A fight to the finish went the Chieftains’ way.
Bellefontaine battled its way to a 23-21 win over Kenton Ridge on Friday night, making it a happy Homecoming celebration in Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail football.
The teams traded scores in the first quarter, then did so again in the early part of the second. A short run by Carter Caudill put the Chiefs back in front with five minutes to go in the half. The try for two was no good, leaving them up by six, 20-14.
It stayed that way until early in the fourth when the Cougars scored and went back up.
Bellefontaine powered its way down the field, getting a field goal by Kaiden Foulk with just over five minutes to go, then made a final defensive stop.
The Chieftains are 1-0 in league play and back even overall at 3-3.
“I’m so proud of our players for their grit, determination and their effort,” said Bellefontaine coach Jason Brown. “What an exciting high school football game this was, and it was back and forth. Our kids answered the bell every time, and when we needed to make plays tonight, we made them.”
Caudill had 29 carries for 182 yards with two touchdowns, coming from 3 and 4 yards out respectively.
Reign St. Clair completed 15 of 24 passes for 181 yards on the night.
Spencer Stolly had 10 catches for 100 yards, including a 52 yard touchdown reception.
For Kenton Ridge (0-1 CBC, 4-2 overall), Brody Runkle had 26 carries for 148 yards.
Julian Daniels was 10 of 15 for 148 yards. He was injured near the end of the third quarter. Bryndyn Parsons was 3 of 5 for 32 yards. Each had one pass picked off.
Bellefontaine received the opening kickoff. They got one first down, then faced fourth-and-short from their own 40. St. Clair’s pass was picked off by Xavier White of Kenton Ridge.
The Cougars started at their own 46, with a long completion to Caleb Hall, followed by a 10-yard toss to Aidan Pennington, then a catch and run by Hall for the final 17 yards with 8:38 to play in the first.
Bellefontaine started its second drive at the 20. After a few small gains, an 11-yard pass to Caudill got them near midfield. St. Clair then dropped back and fired deep over the middle to find Spencer Stolly 1-on-1 with a Cougars defender around the 10 yard line. Stolly made the grab and got across the goal line with 5:46 to play. Foulk’s PAT tied the score at 7.
The next Cougars drive was short, with Sutton Daring picking off a pass at midfield.
After being sacked to start the drive, St. Clair moved the chains with a 21-yard throw to Daring to reach the Cougars’ 33. From there, it was all the ground game with five runs by Caudill and one by Bryant Carter.
On the first play of the second, Caudill burst through for the score and Foulk’s kick made it 14-7.
The Cougars set up the 32 after the kickoff. They moved to midfield with a catch by Pennington. Runkle took it for seven, four and then another long run. A penalty for a chop block on Bellefontaine put KR at the 10.
Three runs left them at the 2. Daniel tossed a pop pass over to Brennan Shaffer with eight minutes left and the PAT got things square at 14.
St. Clair converted a third down early in the ensuing drive with a 15-yard throw to Patrick Stolly. After a solid run by Caudill and a flag on Kenton Ridge, St. Clair hit Spencer Stolly for 13 yards.
Kenton Ridge held on the next three plays, but the Chiefs kept it alive with a 13-yard pass to Spencer Stolly. Two plays later, Caudill went around the right end for a 4-yard score with 5:07 to go.
The team lined up for the PAT, but the Cougars were called for encroachment. On the conversion attempt, St. Clair was stopped short, leaving it at 20-14.
Kenton Ridge had it for four plays before a backwards pass was fumbled and recovered by Foulk.
Bellefontaine’s final drive of the first half was helped on a couple of occasions by big penalties on the Cougars. They would drive down to the 9 yard line, then St. Clair was stopped for a loss on fourth down.
The teams exchanged punts, the first ones of the game, to begin the third period.
Kenton Ridge started at its own 36. They moved the chains a couple of times and got into Chiefs territory, before another fumble on a pitch. The stalemate continued with another punt by Bellefontaine.
A few plays into the Cougars’ drive, Daniels was shaken up on a run and replaced by Parsons. He threw to Jamison King for eight yards, then Runkle pulled off a weaving run for 35 yards down to the Chiefs’ 21. The period ended with an 8-yard throw to Caleb Hall.
After changing ends, Bellefontaine made two stops. On fourth down, they came across early, giving Kenton Ridge new life. Three plays later, Parsons ran it in with 10:04 left in the contest. The point-after by Parker Leffel put the visitors ahead 21-20.
Caudill got things going with a 17-yard gain on the first play of the ensuing drive. He had a couple short runs, then a 15-yard gain to the KR 23, to move the sticks. A holding call on Kenton Ridge got them to the 11.
Caudill ran three more times. The last saw him suffer an injury. He was taken out and would not return to action.
The Chieftains sent in Foulk for the 24-yard field goal, and he drilled it with 5:19 on the clock.
A big return by the Cougars started them at their own 48, and Runkle gained 14 yards on first down. After another run, a holding call moved them back. Parsons connected with King for 16 yards and a first down at the 27.
Runkle ran three times for a total of 17 yards. Parsons then went for a pass, but Patrick Stolly grabbed it and got all the way to the 39 before being pulled down.
The Chieftains picked up one first down, then took a knee to run out the final seconds.
Brown praised the work of the coaches and the support from the fans. “I’m so grateful to our community for supporting us on Homecoming night. You know, we could feel their energy tonight, and it was a big change in momentum, and they got involved and really helped our team feed off what they were giving us.”
Bellefontaine will take on London next Friday at home.
