BUCYRUS - As schemes go, it was nothing fancy - use the run to set up the pass.
What it lacked in flash, it made up for in results.
Will Adelsperger ran 33 times for 255 yards while Tylor Pritchard threw for three scores and ran in another Friday to fuel Upper Sandusky's rain-soaked 34-21 North Central Conference win over Bucyrus.
"Weather conditions was a part of it (referring to Adelsperger's game). Now, it's a double-edged sword. Once Willy got running, our play-action passing game was there," Upper Sandusky coach Jake Moyer said after his Rams rolled up more than 480 yards of offense.
"It was huge, really, because it guaranteed our first winning since 2004. I think it's a great accomplishment for these kids. They've worked hard to get here," he said. "Our offensive line was tremendous."
And Adelsperger and Pritchard reaped the individual benefits, though it took a while.
Fact Box
| Lucas 32, Buckeye Central 16 | ||||
| Lucas | 7 | 12 | 6 | 7 — 32 |
| Buckeye Central | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 — 16 |
| First Quarter | ||||
| L — Nick Swainhart 2 run (Ruben Luna kick) | ||||
| Second Quarter | ||||
| L — Levi Harris 4 run (kick failed) | ||||
| L — Swainhart 37 run (kick failed) | ||||
| BC — Scott Heydinger 48 run (2pt conversion) | ||||
| Third Quarter | ||||
| L — Nick Swainhart 13 run (2pt conversion) | ||||
| Fourth Quarter | ||||
| L — Levi Harris 11 run (Luna kick) | ||||
| BC — Chad Trapp 6 run (2pt conversion) | ||||
| L | BC | |||
| First downs | 18 | 5 | ||
| Rushes-yards | 65-350 | 25-166 | ||
| Passing yards | 0 | 4 | ||
| Comp-Att-Int | 0-0-0 | 1-7-1 | ||
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Penalties-Yards | 1-5 | 2-15 | ||
| Individual statistics | ||||
| RUSHING Lucas — Swainhart 32-192. Buckeye Central — Michael Adkins 13-156. | ||||
| PASSING: Buckeye Central — Kameron Jones 1-7-1-4. | ||||
| RECEIVING: Buckeye Central — Jordan Herrnstein 1-4. | ||||
| Upper Sandusky 34, Bucyrus 21 | ||||
| Upper Sandusky | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 — 34 |
| Bucyrus | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 — 21 |
| First Quarter | ||||
| US — Donald Barth 48 pass from Tylor Pritchard (Pritchard kick), :39 | ||||
| Second Quarter | ||||
| B — Murtiff 1 run (Musick kick), 9:33 | ||||
| B — Zehring 6 run (Musick kick), 8:04 | ||||
| US — Brennen Miller 24 pass to Pritchard Pritchard kick), 2:12 | ||||
| Third Quarter | ||||
| US — Miller 12 pass from Pritchard (Pritchard kick), 7:00 | ||||
| Fourth Quarter | ||||
| US — Pritchard 38 run (Pritchard, kick), 5:42 | ||||
| US — Will Adelsperger 11 run (kick blocked), 2:01 | ||||
| B — Zehring 12 pass from Murtiff (Musick kick), :03 | ||||
| US | B | |||
| First Downs | 16 | 12 | ||
| Yards Rushing | 319 | 84 | ||
| Passing yards | 169 | 138 | ||
| Comp-att-int | 13-25-0 | 12-28-1 | ||
| Punts-ave. | 1-36 | 7-26.9 | ||
| Fumbles-lost | 2-2 | 1-0 | ||
| Penalties-yards | 8-65 | 2-25 | ||
| Individual statistics | ||||
| PASSING: Upper Sandusky — Pritchard 13-25-0-169. Bucyrus — Murtiff 12-28-1-138. | ||||
| RUSHING: Upper Sandusky — Adelsperger 33-255; Pritchard 8-63; Corey Frey 4-10; Tristen Reichelderfer 1-2. Bucyrus — Murtiff 14-46; Zehring 11-19; Purcell 4-19; Light 1-0. | ||||
| RECEIVING: Upper Sandusky — Barth 7-100; Rob Book 1-6; Miller 5-63. Bucyrus — Purcell 5-47; Patrick 3-51; Zehring 3-36; Light 1-4. | ||||
| Elmwood 14, Fostoria 6 | ||||
| Elmwood | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 — 14 |
| Fostoria | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 — 6 |
| First Quarter | ||||
| E — Aaron Arnold 12 pass from Zach Foster (kick failed), 10:12 | ||||
| E — Michael Smith 3 run (kick blocked), 9:46 | ||||
| Second Quarter | ||||
| F — Adonis Cousin 2 run (kick failed), 8:21 | ||||
| Third Quarter | ||||
| E — Safety (Anthony Dean fell on ball in end zone), 7:20 | ||||
| E | F | |||
| First Downs | 11 | 9 | ||
| Rushes-yards | 38-154 | 38-146 | ||
| Passing yards | 70 | 65 | ||
| Comp-att-int | 6-12-0 | 2-12-0 | ||
| Punts-ave. | 6-36.6 | 2-45 | ||
| Fumbles-lost | 3-1 | 9-2 | ||
| Penalties-yards | 6-45 | 5-35 | ||
| Individual Statistics | ||||
| RUSHING: Elmwood — Smith 17-103; Derick Mobus 6-15; TEAM 6-(minus 11); Ben Williams 3-20; Austin Isaacs 2-11; Foster 2-3; Sebastian Baxter 1-14; Austin Jaso 1-(minus 1). Fostoria — Keanu Crowe 13-128; Cousin 8-(minus 2); Dom Fuller 5-4; David Cook 1-(minus 7). | ||||
| PASSING: Elmwood — Foster 6-12-0-70. Fostoria — Cousin 2-12-0-65. | ||||
| RECEIVING: Elmwood — Arnold 2-32; Mobus 2-18; Michael Chapman 1-15; Baxter 1-5. Fostoria — Tony Mauricio 1-33; Crowe 1-32. |
The Rams (6-3, 4-2 NCC) snapped a scoreless tie on Pritchard's 48-yard toss to Donald Barth late in the opening quarter before Bucyrus countered with a pair of scores for a 14-7 lead.
But Pritchard hit Brennen Miller on a 24-yard play with 2:12 in the first half to tie tie things up.
The Rams rolled away from there.
Pritchard's 12-yard pass to Miller bumped the lead to 21-14 in the third quarter, and the quarterback and Adelsperger each added a TD run in the fourth - 38 yards for Pritchard and 11 for Adelsperger.
The Redmen (4-5, 2-4) scored their final points just before the game ended.
Pritchard ended 13 of 25 for 169 yards passing, and added 63 yards on the ground to go with Adelsperger's rushing total. Barth caught seven passes for 100 yards, and Miller hauled in five for 63 yards.
Royals wash out Fostoria's win bid
FOSTORIA - Special teams helped extend the lead and defense made sure it stuck Friday as Elmwood turned back winless Fostoria 14-6 in Northern Buckeye Conference play.
The Royals (4-5, 2-4 NBC) capped a game-opening, 74-yard drive with Zach Foster's 12-yard TD toss to Aaron Arnold for a 6-0 lead, then upped that to 12-0 just 26 seconds later.
Three quick incompletions brought out Fostoria's punt team, and a bad snap eluded punter Anthony Dean, who covered the ball at his own 3.
Michael Smith breezed in on the next play with 9:46 left in the opening period.
Elmwood halted the Redmen's ensuing drive on a fumble, then extended its own when a punt bounced into the leg of a Fostoria player.
The Redmen avoided the shutout on Adonis Cousin's 2-yard dive with 8:21 left in the second, and a 35-yard field goal attempt with 2:12 left in the half went awry when Cousin bobbled the snap.
The only score in the second half came on a Fostoria punting situation.
The snap again sailed past Dean, who tried to kick the ball out of the end zone, but saw it die after crossing the goal line. He then fell on it as the Royals converged on him.
A rain-soaked field led to Fostoria committing nine of the game's 12 fumbles, losing two of them.
A penalty with a little less than four minutes to play also proved costly.
The Redmen blocked a punt and recovered it behind the line of scrimmage, but a deadball personal foul backed them up to the Elmwood 49 with 4:51 left in the game.
A fumble and two sacks on the ensuing drive led the FHS giving the ball up on downs and Elmwood ran out the clock from there.
Swainhart-led Cubs drop Bucks
NEW WASHINGTON - Nick Swainhart ran for three touchdowns and 192 yards Friday as Lucas doubled up North Central Conference foe Buckeye Central 32-16.
Swainhart scored on runs of 2, 37 and 13 yards for the Colts, who led 19-0 at one point in the second quarter.
Levi Harris added an 11-yard run in the third quarter to push Lucas' lead to 32-8.
The Bucks got a 48-yard Scott Heydinger TD run, and a 6-yard scoring burst from Chad Trapp.
Michael Adkins added 13 carries for 156 yards for Buckeye Central.
