Lebanon's speed burns Loveland early

Speed is Chase Cochran’s calling card and the Lebanon High senior had it on full display in the opening quarter at Loveland, Friday night.

Cochran scored two touchdowns in just over four minutes and the Warrior rode that early momentum to a 28-14 win over the Tigers.

The first score took just 13 seconds as Cochran returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a score. Then, on Lebanon’s third offensive snap from scrimmage, Cochran got behind the Loveland defense for a 78-yard touchdown pass from Dusty Isaacs.

“The kickoff was all due to the guys up front,” Cochran said. “All I had to do was run. That set the tone for the rest of the night and it held up.

“As for the touchdown pass, we didn’t expect to see man-to-man coverage but their corner is a really good athlete and I guess they thought he could cover me. We were looking for that match-up and we got it.”

The Warriors added another touchdown pass — this one covered seven yards to junior Brody Wolf — to build a 21-0 lead after one quarter.

From there, Lebanon turned to the ground game, grinding out over 200 yards with Trey Bonny rushing for 136 to lead the way. But, penalties and turnovers kept the Warriors out of the end zone.

“We know we got to get better and we definitely made some mistakes we need to correct but I’ll take my chances every time when we’re up 21-0,” Lebanon head coach Shawn Lamb said. “We expect perfection, but understand they’re teenagers. We haven’t played a complete game yet, but we are 2-0 and you can’t be any better than that.”

Loveland marched 91 yards in 13 plays to open the second half, scoring on a 60-yard run by quarterback Adam Engle.

The Warriors answered with Isaacs and Wolf connecting for a second time — this time from 24 yards out. Isaacs finished with 166 yards passing, completing 8-of-14 passes.

The Tigers cut it to 14 points early in the fourth on a touchdown run by Isaac Spence and threatened to make a game of it late, but Warrior linebackers Chris Benton and Jake Gilbert stuffed Engle on 4th-and-2 inside the Warriors’ 20 to seal the win. Benton led the Warriors with 18 tackles on the night.

“Our defense does a great job of doing what coach calls bending and not breaking, and at the end they held when we needed them to hold,” Cochran said.

Lebanon improved to 2-0 on the season and hosts Trotwood-Madison next week. Loveland dropped to 0-2..

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4526 or shayes@coxohio.com.

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