MOUNT BLANCHARD - The Rams did all they could Friday, and got some help along the way.
Upper Sandusky slogged past North Central Conference foe Riverdale 14-0 and had the right teams win or lose to claim the eighth and final Region 14 playoff spot in Division IV.
The win, and combinations of wins and losses of other teams, sends the Rams to Columbus Bishop Hartley on Friday. It marks the first time Upper Sandusky will play in Week 11 since 2004.
"The only thing that comes to mind is Gomer Pyle: 'Surprise. Surprise. Surprise,'" Upper Sandusky coach Jake Moyer said when told of clinching a playoff berth.
He admits that he didn't think it was very likely.
"We thought with all the scenarios, there was nearly zero chance," Moyer said. "We took care of business and we kept getting messages on the way back from Riverdale that this came through and this came through and there was more hope and more hope the closer that we got Upper Sandusky. For all those scenarios to happen in the order they happened is incredible."
Fact Box
| Upper Sandusky 14, Riverdale 0 | ||||
| Upper Sandusky | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 — 14 |
| Riverdale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 — 0 |
| Second Quarter | ||||
| US — Brennen Miller 15 pass from Tylor Pritchard (Pritchard kick), 10:42 | ||||
| Fourth Quarter | ||||
| US — Will Adelsperger 14 run (Pritchard kick), 1:49 | ||||
| US | R | |||
| Rushes-yards | 40-227 | 34-56 | ||
| Passing yards | 66 | 31 | ||
| Comp-att-int | 8-18-0 | 3-10-1 | ||
| Punts-ave. | 3-12 | 3-17 | ||
| Individual Statistics | ||||
| RUSHING: Upper Sandusky — Adelsperger 20-115; Pritchard 18-81; Cole Crawford 1-31; Donald Barth 1-0. Riverdale — Josh Bushong 17-63; Dillion Farrow 11-(minus 28); Seth Knoll 4-11; Adam Fox 2-10. | ||||
| PASSING: Upper Sandusky — Pritchard 8-18-0-66. Riverdale — Farrow 5-10-1-31. | ||||
| RECEIVING: Upper Sandusky — Barth 4-33; Miller 3-30; Adelsperger 1-3. Riverdale — Tre Headington 4-26; Bushong 1-5. |
As far as the game goes, Moyer said Riverdale made it tough for that playoff goal to be realized.
"We had a chance to score early and go up. If we had scored early, we could have dominated," Moyer said. "Every time they play us, they play us hard. They hit and they block well and they come out firing on all cylinders then they play Upper Sandusky."
Tylor Pritchard put Upper Sandusky (7-3, 5-2 NCC) on the board with a 15-yard pass to Brennen Miller early in the second quarter, and Will Adelsperger iced the win with a 14-yard sprint with 1:49 left in the game.
Adelsperger finished with 20 carries for 115 yards, while Pritchard ran 18 times for 81 yards and went 8 of 18 passing for 66 yards.
Miller caught three passes for 30 yards, and Donald Barth hauled in four for another 33 yards.
Josh Bushong's 17 carries for 63 yards paced the Falcons (4-6, 3-4).
Rossford closes out FHS
ROSSFORD - Fostoria lost its top two quarterbacks to first-half injuries while Rossford's Ian Stolar scored four touchdowns Friday as the Bulldogs rolled up a 43-0 Northern Buckeye Conference win.
The loss closed out a winless season for Fostoria, while Rossford went 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the NBC.
The Bulldogs led 20-0 by the end of the first quarter, with Stolar's 10-yard starting the scoring spree.
He later added touchdown runs of 1 and 2 yards on his way to 89 yards rushing, and hauled in a 27-yard TD pass.
