Capitalizing on three-first half turnovers and two touchdown passes from junior Alex Westbrock, host Bellbrook handled the Spartans 30-19 in a key Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division contest at Miami Valley South Stadium.
Bellbrook (4-2, 1-1), coming off a one-point loss at Paynesville and an overtime loss at Franklin, improves to 17-2 in its last 19 regular season games.
Valley View, ranked No. 4 in the Division IV AP state poll, drops to 5-1, 2-1.
“This is a huge, huge win after two tough weeks,” Westbrock said. “We fought through adversity, came together as a team and overcame it. Huge momentum booster.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Bellbrook led 23-0 at halftime.
Three Spartans turnovers in their own territory led to 17 Bellbrook points. Junior Taylor Jordan’s 28-yard field goal gave the hosts a 3-0 lead, while sophomore Ashton Ault’s 26-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown stretched the advantage to 10-0. Junior Jonah Atchison’s 1-yard touchdown run pushed the Eagles ahead 17-0. An incompletion on a fake punt set up Bellbrook’s final scoring drive, which Westbrock capped with an 11-yard touchdown pass to J.R. McCormick.
“It’s a game of momentum and our defense gave us all the momentum in the first half,” Bellbrook head coach Jeff Jenkins said. “We played a little better in all phases of the game because our defense set the tone.”
Said Valley View head coach Bob Skidmore: “Yeah Bellbrook was playing hard-nosed, but we weren’t taking care of the ball, we weren’t being careful with it. Careless.”
The Spartans scored on the first play of the third quarter on a 65-yard run by junior Lucas Lynch and closed the gap to within 23-19 with 2:52 to play in the third on Lynch’s 8-yard run. Sandwiched in between was a four-yard touchdown run by senior Cade Cradlebaugh.
Facing a second down and 10 at the Valley View 34 with three minutes left in the game, Westbrock hit Jordan for the Eagles back-breaking touchdown.
“We knew they would come out swinging (in the third quarter),” Jenkins said. “I’m a little disappointed they scored so quickly in the second half. But when we needed our defense, they rose up again.”
Said Skidmore: “The kids are better than what they showed in the first half. We just dug too big a hole to get out of.”
This was the third year in a row the teams have met in Week 6 or later with one being undefeated. Bellbrook finished 10-0 in 2018 and Valley View was undefeated in 2017.
With the win, Bellbrook’s playoff hopes in Division III, Region 11 remain alive. The Eagles are favorites in their four remaining games (according to fantastic50.net).
Valley View, which hosts Franklin next week, is still in contention for a first-round home game in D-IV, Region 12.
“We feel like we can compete with anyone on a Friday night,” Jenkins said. “A couple tight losses doesn’t mean we can’t play football.”
Said Westbrock: “We ride our defense and the D is a bunch of dogs. They showed up tonight.”
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