Bellevue dominates Wauseon, 42-14

BELLEVUE — The first half went about as well as it could have for Bellevue. The Redmen scored 42 points in the first half en route to their 42-14 rout of Wauseon at First National Bank Field at Bellevue Athletic Facility. Bellevue (2-0) was set up with good field position after Konner Dauch returned the game's opening kickoff 27 yards up to the Redmen 37-yard-line. The offense drove 63 yards in seven plays, scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run by Evan Bova, who the offense would ride throughout the first half. The key plays came on third-and-2 from the 45 when QB Ike Brown ran for 13 yards. Three plays later on second-and-9 from the Indians 24, Brown found Konner Dauch out in the right flat, and he rumbled for 21 yards to set up the score. Kicker Reid Claus' extra point — the first of six for him on the night — made it 7-0, and Bellevue never looked back. The Redmen defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, and Bellevue opened its second drive with the ball at the Wauseon 45. On second-and-5 from the 40, Brown found Caden Cramer out in the right flat off a bootleg, and he ran for 38 yards after making the catch. Three plays later, Nolan Hartman scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, and the PAT made it 14-0. The Indians (0-2) were forced into another three-and-out — they had five in the first half, including just one first down — and the Redmen marched 72 yards in 10 plays, scoring when Brown found Cramer on a 17-yard touchdown strike to push the lead to 21 points. Just one play before that on fourth-and-11 from the Wauseon 31, Brown found Mack Strause on an out route to the left, and he caught it just inside the sideline for a first down. Bellevue coach Alex Shepherd talked about his team's mindset heading into the game. "We just wanted to do what we do, what we're good at, and what we've been doing all summer and last week," he said. "We got better in practice this week and that helped." Brown had plenty of time to throw and Bova was able to run with some success. "The offensive line played well. We had a few miscues, and we'll see some things we have to clean up," Shepherd said. "They did what they had to do." The game was effectively put out of reach when Hartman blocked a punt on the next possession — which came on fourth-and-6 at the Indians 35 — recovering it at the 6 and coasting into the end zone to make it 28-0. On Bellevue's final possession of the first half, Brown hit Owen Hancock beautifully in stride from 34 yards out, finding the wide receiver in the end zone after eluding pressure and rolling to his right. On the Redmen's previous drive, Bova scored on an 11-yard touchdown run. Brown finished 10-of-16 for 167 yards and two touchdowns, Cramer caught five passes for 94 yards and a score while Bova ran 11 times for 42 yards and two touchdowns. "Brown can do a lot of things. He's smart, athletic, can throw the ball well," Shepherd said. "He does a good job of getting the ball out to our players in space. He's like a point guard distributing the ball to our playmakers. "Cramer is another good player. He blocks well, catches it well, and he's one of our best defensive players. He's a heck of a linebacker, and he's showing that he can do a lot for us." Wauseon 0 0 0 14 — 14Bellevue 21 21 0 0 — 42 B — Evan Bova 3 run (Reid Claus kick)B — Nolan Hartman 1 run (Claus kick)B — Ike Brown 17 pass to Caden Cramer (Claus kick)B — Hartman 6 punt return (Claus kick)B — Bova 11 run (Claus kick)B — Brown 34 pass to Owen Hancock (Claus kick) W — Kahle Albright 8 pass to Xzavier Molina (Collin Mennetti kick)W — Albright 3 pass to Logan Peaslee (Mennetti kick)