By DOUG DONNELLY
EDON, Ohio – Whiteford scored four unanswered touchdowns after falling behind 29-20 in the third quarter Friday to come from behind hand Edon their first loss, 50-29.
Caden Stewart had a tremendous fourth quarter, with three sacks and a blocked punt that helped turn the tide in Whiteford’s favor. Brek Ruddy set the school record for receiving yards in a game and Tre Eitniear threw for four touchdowns to lead the 4-2 Bobcats.
Whiteford (4-2) is alone in first place in the Great Lakes Conference with a 4-0 record. Edon (6-1) is in second place with a 3-1 mark.
Stewart took over the game on the defensive side in the fourth quarter as Whiteford’s defense, which gave up more than 330 yards passing to Edon quarterback Jaron Grove, began applying pressure. He had two sacks in one drive, which forced Edon into a fourth-and-21 situation from their own 13-yard line.
Grove took the snap on fourth down from the normal quarterback area, instead of punt formation, and Stewart raced in and blocked the punt, handing the Bobcats the ball at the Bomber 10-yard line. Two plays later, Eitniear scored to make it 42-29.
“No one even touched me,” Stewart said. “I just went in and blocked it.”
Stewart said he could tell the Bombers were wearing down by the fourth quarter.
“I knew I had to make a play for our team,” Stewart said. “After that first sack, I told myself, ‘Hey, I can do this,’ and I did it again the next play.”
It was the turning point in the game for the Bobcats, who had to comeback from deficits twice.
“Our defensive coordinator (Alex Lipka) did a great job of seeing some things and making adjustments,” Whiteford coach Todd Thieken said. “Those changes made their quarterback see some different things he was seeing early in the game, and he held the ball a little longer. That gave Stewart and our other end (Ryan Thomas) time to apply pressure. It was a big change.”
Stewart finished with three sacks — all in the fourth quarter. Thomas had two tackles for loss.
The game was one of big play after big play.
Whiteford started the game with a 81-yard kickoff return touchdown by George Thompson, who at first dropped the kickoff, but scooped it up and went right up the middle for a touchdown.
Edon came right back with a touchdown drive and tied the game 8-8.
Ruddy’s first touchdown catch from Eitniear covered 75 yards. He started spread out wide and came in motion and took a little flip pass from Eitniear, cut upfield and went the distance and Whiteford led 14-8.
Edon scored again before the quarter was over on a 55-yard pass from Grove to Lincoln Keiss and led 15-14 after the first quarter.
Mason Luzier caught a TD pass from Eitniear for the only scoring in the second quarter as the Bobcats went into halftime leading 20-15.
Edon didn’t take much time in regaining the lead. On the second play of the second half, Grove found Parker Moyer on a 48-yard pass and the Bombers went up 23-20. On their next possession Edon scored again to go up 29-20 with 8:12 left in the third quarter.
Whiteford took possession and marched 92 yards, capped off by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Eitniear to Maddox Diesing as Whiteford pulled within 29-28.
Ruddy’s 55-yard run to start the fourth quarter put Whiteford in front for good. He scored again late in the fourth quarter, again taking a shovel pass from Eitniear and covering 55 yards.
Ruddy finished with 161 yards rushing and 191 yards receiving, setting the single game Bobcat record for most receiving yards. Eitniear threw for 269 yards and rushed for another 63.
Whiteford 14 6 8 22 – 50
Edon 15 0 14 0 – 29
Scoring Summary
First quarter
W – George Thompson 81 kickoff return (Andy Trejo run), 11:48
E – Landon Reitzel 14 pass from Jaron Grove (Reitzel pass from Edon), 7:47
W – Brek Ruddy 75 pass from Tre Eitniear (run failed), 6:06
E – Lincoln Keiss 55 pass from Grove (Bonato kick), 1:54
Second Quarter
W – Mason Luzier 16 pass from Eitniear (run failed), 1:00
Third Quarter
E – Parker Moyer 48 pass from Grove (Kadin Stantz pass from Grove), 11:37
E – Reitzel 62 pass from Grove (run failed), 8:12
W – Maddox Diesing 30 pass from Eitniear (Ruddy run), 5:35
Fourth Quarter
W – Ruddy 55 run (Trejo run), 11:44
W – Eitniear 1 run (run failed), 8:52
W – Ruddy 55 pass from Eitniear (Austin Bauman pass from Eitniear), 7:29
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Whiteford: Brek Ruddy 22-161, Tre Eitniear 16-63, Elijah Vance 8-24, Hunter Massingill 2-4. Totals 48-252. Edon: Parker Moyer 3-1, Jaron Grove 12-(minus)-16. Totals 15-(minus)-15.
PASSING – Whiteford: Tre Eitniear 8-11-1 269 yards. Edon: Jaron Grove 25-41-1 333 yards.
RECEIVING – Whiteford: Brek Ruddy 4-191, Maddox Diesing 2-40, Mason Luzier 2-38. Edon: Lincoln Kiess 4-119, Kadin Stantz 6-96, Landen Reitzel 8-82, Corbin Chrisman 4-24, Parker Moyer 2-9, Gage Cisenros 1-3.
