Garaway slips by Bellaire 21-14

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

David Burnworth | August 21, 2022

Yesterday I made another trip to Bellaire, Ohio to watch the Bellaire Big Reds take on an always tough Garaway team from Sugarcreek, Ohio. Bellaire has a new head coach, so we all were anticipating the old Bellaire explosive offense of yesterday led by their very talented senior quarterback, Jake Heatherington with big-time help from the speedy and talented senior wide receiver, RayRay Pettigrew. The Pirates, I have been told would feature a shutdown defense led by a host of very talented players.

Bellaire would get things started with two long passes, with the second one going to Terrin Fraizer who picked up twenty-eight yards to set up a short touchdown run from Heatherington. Heatherington then connected with Khali Kimbro for the two-point conversion t make this an 8-0 game, with 10:04 still showing on the clock.

With 1:01 left in the quarter, Pettigrew made a nice play recovering a fumble after Brady Roden had made a nice catch. Pettigrew at some point seemed to sustain what looked to be a leg or ankle injury and never really was able to show the explosiveness he had displayed earlier in the game and it appeared the offense was thrown off enough to make the rest of the day very tough adding any little advantage to the very, very tough Pirates defense would cause a migraine for any offense.

Logan Yoder, the senior quarterback for Garaway threw a crisp pass to Jenson Garber good for a gain of twenty yards all the way to the Big Reds nine-yard line. I spoke to Yoder after the game and told him I thought he played one of the smartest games I have ever watched a quarterback play and he said “thank you, sir”. I also asked him about his college plans and he basically said I am going to work right after school. I believe in working and I am a hard-working man. Whatever this young man decides to do for work, I would bet he will be a huge success.

The promising drive came to a close with Logan Edgar fumbling the ball and Payton Keller recovering it for Bellaire. Garaway seemed to want to run the ball but for the most part, the Big Reds defense would have nothing to do with that. I am not sure what the coaching staff for the Pirates picked up because not too long afterward they looked fantastic throwing the ball.

On third and fifteen, Bellaire would pick up the first down when Heatherington found Pettigrew for sixteen yards. This combo will cause the rest of the teams on the schedule major trouble if both stay healthy. The Pirates defense seemed to use the big third-down conversion against them as the slap in the face needed to wake them up. Brady Roden would pick off the Heatherington pass to get the Pirates offense back on the field.

The biggest hit of the game came after Jenson Garber made a catch with Brayden Roth crushing him after a five-yard pickup. Yoder would find Garber for a gain all the way down to the Bellaire twenty-five-yard line, with 5:29 left in the half. The Pirates would get their first touchdown when Yoder hit Alexander Roden for the seven-yard score. Jayce Wallick, who struggled somewhat during warmups came in and easily nailed the point after kick making this an 8-7 game.

Feeding off of the success of their offense the Pirates defense ended the half with the last big hit of the game when Wyatt Wallick nailed Joey Lewis, who pounced up after picking up five yards. The two teams combined unofficially to run 60 plays for a total of 281 yards. They combined to throw 21 passes completing 13 of them. The two things that stuck out the most to me in the half were the decision-making of Yoder and the hard-hitting from both defenses.

The third quarter started nicely with a seventeen-yard run from Dillon Soehnlen however it would be all defense for the most part up till the 4:49 mark where Heatherington found Pettigrew on fourth and eight for a gain all the way down to the Garaway seven-yard line. A little over a minute later again facing a fourth down Heatherington would find Terrin Frazier for the touchdown to make it a 14-7 game. Fraizer, I think would be a force on the offensive side of the thing if he gets the chance to be. The Bellaire defense would get the last big play of the quarter with Jakob Dowling getting to Soehnlen for a two-yard loss.

Yoder would feel some pressure at the 11:07 mark of the final frame after calmly trying to find a receiver he opted to run the ball where he would pick up thirteen yards all the way down to the Bellaire five-yard line. The drive would end at the one-yard line after a nice gang tackling by the Bellaire defense. Following the play, Garaway received two unsportsmanlike penalties giving the Big Reds the ball on the thirty-one-yard line much better for them than starting inside their own one.

At the 8:31 mark, Roth looked to have a big gain but holding was called on the play negating the big run where the offense was unable to recover. After the Bellaire punt, Yoder would find Alexander Roden, who had beat Khalil by seven yards for the sixty-yard score. Wallick’s point after kick was wide left and short leaving this a 14-13 game, with 4;50 left in the game.

The Pirates defense used a sack on Heatherington from Clayton Downs to force another Bellaire punt and allow the Garaway one final chance to pull off the big season-opening win. Yoder would find Alexander Roden, who again beat Kimbro for a gain all the way down to the two-yard line. From there Javan Hershberger plowed in for the score. The Pirates converted the two-point pass when Gabe Amicone beat Kimbro to get open to make this a 21-14 game which would also be our final score.

Two things I would look for next week from these two teams. First, from Garaway who faces Waynedale (1-0), I look for them to continue to build on their passing game and from Bellaire, who faces always tough Fort Frye (1-0) I believe you will see Kimbro look like a 100% different player. He has the talent to shake off his play from week one and become a force in the Bellaire secondary.

UNOFFICIAL STATS

Garaway

72 plays

355 yards

Passing, 17-27 3 touchdowns

Bellaire

61 plays

219 yards

Passing, 10-21 1 touchdown 1 Int

For all of the pics

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