The Beavers did their best to spoil a special night for Xenia at home, where the Bucs had a pregame ribbon cutting to mark the recent renovations of the stadium, including former XHS and NFL standout Trent Cole in the festivities as honorary captain for the coin toss. Beavercreek also looked to make coach Trace Smitherman’s return to Xenia a winning one.
Beavercreek kept things close, getting first-half touchdown runs from Andrew LeBlanc and Jack Minnick. Beavercreek quarterback Minnick added a fourth-quarter touchdown run, but that was only enough for the final margin of victory for the Bucs.
“You can never be upset at a rivalry game that you win,” Xenia coach Maurice Harden. “Winning’s hard, right? So to get five in a row, it’s tough, never been done in this rivalry and we’re super thankful and blessed to have that opportunity.”
White was the workhorse for the Bucs on the evening, rushing the ball 28 times for 156 yards to go along with his three scores.
It was a battle in the second quarter, with the Bucs clinging to a 13-12 lead, before a late first-half drive punctuated by a 17-yard connection from quarterback Gage Stephan to wide receiver Demarco Ruffin. The extra point made it 20-12 with 25 seconds to go before a couple of Beavercreek running plays ran out the clock for halftime.
“First half we were running the ball, they couldn’t really stop us, then second half they started figuring it out,” White said. “We had to come out and respond after that first three-and-out (to start the second half).”
Respond the Bucs did, going on a time-consuming, run-heavy drive punctuated by Valdez’s 1-yard touchdown run to put them in control early in the fourth quarter, 27-12.
The Beavers responded with a long drive of their own, finished by a 3-yard touchdown run by Minnick. A failed extra point attempt made the score 27-18, which turned out to be the final margin in the game.
Minnick was the leader of the Beavers’ triple-option offense, rushing 19 times for 113 yards and the two scores.
“He played really hard, he’s reading the option, throwing the ball in timely moments, so we’re excited about that piece of it,” Smitherman said of Minnick. “We just want to continue to execute just a little bit better so we can throw it a little more than what we’re throwing.”
Minnick only attempted two passes in the game, one incomplete and the other tipped into the waiting hands of Xenia linebacker Otis Boyette.
Boyette is back on the gridiron after a season away but was a menace on Friday night, adding some key stops of the Beavers’ runners to his turnover.
“Second quarter, my coach made me (track the quarterback), so I only had to focus on him (Minnick),” Boyette said. “First few plays he broke a few long ones, but once we started focusing on that we started to stop him.”
It was a homecoming of sorts for Smitherman, who spent four seasons at Xenia before resigning at the end of the 2020 season.
Both teams are back in action next Friday, with Xenia traveling to Troy while Beavercreek will have its home opener against Cincinnati Woodward.
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