“You never think that way. You just kind of gauge each day,” Hetrick said. “In the summer, you never know who’s coming out for sure and what you’ve got.
“But I knew we had a good group of kids, and I’m proud of them.”
The Blue Devils kept their perfect start going with a 35-14 win over Oakwood in a Southwestern Buckeye League game on Friday at Mack Hummon Stadium. They scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away to another lopsided victory.
DJ Moore scored two touchdowns in the first half to help Brookville (7-0, 4-0 SWBL Buckeye) take a 13-7 halftime lead, and Aden Lamb scored two in the second to help the squad pull away.
“Just trusting each other, getting our blocks, running hard,” Moore said. “… We couldn’t do it without the big O-line.”
The Blue Devils haven’t been 7-0 since 2015. Friday was their closest margin of the season; they previously hadn’t won by less than 27 points.
“A lot of these guys don’t come off the field much,” Hetrick said of the team’s many two-way players, including Moore and Lamb. “They know what they’re getting into each Friday night. We run pretty hard during the week, but they know they have to do it.”
It was the second-straight loss for the Lumberjacks (5-2, 2-2). But they were within five points early in the fourth.
Urban Kummerer caught a 9-yard touchdown pass along the visitor’s sideline from Zach Lutz and held on while taking a hard hit. The extra point brought Oakwood within 19-14 with 10:55 left.
“We knew coming in they were going to make plays,” Hetrick said. “They’ve got good, skilled kids, a good quarterback, and we were just trying to limit them. That’s been our calling card all year. Be more physical, play hard.”
The Blue Devils did that on their next possession, as they quickly bulldozed their way down the field with a few runs. Lamb scored on a 21-yard TD run up the middle to boost the lead to 27-14 after a two-point conversion run by Jake Lenser.
Oakwood turned it over on downs near midfield in Brookville territory, and the Blue Devils went on another lengthy drive, but this time they gathered yards in chunks and ate up the clock. Quarterback Jayden Resor scored on a short TD run with 1:31 left, and Moore ran in on a two-point conversion to push the gap to 21 points.
The turnover on downs was one of several big stops Brookville’s defense produced.
“It’s all about adversity and coming back and playing the next play,” Moore, who plays running back and defensive back, said. “Things aren’t going to go our way the whole time, but you’ve got to come back and fight, make them go your way.”
Brookville is scheduled to host Eaton (2-5, 1-2) in Week 8 before a big matchup at Valley View (6-1, 4-0) in Week 9. The Spartans and Blue Devils are the last two teams undefeated in SWBL play.
“We’ve just got to keep practicing hard,” Moore said. “We’ve been having good practices, just have to keep that up. Keep up the team chemistry. It’s a big reason we’ve been playing so good.”
The Lumberjacks, which are 5-2 for the first time since 2008, are scheduled to travel to Carlisle (5-2, 1-2) in Week 8.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter, but the Blue Devils got going early in the second.
Moore scored on a 14-yard TD run with 9:43 left. The score stayed at 6-0 after an extra-point try hit off the right crossbar.
The Lumberjacks punted after one first down, and Brookville drove and scored on an 11-yard TD run by Moore to take a 13-0 lead.
But Brady Thobe hauled in a 49-yard TD pass from Lutz with just under two minutes left in the quarter to cut the gap to 13-7 at halftime.
Brookville and Oakwood each turned it over on downs to start the third, then Resor threw a short pass to Lamb, who dodged defenders up the visitor’s sideline and scored on a 64-yard TD reception with 6:56 left to push the lead to 19-7 after a failed two-point conversion try.
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