The visiting Red Raiders rolled up 367 rushing yards en route to a 43-3 win in a Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail division football game at AcuSport Stadium.
London (8-1, 3-1) was coming off a loss to Springfield Shawnee. The Red Raiders took out their frustration on the Chiefs with a punishing ground attack and a stout defense.
“They were winning all of the battles up front,” said Bellefontaine head coach Toby Smith. “Tip your hat to them. They played a great football game. We did not, and it showed on the scoreboard.”
Bellefontaine (5-4, 1-3) was limited to 195 yards of offense.
“I am proud of our guys,” said London head coach Kyle Cutler. “This is a good Bellefontaine team. They are a playoff caliber football team. When we execute, we can be a pretty good team.”
While the final score did not end up being close, the Chiefs trailed just 6-3 with less than four minutes to play in the first half.
After the Red Raiders took a 6-0 lead on a 4-yard TD run by Caleb Sollars at the 3:35 mark of the first quarter, Bellefontaine cut its deficit in half with a 32-yard field goal by Nate Hecker with 4:29 left in the second period.
London closed the first half with a flurry, finding the end zone twice in a span of 23 seconds.
On the ensuing series after the Bellefontaine field goal, the Red Raiders’ Xavier Manville got loose for a 51-yard touchdown sprint that gave the visitors a 13-3 lead.
Bellefontaine then fumbled while returning the kickoff, with the Red Raiders recovering at the BHS 30-yard line.
After an incomplete pass on first down, London quarterback Juane Gardner sliced through the Chieftain defense for a 32-yard touchdown run. That increased the London lead to 20-3 with 2:07 left until halftime.
“We were trying to hang on to get to halftime,” said Smith. “We were getting out-physicaled and then we had an untimely turnover that allowed things to get away from us a little before halftime.”
The Red Raiders picked up in the second half where they left off at halftime.
On the first offensive series of the third quarter, London drove 63 yards on four plays. Sollars finished off the drive with a 3-yard yard scoring plunge to make the score 26-3.
London pushed its lead to 33-3 on a 66-yard TD run by Manville with 5:57 remaining in the third period.
Hayden Vasey gave London a 40-3 advantage with a 30-yard TD run late in the third quarter.
London rounded out the scoring on a 28-yard field goal by Seth Best with 2:41 remaining in the game.
Bellefontaine rushed for 112 yards on 38 carries. Garrett Gross mustered 57 yards on 13 carries, Brandon Hayes had 29 yards on nine rushes and Grant Smith added 26 yards on 16 attempts.
Smith was 7-of-16 passing for 83 yards. Ethan Moore was the Chiefs’ leading receiver with 54 yards on three catches.
Sollars led London with 135 rushing yards on 12 carries and Manville contributed 122 rushing yards on just four attempts.
Bellefontaine will wrap up the season Friday at Tecumseh.