Shenandoah Zeps zap the Newcomerstown Trojans 48-8

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contributor | August 19, 2022

Heading into the 2022 tackle football season, both Newcomerstown and Shenandoah are hoping to shake off the 2021 season, where the two teams combined to go just 3-12 (Newcomerstown 1-5, Shenandoah 2-7). One of the Zips’ wins was a 28-7 victory over Newcomerstown. This season, Drew Pasteur’s prediction page had the home team, the Zeps, as a twenty-four-point favorite.

This was my first time going to Sarahsville and also my first time seeing Shenandoah play. I first want to give a big thanks to the guy who does statistics for the Zeps for the cold water and the roster of both teams, and the new superintendent at the school for thanking me for covering his school and the nice conversation that followed.

The large crowd had not been in their seats for long when runs of nineteen and twenty-four yards from Sam Townsend had given the home team a first and goal at the Newcomerstown one-yard line. From there, a fumble by Jacob Feldner was recovered by the Trojans. The Zeps’ defense made easy work of the Trojans’ offense, quickly getting the ball back to their hurry-up offense.

The Trojans would get a nice play from Carter McConnell, who got to Brenden Portman for a loss of five yards. At the 5:49 mark of the fast-paced first quarter, freshman quarterback Braxton Barnett was intercepted by Bunk Millender, who returned it for what appeared to be an 88-yard touchdown. After Hunter Amore converted the two-point conversion, the Trojans had an 8-0 lead.

From there, the Zeps appeared a little angry, and when all was said and done, their offense would amass 541 unofficial yards and score a total of forty-eight unanswered points to move to 1-0 on the season. Barnett would find Joel Rataiczak, who was wide open for a 45-yard touchdown to make this an 8-6 game with 5:06 left on the clock. With 2:43 showing on the scoreboard clock, Barnett scored on a fine thirty-three-yard score to put the Zeps up 12-6.

Barnett hit Portman nine seconds into the second quarter, who made the catch and did not stop running until he reached the endzone for the 64-yard touchdown, bringing the score to 18-8. The Zeps’ defense came up big after the Trojans got a nice pass from Millender to David Newkirk for what appeared to be a gain of thirty-four yards, but the ball was fumbled and recovered by the Zeps. From there, it took a little over a minute for the Zeps to score a goal. The score came on a fifty-eight-yard run by Landon Lively. Barnett found Miley Watson for the two-point conversion to make this a 26-8 game.

The Trojans, who tried multiple offensive sets, would get a nice twenty-two yards from McConnell. From there, the drive was quickly shut down, with the biggest play coming from Townsend, who got to Amore for a loss of two. Townsend would make an even bigger play on the offensive side of the ball with 4:11 left in the half, sprinting 70 yards down to the Trojans’ five-yard line. From there, after a little hiccup, the Zeps faced a fourth and ten from the Trojans’ twenty-five-yard line. Barnett calmly stepped back and found Hunter Yates for the touchdown to make this a 32-8 game. The Zeps had just six seniors on their roster, while the Trojans had just four. With both teams being so young, I expect both to struggle this season, but in a few years, one of these two schools could make a nice mark for itself.

The third quarter would see a nice twenty-six-yard run from Miley set up a twenty-one-yard touchdown run from Portman to make this a 40-8 game, with the clock showing 9:02 left. On the ensuing kickoff, the PAFOOTBALLNEWS HIT OF THE GAME came from Wesley Hunter, who creamed Dominic Singer. The Zeps’ defense again made quick work of the Trojans’ struggling offense to get the ball back to their offense. The offense had the ball on the Trojans’ twenty with Felder taking the handoff and going in for the last score of the game, making this a 48-8 game after the two-point conversion was successful.

UNOFFICIAL STATS

Trojans

52 plays

124 yards

Passing 4-6

ZEPS

53 plays

541 yards

13-19 passing, 5 TDs, 1 interception

For all of the pics

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