Springfield recovered four fumbles in the first half on its way to a 50-0 halftime lead.
“You’ve got to take advantage of it,” said Wildcats coach Maurice Douglass. “That’s one thing about (Beavercreek’s triple option offense). If you can jump out on them and make them play from behind, they may have to do things they don’t want to do. I’m just happy we were able to get off to a good start today.”
Junior Sherrod Lay, Jr. returned a punt 73 yards for a TD and caught a 22-yard TD pass from senior Brent Upshaw, Jr. as Springfield improved to 5-3 and 4-1 in the GWOC.
Upshaw also connected on an 11-yard TD pass to senior Zy’Aire Fletcher, freshman Amelio Novell scored on a 3-yard TD run and junior Nate Hudson hit a 33-yard field goal as the Wildcats beat Beavercreek for the ninth straight season.
“The guys did what they were supposed to,” Douglass said. “They took advantage of the opportunities we were given today. We wanted to create some turnovers and the one thing about this type of offense is that there’s opportunities for the ball to be placed on the ground. We were able to get some turnovers and give our offense short field position and get the victory.”
Beavercreek sophomore Calvin Svoboda scored on a 22-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Beavers fell to 3-5 and 1-4 in the GWOC.
“(Coach Douglass) has a good tradition rolling over there and we’re trying to build our tradition,” said Beavercreek coach Trace Smitherman. “Our coaches are working their butts off to get us where we need to be. We’re not there yet, but we’re seeing some good things. Obviously, there’s some things we need to get fixed and get tightened up. We can’t give up as many points as we’re giving up. We’ve got to score the ball more. All good things are on the horizon.”
Long rushed for a game-high 73 yards on nine carries. He scored on runs of 6, 11, 4 and 7 yards — all in the first half.
“I appreciate my line for stepping up this game and the coaches for trusting me and giving me the ball more,” Long said. “The defense really helped us a lot, giving us good field position and giving us opportunities to score and punch it in the end zone.”
Midway through the first quarter, Lay scored on a punt return to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead. It was his third return touchdown of the year. Two other return TDs were called back due to penalties.
“It wouldn’t happen without the blocking,” Lay said. “It’s really about executing and hitting the holes.”
Beavercreek already has three wins this season, the program’s best win total since 2017. The Beavers also snapped a 39-game GWOC losing streak earlier this season with a 19-10 win over Miamisburg. They travel to Wayne next week.
“We’re playing a lot of young guys and they’re learning how to play.” Smitherman said. “It’s commitment. We’ve got to do the work, get after it and hopefully we’ll be someone to be reckoned with here as we continue to grow.”
The Wildcats host Fairmont (6-2, 4-1) in a battle of first-place teams next week at Springfield High School. They’ll face a similar option offense against the Firebirds next week.
“We’re just going to try to (play defense) a lot better because we had a lot of different guys in there today, trying to figure out some pieces to the puzzle,” Douglass said.
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