Bellevue stomps Port Clinton, clinches share of Bay

BELLEVUE — Bellevue came to play. After being thumped at home by rival Tiffin Columbian a week ago, the Redmen started fast against Port Clinton on Friday. Bellevue racked up 32 carries for 270 yards rushing in the first half alone, topping the Redskins 42-7. "The biggest thing was the weather forced us into doing things a little differently than what we typically do," Bellevue coach Alex Shepherd said. "Our guys answered that call. Our running backs ran hard and our offensive line got things done up front. Hats off to our guys." The win clinches a share of the Northern Ohio Conference Bay Division title for the Redmen (6-3, 3-0 NOC Bay). They will have a chance to win it outright next week when they travel to Vermilion (7-2, 2-1). "Another really good team with us going up to Vermilion," Shepherd said. "It's going to be another battle. We have to have another good week of practice." Bellevue started fast on both sides of the ball. The Redmen forced a three-and-out defensively as the Port Clinton (7-2, 2-2) offense sputtered. It took Bellevue just three plays to score. Evan Bova went for four yards on first down before the Redmen picked up five yards on a fumbled that tumbled forward. On third down, Bova broke through the line and was off to races for a 54-yard touchdown. Zach Moses added the extra point and the Redmen were up 7-0 with 9:30 to go in the first quarter. Bellevue kept it up defensively on the next drive. After a short rush, Justin Bucher stepped in front of a Landon Leis pass and intercepted it. The Redmen took a little more time on their next drive. Bova, Landon Sartor, Thomas Reesman and quarterback Ike Brown took turns pounding away at the PC defense. In the end, Brown got four yards on 4th-and-3 for a fresh set of downs. On the next play, he went up the middle for an eight-yard touchdown. Moses made it 14-0 with 3:57 left in the first quarter. Bellevue continued to play stout defensively on the next drive. Port Clinton punted on 4th-and-29 and it was just a 15-yard punt. The Redmen got 11 yards from Bova on the first play of the next drive. He took the next handoff and went 30 yards for the score. Moses' extra point pushed the advantage to 21-0 with 55 seconds to go in the first quarter. "We wanted to start fast knowing that Port Clinton is a really good team," Shepherd said. "We did that and that's something we had preached all week. We had to start fast and keep it up all game long." Port Clinton got its lone score on its next drive. Facing 3rd-and-10 to start the second quarter, Cam Lanier lofted a pass to Christian Miller, who settled under the pass. Miller went 70 yards for the touchdown. Adam Fitt made the extra point to cut the deficit to 21-7. But, that did little to slow down Bellevue. The Redmen went 80 yards on 10 plays, capped on a 23-yard run by Bova and 20-yard touchdown scramble by Brown. That made it 28-7 with 7:01 remaining in the second quarter. Bellevue then forced a three-and-out defensively. Caden Cramer took the punt return 37 yards to the PC 16. It took just four plays to score as Cramer rumbled in from a yard out for the touchdown. Moses' extra point extended the lead to 35-7, a lead Bellevue took into halftime. Port Clinton only tallied two first downs in the first half. Bellevue was entering after a 35-21 home loss to Tiffin Columbian last week. "I think we've done that all year," Shepherd said. "We've dropped a couple and the next game we usually come back and respond. Our kids do a great job at flushing stuff and moving on." Bova added a third touchdown in the second half. After the teams exchange punts, Bellevue went 74 yards on eight plays. Bova capped the drive with a five-yard touchdown. Moses made the extra point for a 42-7 advantage with 3:34 left in the third quarter. "Evan is a great kid," Shepherd said. "He does things the right way. He's so deserving of everything that he does. His hard work paid off." The Redmen finished with 54 carries for 398 yards. Bellevue entered averaging just 163.1 yards per game on the ground. Bova had 16 rushes for 163 yards while Brown added 15 attempts for 124 yards. "We weren't happy with what we did last week or the result of that game," Shepherd said. "Our kids took practice very seriously this week. We fixed some things we needed to fix. They came out and did a good job." Port Clinton 0 7 0 0 — 7 Bellevue 21 14 7 0 — 42 B — Evan Bova 54 run (Zach Moses kick) B — Ike Brown 8 run (Moses kick) B — Bova 30 run (Moses kick) PC — Christian Miller 70 pass from Cam Lanier (Adam Fitt kick) B — Brown 20 run (Moses kick) B — Caden Cramer 1 run (Moses kick) B — Bova 5 run (Moses kick)