West Jeff avenges Grandview
By JEFF GATES
For The Madison Press
GRANDVIEW — Yard work.
In the fall, many people try to get things completed in their yards by taking care of any unsightly obstacles that may be in their path.
West Jefferson High School certainly got rid of some unneeded Grandview Heights defenders en route to a hard fought 35-17 victory over the host Bobcats Friday in what proved to be the final head-to-head clash as part of the Mid-State League Cardinal Division.
The Roughriders combined long, sustained drives on offense with a pivotal defensive stand in the second quarter as West Jeff battled both a strong Grandview squad (and some questionable calls by the officials) to gain the first league victory of the season.
“We are taking strides,” said West Jefferson coach Shawn Buescher. “We are getting better each and every week.”
The game’s most pivotal plays came midway through the second quarter. West Jeff held a 13-7 lead, but had the ball.
Roughriders quarterback Seth Casto threw a pass that was intercepted by Grandview’s Payton Jones, who brought the ball down to the six.
A key second down sack by West Jeff”s Corey Ginn and Denver Coburn was instrumental in holding the Bobcats to a 25-yard field goal by Leo Readey.
“It was big in the momentum of the game,” Buescher said of the ability of his team to hold Grandview out of the end zone with such a short field. “We took a lot of strides defensively tonight. We were able to adjust to their speed, and that was a big key for us.”
As most good teams do, the Roughriders rode the wave of momentum and put together a 10-play, 71-yard drive — highlighted by a pretty 44-yard pass down the right sideline to Love. West Jeff’s Jake Hatfield took it in from five yards out on a fourth-and-one play to culminate the impressive drive with a touchdown.
An offsides penalty on the Bobcats persuaded the Roughriders to go for two (compensating for an earlier errant extra point). Casto ran it in through the right side of the line for the conversion, giving West Jefferson a 21-10 lead, which they took into the half.
The Roughriders started the game in style as a deep interception by Love of a Nick Schopis pass kick-started West Jeff to picturesque 17-play, 96-yard drive where the majority of which was gained on the ground. It was only fitting that the TD stayed close to the ground as Casto took it in from a yard out.
Grandview took just 21 seconds to even it up as the Bobcats’ Jones returned the kickoff all the way for the tying touchdown.
Hatfield put West Jefferson up 13-7 with a four-yard run after just a four play drive. The Roughriders forced Grandview to punt on their next drive, followed by the Bobcat interception, and subsequent all-important goal line stand.
West Jefferson added a touchdown late in the third quarter as Casto connected with Love from 17 yards out.
The Bobcats added a long touchdown of their own early on in the final stanza.
Roughriders Logan Stepp scored a touchdown on a double reverse from five yards on a fourth down play with less than six minutes remaining to seal the victory for West Jefferson.
