Locker, rushing attack carry Royals to win

By BRIAN HEMMINGER

City editor

BUCYRUS — After struggling on defense in a week one loss to Cardington, Wynford went back to its roots to pick up its first win of the season Friday against East Knox.

The Royals racked up 400 rushing yards while limiting East Knox to just 30 on the ground in a 28-12 victory at Wynford.

“All week we’ve been talking about answering the call,” Wynford coach Cyle Skidmore said. “I thought this week’s practice was really good. The guys really picked up the phone. They answered the call and they did things right. I really appreciate that by our group. They kind of put our

football program in the right direction tonight.”

The game remained scoreless until some serious excitement in the final minutes of the first half when Wynford runningback Bryce Locker ripped an 87-yard touchdown just off the left hash mark and down the left sideline to give the Royals a 6-0 lead with 2:39 remaining in the second quarter.

It only took 31 seconds for East Knox to respond as the Bulldogs returned the kickoff past midfield, connected on a 29 yard pass play, then a 13-yard run before quarterback Jaxon Lester raced untouched up the middle for a 4-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game after the two-point conversion attempt failed.

Wynford got the ball back with 2:08 remaining in the first half on its own 28-yard-line and proceeded to march 72 yards down the field on 12 plays, capped off by a 4-yard quarterback sneak from Brayden Campbell for a touchdown with just 1.8 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Locker passed to Jake Stover for a two-point conversion to give the Royals a 14-6 lead at halftime.

“We call that a death march,” East Knox coach Andrew Beatty said. “We love when we can do it to teams. You just manipulate the clock the whole time, control it, and they did a great job of that on their death march. And they were largely doing it on the run, which is tough to do before the half.”

Wynford had all the momentum entering the second half, but East Knox got right back into the ballgame by scoring on the first play of the second half as Lester found receiver Cason Faucett on a quick slant route for an 82-yard passing touchdown. A two-point conversion failed to keep Wynford in front 14-12.

“We kept fighting back,” Beatty said. “This is a group of young men whose had their backs up against the wall a lot. We saw that tonight. We just can’t let it get away from us and keep having to fight back.”

But Wynford never allowed East Knox to score again. The Royals intercepted Lester on the next East Knox drive, forced East Knox to go three-and-out and then closed out the game by turning the Bulldogs over on downs twice.

“Defensively, the coaches have been preaching all week about doing things right,” Skidmore said. “We’ve got to tackle. We’ve got to get to the ball. We’ve got to pursue the ball. We’ve got to be in the right spot at all times and I think we did a good job of that tonight.”

Late in the third quarter, Wynford broke through with a huge 51-yard rushing score on a run up the middle from Deegan Lutz to give the Royals a 20-12 lead after the extra point missed.

The Royals then put the game out of reach with a backbreaking 13-play, 50-yard drive that included four first downs and about seven minutes of clock melted before Campbell scored on a quarterback keeper, reaching out with the football to just barely cross the goal line. Campbell found Stover for a two-point conversion to put Wynford on top 28-12.

“That was brutal,” Beatty said. “We felt like if we got the ball back, we can make things happen because we’re a big-play offense this year, but that drive of theirs in the fourth quarter was really deflating. We definitely felt that.”

While East Knox had its moments, it seemed like Wynford always had a response. Skidmore appreciated that.

“It spoke about the character of our football team,” Skidmore said. “We’re gonna keep going. We’re going to keep moving forward. We’re going to keep coming at ya as a football team and we’re never gonna back down ever. I thought our guys did a really good job responding to adversity.”

Locker finished with 21 rushes for 230 yards and a touchdown. Both Lutz and Campbell also eclipsed 80 yards rushing with a touchdown as well.

After the game, both teams were able to put hostilities aside and come together for a group prayer in support of an East Knox player, Aidan Riggle, who is battling cancer.

“I appreciate coach Skidmore having the kids get together after the game for a group prayer,” Beatty said. “It’s nice that these young men, they’re opponents for an hour on the field and immediately after, perspective happens as we look and reflect on life.”

Next up, Wynford travels to Western Reserve at 7 p.m. Friday.

Score by quarters

East Knox         0             6             6             3             — 12

Wynford             0             14          6             0             — 28

Second quarter

W — Locker 87-yard run (kick blocked) 2:39.

EK — Lester 4-yard run (pass failed) 2:08.

W — Campbell 3-yard run (Locker pass to Stover) 0:02.

Third quarter

EK — Lester 82-yard pass to Faucett (run failed) 11:42.

W — Lutz 51-yard run (kick missed) 3:17

Fourth quarter

W — Campbell 4-yard run 6:22 (Campbell pass to Stover).

Individual statistics

Passing

East Knox: Lester 11-22, 170 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs.

Wynford: Campbell 5-13, 46 yards, 1 INT.

Rushing

East Knox: Boyd 8-18; Clark 1-13; Muncy 1-4; Lester 6-(minus 4), 1 TD.

Wynford: Locker 21-230, 1 TD; Lutz 7-84, TD; Campbell 13-81, 2 TDs; Massey 1-6.

Receiving

East Knox: Faucett 5-107, 1 TD; #11 3-46; Clark 1-8; #15 1-8; Boyd 1-1.

Wynford: Massey 2-21; Locker 2-20; Cooper 1-5.

Team statistics

                EK          W

First downs     9             20

Yards rushing 16-31 42-401

Yards passing 170       46

Passes               11-22   5-13

Passes intercepted    1             2

Fumbles lost  0-0        1-1

Punts   3-33.0 3-32.7

Penalties           7-80     9-95