miamisburg started the scoring with a 25-yard field goal by Reece Hammond that capped an 11-play, 61-yard drive on the first possession of the game.
The Vikings struggled to hold on through much of the second half, but they forced a late fumble then put together a fourth quarter touchdown drive with Landen Roberts connecting with Hunter Derr from 11 yards out with 1:02 left on the clock.
Their last hopes were snuffed out by Ringer recovering the ensuing onside kick.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Miamisburg head coach Lance Schneider said of opening the season against White’s unique offense. “And they had a lot of kids back from last year, and they’re a good team. Earl’s a great coach, and it’s one of the things that we kind of have some self-inflicted wounds right now we’ve got to deal with.
“When everybody buys in and does what they’re coached to do and takes care of the little things, we’ll be fine. But right now, we’re not doing that. And you know, we kind of got what we deserve tonight, but the season’s not over.
“We’ve got to take the positive things and build upon them.”
Miamisburg drove into Chaminade Julienne territory four times, but the Vikings turned the ball over on downs twice, and possessions are limited against a team that plays like the Eagles.
The Vikings, who went 8-4 and won a playoff game last season, will be back in action next week at home against Dublin Coffman.
“I think we got take a look at ourselves on both sides of the ball and see what we need to fix. And you know, it’s up to the seniors. What do they want to do this season?”
The Eagles, who were 7-5 last season and also advanced to the second round of the playoffs, leave the region each of the next two weeks. They will play at Cincinnati Taft next Friday then go to Columbus to take on Hartley in Week 3.
By all indications, those teams will know just how White’s team plans to attack them, but stopping the Eagles ground game is easier said than done.
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