“We messed up a lot,” Douglass said. “We blew a bunch of coverages and assignments in the defensive backfield and at linebacker. We weren’t as stout as we need to be. We’re going to have to be better in all aspects of that.”
Sherrod Lay Jr. returned the opening kickoff 50 yards to the Springboro 44, and Springfield quarterback Brent Upshaw scrambled 10 yards for a touchdown to cap the drive with 7:05 left in the first quarter.
After that, the defense did the rest for the Wildcats.
That began with Jackson Heims stripping Springboro quarterback Max Miller and Ty Thompson returning the fumble 69 yards for a touchdown later in the first quarter.
The Wildcats added a safety in the third quarter to go up 16-0, but the second half became a slog as neither team could sustain a drive and they traded punts in hard rain that came and went.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Springboro (4-2, 2-1) got on the board late in the third quarter when Miller found Jaxon Long in the end zone from five yards out. That was set up by a long punt return by Brayden Wilhite to the Springfield 9-yard line, the only way the Panthers got into scoring range all night.
“I thought we started off both halves really bad,” Springboro coach Ryan Wilhite said. “We let the opening kickoff go out past the 50 and gave them a short field to start, which we knew in conditions like that, that was gonna be really tough. And then we come out on the second half, and we mishandle the opening kick return and put them where they’ve got us pinned there. And I thought those were two pivotal possessions right there. One led to a touchdown and one led to a safety. So on a night when offense was gonna be tough, we gave them two short fields for scores really hurt us.”
Senior linebacker Kyron Dolby had nine tackles, including 2.5 for loss, to lead a Springfield defense that allowed 101 yards on 53 plays.
Aidan Weimer led Springboro with 11 tackles, including two for loss, and Springfield mustered only 147 total yards on 62 plays.
After the start of the game was delayed 15 minutes because of weather, the teams combined for 18 first downs and 16 punts, often struggling on both early and later downs.
The Panthers were 3 for 13 on third down while the Wildcats were 4 for 16.
Springfield will be home again next week when the Wildcats play host to Wayne.
“They played good defense,” said a frustrated Douglass. “They played good defense. We just didn’t block and run the ball like we’re supposed to. We didn’t throw the ball like we were supposed to throw it.”
At the same time, he preferred seeing his team improve to 3-0 rather than go into Week 7 with a 2-1 league mark.
“Oh we’re gonna take it,” Douglass said. “We’re thankful to be that, but we’ve got to get healthy, and we gotta play with more urgency.”
The Panthers will also be home in Week 7 when they take on Beavercreek.
“Proud of how our guys played,” Wilhite said. “Thought they came out here and they played hard all the way to the end, which was good to see. That’s the way this team’s been all year.
“You know you can play with everybody in the conference, but everybody knows they can play with you too, so it’s a battle every week. Like you and I talked about earlier in the week, the second half of season is probably gonna interesting in the GWOC. We’ve just gotta take it one at a time.”
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