By Cole Swafford | CSwaff Media
Photography by JJ Morgan | Contributing Photographer
BEAVERCREEK, Ohio — The final score showed a 27-point Beavercreek victory Friday night, but the difference between the Beavers and Northmont wasn’t necessarily yards gained.
It was possessions.
Beavercreek forced five Northmont turnovers and controlled the football for more than 30 minutes, pulling away in the second half for a 37-10 victory in the Greater Western Ohio Conference opener at Frank Zink Field.
The teams combined for nearly identical offensive totals. Beavercreek finished with 242 yards while Northmont produced 224, and the Thunderbolts actually averaged more yards per rushing attempt.
The difference was Beavercreek consistently giving itself additional opportunities.
Northmont turned the football over five times while Beavercreek committed just one. The Beavers also held possession for 30:45 compared with only 15:16 for the Thunderbolts.
Beavercreek opened the scoring with 5:39 remaining in the first quarter when Jackson Dahl connected on a 37-yard field goal.
Northmont answered early in the second.
Colby Barr converted from 29 yards to even the game at 3-3.
The Beavers added a touchdown before halftime to take a 10-3 advantage into the locker room, leaving the GWOC opener separated by only one possession after 24 minutes.
Beavercreek created its separation in the third quarter.
Sylar Young scored on a one-yard run with 5:06 remaining in the period, with Dahl’s extra point extending the lead to 17-3.
Less than three minutes later, Young broke loose for a 21-yard touchdown run. Dahl again added the extra point, and what had been a seven-point game at halftime had quickly become a 24-3 Beavercreek advantage.
Young finished with 28 yards on five carries, with two of those attempts ending in the end zone.
The Beavers continued leaning heavily on their rushing attack throughout the night.
Kellen Reeves handled the largest workload, carrying 33 times for 138 yards and two touchdowns. His longest run went for 20 yards as Beavercreek finished with 206 rushing yards on 51 attempts.
Reeves added his first touchdown early in the fourth quarter, scoring from one yard out to stretch the lead to 30-3.
Northmont responded with its only touchdown of the night.
Izaiah Flowers capped the Thunderbolts’ scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run with 5:01 remaining, and Barr’s extra point cut the Beavercreek lead to 30-10.
Flowers led Northmont’s rushing attack with 79 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, averaging 6.1 yards per attempt.
The Thunderbolts finished with 170 rushing yards on just 25 attempts, an average of 6.8 yards per carry.
Jaydan Smith added 34 yards on two carries, including a 22-yard run, while quarterback Lucas Post rushed six times for 33 yards. Mason Williams contributed 24 yards on three attempts.
Beavercreek answered Northmont’s touchdown with one final scoring drive.
Reeves scored his second touchdown on a 16-yard run with 2:05 remaining, completing the 37-10 final.
The Beavers attempted only four passes all night.
Calvin Svoboda completed Beavercreek’s lone pass, a 36-yard completion to Chase Johnson. Instead, Beavercreek relied almost entirely on a ground game that accounted for four offensive touchdowns.
Northmont had considerably more difficulty through the air.
Post completed 8 of 22 passes for 54 yards and was intercepted three times.
Davis Salone caught three passes for 24 yards, while Jaydan Smith finished with three receptions for 15 yards and Tony Locklin caught two for 15.
The turnovers became particularly costly for Northmont because the Thunderbolts were moving the football efficiently on the ground.
Despite averaging nearly seven yards per carry and finishing only 18 yards behind Beavercreek in total offense, Northmont ran just 47 offensive plays compared with Beavercreek’s 55 and had possession for roughly half as long as the Beavers.
Beavercreek’s defense played a major role in creating that disparity.
Colin Hunter and John Gruenberg each recorded interceptions, while the Beavers also recovered two Northmont fumbles.
Kelvin Keyes Jr. led Beavercreek with seven tackles, including six solo stops. Gruenberg, Derek Devine and Cody Lairson each recorded five tackles, while Trevor Elder registered Beavercreek’s lone sack.
Special teams also provided Beavercreek with one of the biggest plays of the night.
Keyes returned two kickoffs for 103 yards, including a 98-yard touchdown return.
Dahl accounted for seven kicking points, converting a 37-yard field goal and four of five extra-point attempts.
For Northmont, Barr made his only field-goal attempt from 29 yards and converted the extra point following Flowers’ fourth-quarter touchdown.
The Thunderbolts’ defense was led by Mason Williams with four tackles, while Charlie Wendt recorded three.
Ultimately, the box score told the story of a game that was closer statistically than the final score indicated.
Northmont rushed for 170 yards to Beavercreek’s 206 and finished with 224 total yards compared with the Beavers’ 242. The Thunderbolts also averaged 6.8 yards per rushing attempt compared with Beavercreek’s 4.0.
But Beavercreek won the turnover battle 5-1 and held the football for more than twice as long.
After leading only 10-3 at halftime, the Beavers scored 27 second-half points to secure the 37-10 victory.
Beavercreek improves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in GWOC play, while Northmont falls to 1-3 and 0-1 in the conference.
The Beavers travel to Miamisburg next Friday, while Northmont heads to Springboro looking for its first conference victory.
