Arrows clinch share of WOAC, move to 9-0

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CAMDEN — Prayers have been answered at Preble Shawnee this season.

Not only is the football team off to a perfect 9-0 start, the most wins in a season in school history, but the Arrows have done so in a dominating fashion en route to a share of the Western Ohio Athletic Conference title.

The most recent win, a 48-34 victory over Ansonia that wasn’t as close as the score appears, highlighted everything great about the Arrows’ season, including the team’s controlling offense and suffocating defense, as well as another small factor: a little bit of luck.

Preble Shawnee was up 20-18 as the half approached, possessing the ball at their own 20-yard line with 33.3 seconds remaining. After a 16-yard pass from junior Brayden Doran to junior Dylan Campbell and an 11-yard run by senior Hunter Crockett, it appeared as though time would wind down in the first half, the Arrows content with a 20-18 lead.

A late penalty by Ansonia, however, gave the Arrows one untimed down from their own 30-yard line to end the half.

Doran received the snap and was quickly pressured, running towards the home sideline as his receivers streaked downfield. He heaved the ball across his body toward the endzone, and be it a perfect pass or some divine intervention, Doran’s hail mary was answered as Campbell reached over multiple Ansonia defenders to bring the ball down for the 30-yard touchdown to give the Arrows a 27-18 lead going into the locker room.

“That play was huge,” Preble Shawnee coach Dave Maddox said. “Unbelievable play for him to go up – I don’t know how many guys were standing there, but for him to jump up and grab that ball, that was amazing play. It definitely gave us some momentum going in and let us kind of get our heads right a little bit so that we could make some adjustments and come out fired up for the third quarter.”

The Arrows got to that point after a back-and-forth first half. Crockett placed Preble Shawnee on the scoreboard on its first drive of the game, capping off an 80-yard drive with a four-yard rushing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.

Ansonia then responded on their second drive of the game to make it 8-7 after a 44-yard touchdown run and successful two-point conversion. On Preble Shawnee’s ensuing drive, the Arrows quickly got to the Tigers’ half of the field after two big runs by Crockett.

“He brings an energy,” Maddox said. “Obviously he’s an outstanding running back, big kid runs hard, but he – the energy that he brings when he hits a hole and run somebody over, I mean, it just motivates everybody. It’s been really big and I’m happy for him.”

From there, Doran connected with Campbell on a 42-yard touchdown pass to take a 13-8 lead. After a quick Ansonia touchdown drive (just over three minutes) to make it 15-13 in favor of the Tigers, Crockett found the end zone for the second time to make it 20-15.

Ansonia then drove into Preble Shawnee territory but was forced to kick a field goal after a stop on third-and-six by the Arrows’ defense. The 31-yarder sailed through the uprights to make it 20-18 before Doran and Campbell’s heroics gave Preble Shawnee the lead back before the half.

“It was a battle. Ansonia’s a very physical team and I knew they would be. We talked about it all week,” Maddox said. “Nothing was handed to us – it was just a physical battle back and forth. Our defense stepped up a lot better in the second half than what we did in the first half, and so happy about that, and offensively we were able to get clicking and kind of control the ball a little bit. Overall good, but again, we’ve still got a lot to work on and improvements and things, so we’ll get back to work next week.”

In the third, Crockett scored again from one yard out to make it 34-18, but Ansonia returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to make it 34-24.

Preble Shawnee then embarked on a 80-yard, 10-play drive that was capped off by Crockett’s fourth touchdown of the night, this one from four yards out, to take a 41-24 lead.

Crockett finished the game with 309 rushing yards on 32 attempts (9.7 yards per attempt) with four touchdowns.

On Ansonia’s next drive, the Tigers again got into Preble Shawnee territory, but were again stopped and elected to kick a field goal, a successful one from 28 yards out to make it 41-27.

The Arrows then iced the game on the following drive with a 17-yard touchdown run from Doran to make it 48-27. Ansonia would score another touchdown with time winding down in the fourth to make it 48-34, but it was too little, too late.

Doran finished 6-of-11 for 119 passing yards and rushed for 143 yards on 18 attempts with three total touchdowns. Campbell caught four of Doran’s passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns.

On defense, Doran and junior Dylan Zornes each recovered a fumble, and the Arrows were led in tackles by juniors Aiden Walters (11) and Cooper Roell (10), who also connected on all six extra point attempts. Zornes and junior Grady Hutchinson each finished with nine tackles, followed by freshman Brody Lynch with eight and senior Xavier Adams with seven.

With the win, the Arrows clinched at least a share of the WOAC title. A win next win at Dixie would clinch it outright.

“Very happy for this team, and hopefully it’ll give us a little bit of momentum just going into the next year and following years to be able to keep building on,” Maddox said. “We’ve never had a real good tradition here football wise, and that’s what we want to build. We don’t just want to have good seasons here and there; we want to build a tradition to where we’re competitive every single year.”

Athletic director Dane Sadowski said the players and coaches have been working hard since last year for the opportunity to not only win the first WOAC football championship, but the first football league championship in school history.

“I am extremely happy for not only our players and coaches but for all of our student body and community to be a part of the first league championship in school history,” he said. “Hopefully, our team and coaches can finish what they started on Friday night at Dixie and earn sole possession of the championship while also going 10-0 in the regular season. No words can express how proud I am of this group of guys and how exciting this year has been and how incredible all of their accomplishments have been this entire season.

Playing against Dixie next week, Maddox said the Arrows will have to stay humble in their quest for perfection.

“We’re going to prepare for Dixie and watch film and get better and obviously with all the penalties in the second half, we’ve got a lot to improve on,” he said. “We still haven’t reached our max potential. We still shoot ourselves in the foot, and we’ve still got a lot to work on and we’re not gonna take Dixie lightly. We’re going to stay humble and we’re going to keep getting better.”

Preble Shawnee’s coaching staff watches a goal line stand during their game against Ansonia on Friday, Oct. 15. The Arrows won 48-34.
https://www.registerherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/10/web1_FB_PS_Ansonia_2021_2.jpgPreble Shawnee’s coaching staff watches a goal line stand during their game against Ansonia on Friday, Oct. 15. The Arrows won 48-34. Braden Moles | The Register-Herald

Preble Shawnee takes the field for its game against Ansonia on Friday, Oct. 15. The Arrows won 48-34.
https://www.registerherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/10/web1_FB_PS_Ansonia_2021_1.jpgPreble Shawnee takes the field for its game against Ansonia on Friday, Oct. 15. The Arrows won 48-34. Braden Moles | The Register-Herald

Preble Shawnee senior Hunter Crockett’s 309 rushing yards helped lead the Arrows to a 48-34 win over Ansonia on Friday, Oct. 15 to move to 9-0 on the season.
https://www.registerherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/10/web1_FB_PS_Ansonia_2021_3.jpgPreble Shawnee senior Hunter Crockett’s 309 rushing yards helped lead the Arrows to a 48-34 win over Ansonia on Friday, Oct. 15 to move to 9-0 on the season. Braden Moles | The Register-Herald
Running game, 1st half hail mary lead to 48-34 win

By Braden Moles

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Reach Braden Moles at 937-683-4056 or on Twitter @BradenMoles

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