Brown, Hartman lead Bellevue past Huron

BELLEVUE — Bellevue needed a win. After tough losses to Perkins and Edison the last two weeks, the Redmen face Tiffin Columbian and a surging Port Clinton team the next two weeks. Friday at home against Huron, Bellevue got three touchdowns from Ike Brown and a huge rushing night from Nolan Hartman to defeat Huron 28-14 in Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division action. "It's a big conference game," Bellevue coach Alex Shepherd said. "We started off 0-1. Our goal is to win it. We needed this one to keep that a reality. Now we need a little bit of help, but it's a step in the right direction. It's a good game to win." Brown scored on runs of 4 and 15 yards for Bellevue (4-3, 1-1 SBC Bay). He added a 9-yard touchdown pass to Caden Cramer to seal the win in the fourth quarter. Brown wisely wasted clock away on all three possessions the Redmen had in the fourth quarter. "He's a smart kid, a good kid and an athlete," said Shepherd of Brown. "He made enough plays for us. He took care of the ball and that's something we've been working on since we got here." Bellevue had to focus closely on Huron (3-4, 1-1) quarterback Landon Hohler. The explosive senior dropped a dime to Carter Sas for a 31-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to tie the game at 7. Hohler finished 22 of 43 for 185 yards. He ran nine times for 21 yards. "Landon is great," Shepherd said. "He can run the ball and he can sling it. He's a really good player on offense and on defense. We had to limit the big plays and we did that." Bellevue led 14-7 at halftime, but the Tigers evened the game early in the third quarter. Hohler completed all four passes he threw on the drive before Hayden Wilson's 12-yard run to the 1. Wilson covered that distance on the next play and Carter Brennan added the extra point to tie the game at 14 with 7:51 left in the third quarter. "We haven't always played the best second half," Huron coach Sam Hohler said. "We thought we were in a good spot there." The teams exchanged punts, but Bellevue got a huge return on the Huron punt to set up a short field. Jamauri Roberts returned the Tigers' punt 54 yards to the Huron 20. After a 12-yard pass from Brown to Cramer, Hartman went for seven yards and Billy Sberna scored on a one-yard run. Reid Claus' extra point pushed Bellevue up 21-14 with 1:09 left to go in the third. "He's a sophomore, so he's still learning how to be a varsity football player," said Shepherd of Roberts. "He's got a lot of potential. He's a great kid, too." Huron punted on its next drive after a first down and Bellevue took advantage. The Redmen guzzled five minutes off the clock using a heavy dose of Hartman. Once inside the 10, Brown found Cramer over the middle for a nine-yard touchdown. Claus pushed it to 28-14 with 5:30 to play. "We wore down," Hohler said. "Bellevue had some long drives in the first half. Defensively, we slowed them down a couple times, but we didn't do a good enough job. In the second half, we wore down. That's been our thing this year. We can't seem to finish games." Huron had a pair of turnovers on downs the rest of the way. The Tigers didn't have a first down on either drive, tallying just one first down in the fourth quarter. Huron hosts Vermilion next week. "At this point, we're pretty banged up," Hohler said. "We have a couple guys injured, but I think everybody does at this point of the season. We'll rally and regroup and we have a big game next week with Vermilion. It's Senior Night, so I'm sure the guys will be ready." Brown was 15 of 23 for 141 yards passing while running 11 times for 56 yards. "Ike hit some big plays here and there with his feet," Hohler said. "He made some really good decisions. They had a couple of nice play-action passes that caught us off guard a little bit. He did an awesome job of managing the game. He did enough offensively so they could get a few more points than us." Hartman finished with 20 carries for 117 yards. "Nolan is a captain and a great kid," Shepherd said. "He was on the homecoming court tonight. He's a do-it-all kid. I wish he was around for a couple more years, but I'm going to enjoy him while he's here." Huron 7 0 7 0 — 14Bellevue 7 7 7 7 — 28 B — Ike Brown 4 run (Reid Claus kick)H — Carter Sas 31 pass from Landon Hohler (Carter Brennan kick)B — Brown 15 run (Claus kick)H — Hayden Wilson 1 run (Brennan kick)B — Billy Sberna 1 run (Claus kick)B — Caden Cramer 9 pass from Brown (Claus kick)