Tyler Ray's huge game leads Bellevue past Port Clinton

BELLEVUE — Bellevue's running game was struggling. Its inexperienced offensive line got off to a slow start. The Redmen needed senior receiver Tyler Ray, and he more than delivered. "Ty made some outstanding plays," Bellevue coach Ed Nasonti said. "He's such a competitor, and you get in a situation like that, our focus was on getting him the ball. He's such a tough kid to stop." Ray finished with nine catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed a 37-yard pass and threw a 2-point conversion. That led Bellevue (1-0) to a 24-14 season-opening win over Port Clinton (0-1) on Friday night. "I'm thrilled," Nasonti said. "That was a nice win over a final four team from last year." These teams met in Week 1 a year ago, too, and Port Clinton won a wild 49-44 contest. Lots changed since then. Bellevue entered the 2021 playoffs as a No. 1 seed but was upset by 16-seed Edison. PC put together its best season ever, reaching the state semifinal after making it out of that same Division IV regional. And while both squads returned their starting quarterbacks — Deegan Horn for Bellevue and Cam Gillum for Port Clinton — they were replacing the majority of their starting lineups. Even more new was on hand, too, with Port Clinton head coach Eric Leuthold taking charge of a varsity game for the first time after replacing Beau Carmon. That provided quite the contrast from Ed Nasonti, who began his 32nd season leading Bellevue (246-97 record entering season). So while the hype around Friday's matchup may have had a lot to do with last season's showdown, returning QBs and how both groups ended their 2021 campaigns, none of that would necessarily be predictive of Friday night's result. There was plenty to be learned. "They have a nice core of guys back," Nasonti said. "They're a veteran team." For all but a few moments, Friday's first half was a field position game, and Port Clinton held more control in that regard than teams often do against Bellevue. The Redmen ran 13 times in the first half. They lost 11 yards total across those carries. PC's Adam Thorbahn, Ethan Ranzenberger and Samari Smith were living in the backfield, allowing linebackers to clean up whenever Bellevue got any space at all. "They're tough up front," Nasonti said of PC. "They're big and hard to move on." PC scored first, too. One of their three-and-outs to start the game gave the Redskins the ball at the Bellevue 40-yard line. A couple plays later, junior running back Dagan Meyers took a shotgun handoff up the middle. He cut to the right, then back to the left to beat one linebacker. After that, it was just a race up the center of the field to the end zone, and Meyers won on a 32-yard score. "He was a bulldozer," Ray said of Meyers. Bellevue wasn't going to match PC in the first half by running, so they went into the deeper parts of their playbook. Backed up inside their own 5, Bellevue's Deegan Horn threw a deep ball down the left sideline, and Tyler Ray went up and snatched it above two defenders. "I knew Deegs was gonna put it in a spot," Ray said. "... I knew he was gonna get it to me. It was a great ball, a 50-50 ball that I went up and got." The Redmen then had Ray get the ball on a sweep and throw a pass himself. Bellevue's baseball catcher delivered a 37-yard completion to Ashton Martin. "That was a blast," Ray said. "I love things like that." Ray capped the drive in style, snatching a 12-yard touchdown from Horn in the left corner of the end zone, then turning around to throw the 2-point conversion to Horn for the 8-7 halftime edge. "We fired every bullet we had," Ray said, "and I love playing like that. If we keep firing like that, we're gonna be a nasty team... We repped those things all week and it paid off." Port Clinton could've scored late in the first half, but Bellevue senior cornerback Caleb Stover diagnosed a screen pass and dove in front of it on the flank, nearly intercepting it on third down but at least forcing a punt. PC scored on its first drive out of the half, though. The Redskins ran seven consecutive times as Meyers and Gillum pounded the rock, before a pair of completions to Adam Thorbahn got the ball in deep. Gillum capped the drive with a 3-yard TD run. Bellevue didn't allow Port Clinton to score again. "We told the kids at halftime, just hang in there, hang in there, keep swinging and good things will happen," Nasonti said. "... We just tried to mix up our defenses a little bit." The Redmen took the lead back by finally discovering their running game. Horn's hamstring tightened up, so Jax LaPata took over QB duties and ran in a three-yard TD. Horn threw a two-pointer to Brody Horn to take the lead, 16-14. LaPata helped ice the game later on with more rushes, including a sequence of 8-, 14- and 6-yard runs in succession to get just outside the red zone. "Our O-line got their stuff together in the second half and saved the day being able to push the ball," Ray said. Then, LaPata he lofted a pass to Ray down the right sideline that the senior converted for a 21-yard score. "We were able to wear them down a little bit at the end," Nasonti said. Bellevue's defense held from there, with a Mac Bauer sack icing the game to give the Redmen a Week 1 victory. Ray was all smiles afterward, as things felt a lot different Friday night than they had a year ago at the conclusion of Bellevue's opener. "The feeling in that locker room right now is unmatched," Ray said. "It's really emotional, because we're close with the guys that graduated last year and they didn't get Week 1, so it means a ton." Port Clinton 7 0 7 0 — 14Bellevue 0 8 0 16 — 24 PC — Dagan Meyers 32 run (Landon Witte kick) B — Tyler Ray 12 pass from Deegan Horn (Horn pass from Ray) PC — Cam Gillum 3 run (Witte kick) B — Jax LaPata 3 run (Brody Horn pass from Deegan Horn) B — Ray 21 pass from LaPata (Ashton Martin from LaPata)