The first half poise shown by Tippecanoe dissipated as the second half played out. There was no doubt which team were the champs.
Columbus Bishop Watterson flexed its muscle in the third quarter and advanced to its third consecutive state championship game appearance with a 41-9 win over the Tipp in a D-III state semifinal game on Friday night at Mason’s Dwire Field.
Watterson outscored Tipp 21-0 in the third quarter to quickly turn an 11-point halftime lead into its 11th straight running clock victory.
A failed pass on a fake punt to open the second half gave Watterson a short field which they converted into a touchdown. Watterson then blocked a punt that it returned 45 yards to the house, and tacked on another TD with a long drive late in the quarter.
Watterson outgained Tipp 108-3 in the quarter.
“The difference in the ball game was little things,” head coach Matt Burgbacher said. “Watterson executed those little things better than we did. And you know, they’ve been there before.”
Tipp was playing in its second state semifinal in program history. It showed signs of belonging on the state’s biggest stage after getting through a rough few minutes after the opening kickoff.
The Red Devils fell behind by two scores within three minutes of the clock elapsing. Watterson quarterback Drew Bellisari, a Miami, Ohio commit, found Jack McCoy wide-open down the middle of the field for a 71-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage for a quick 7-0 lead.
Tipp went three-and-out on its ensuing possession and Watterson blocked a punt and Ben Uhlenhake recovered it in the endzone to double the lead.
But Watterson, which has averaged winning by better than 40 points per game this season, wouldn’t score again for the remainder of the half.
“That first half was one big play and the blocked punt, and then they had maybe a couple of first downs,” Burgbacher said. “Our defense was playing great and for our guys, we just needed offensively to get a first down ourselves and then we got in rhythm.”
A missed chance to respond hurt Tippecanoe when senior Xavier Melton couldn’t hang onto to a swing pass in the redzone. Owen Baileys hit a 25-yard field goal to get his team within 14-3 late in the first.
Twice Tipp denied Watterson late in the half. The Red Devils forced and recovered a fumble with 1:45 left until halftime. After an interception thrown by Larkin Thomas, his defense picked him up by forcing Watterson to use up the remaining 10 seconds on a Bellisari scramble that ended with an overthrow out of the endzone.
“We needed to have success early,” Burgbacher said. “But you know what? The kids responded exactly the way I thought they would and we kept battling.”
Tipp found the endzone for the only time in the game’s final minute. Senior Xavier Melton scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.
Burgbacher after the game took a final look around on the field at his players embracing one another with their breath hovering above them in the cold air.
He thought the team that won its third straight Miami Valley League title, finished the regular season undefeated for a second consecutive year, and emerged from Region 12 would possibly want to go see their parents waiting for them at the bottom of the stands. But he said knowing how much they enjoyed being around one another, he wasn’t surprised they wanted a few more moments together.
Tipp got a shot at the champs and took its best swing.
“We want to play the best, because we want to be the best, and they’re the best,” Burgbacher said. “They still are.”
About the Author
