The Arrows rushed for six touchdowns — four by Josiah Botello and two by Lucas Berner — en route to a 42-14 non-conference victory over host Carroll at Spoerl-Bartlett Field in Dayton. The game was twice delayed by lightning and didn’t start until after 8:30 p.m.
“We’ve got a good offensive line and our H-back Connor Bledsoe makes some big holes for our running backs,” said Arrows coach Chris Cory. “I’m proud of our kids. … That’s our style. Play good defense, play good special teams and control the clock on offense, just like the old Tecumseh. That’s what we used to do and that’s what we’re trying to get back to. It’s nothing fancy. We’re going to line up and run it.”
Tecumseh improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2014. They’ll host Bellbrook on Friday night at Spitzer Stadium.
The Patriots grabbed the momentum in the first quarter, intercepting the only pass the Arrows attempted all night on the first play of the game. A few minutes later, Carroll’s Ryan Chapman threw an 11-yard TD pass to Charlie Harlow to give the Patriots a 7-0 first quarter lead.
Two plays later, Berner scored on a 70-yard run to tie the game.
The Patriots countered with a 35-yard halfback pass from Harlow to Shemar Whitfield to give Carroll a 14-7 advantage.
From that point forward, the Arrows took the momentum and never let up.
Berner tied the score on a 7-yard run with 8:14 remaining in the first half.
After stopping their Patriots on fourth down, the Arrows drove down the field and scored on a 2-yard run by Botello with :54 seconds remaining to give the Arrows a 21-14 halftime lead.
Lucas Berner left the game with a leg injury in the second quarter and never returned. It’s unclear the extent of his injury, Cory said. As a two-way player, the Arrows will likely have to find two different players to fill his role.
“It’s a big loss,” he said. “Hopefully things come back OK and he’s alright. He had a great first half. I feel bad for him. He’s worked his rear end off.”
In the second half, Botello scored on runs of 2, 26 and 4 yards to give the Arrows a lead they would never relinquish. He was motivated to win the game for his cousin, Lucas Berner.
“Without the offensive line, I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” Botello said. “They gave me the biggest holes I’ve ever seen.”
The Arrows embrace the hard-nosed, physical style of play that’s been the foundation of their program for years, he said.
“We don’t do anything special,” Botello said. “We’ve got a lot of hard workers on the team. Our line may not be the biggest, but they’ll outwork anyone you’ll find. Power football, that’s Tecumseh football.”
Carroll was never able to get the Arrows running game off track. The Arrows didn’t punt in the game for the second straight week.
“Tecumseh is a wonderful team,” said Carroll coach Cody Byrd. “Coach Cory’s got them going. Hats off to him and the Arrows. They have a game plan. We told our boys, ‘You win the game if you get Tecumseh off schedule’. We weren’t able to get Tecumseh off schedule. They stayed on schedule all night. They were able to stick to their game plan.”
Carroll fell to 1-1 and will travel to Springfield Shawnee (0-2) in Week 3.
“We’ve got a tough one next week, but I believe in our kids,” Byrd said. “I really think they’re capable of really special things. We’ve got to find what we can do and we’ve got to be able to stick to it. I believe we’ve got the athletes to get some wins and we’re going to trust them to go do it.”
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