The win moves Mechanicsburg to 11-0 and sets up a neutral-site regional semifinal next Friday night against Delphos St. John, which beat Summit Country Day, 41-10.
Ohio Heritage Conference champion Mechanicsburg had outscored opponents 436-57 and won every game by at least 30 points during its second straight 10-0 season, the first back-to-back 10-0 regular seasons in school history. It was more of the same Friday.
Mechanicsburg wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, but not in the normal way. On its second play from scrimmage, quarterback Kaleb Romero was intercepted, but the ball was fumbled on the return and recovered by the Indians.
So on their “official” second drive, the Indians marched 67 yards on eight plays, with Romero taking it in from the 1-yard line. Alex Rhine’s kick made it 7-0 with 6:37 left in the opening quarter.
After a Vikings three-and-out, Mechanicsburg was back at it, marching 65 yards on eight plays with Dustin Knapp going the final 3 yards for the score. Romero ran for 59 of those yards. The kick failed, however, leaving the score 13-0.
Miami East, making its fifth straight postseason playoff appearance, had a hard time getting started. The Vikings didn’t get their first first down until the second-to-last play of the first quarter.
Burg got on the scoreboard a third time with 3:21 to go in the first half, with a time-consuming 87-yard drive in 16 plays that resulted in a 7-yard scoring run by Romero, who had 197 yards on 20 carries in the first half alone. Rhine added a 32-yard field goal, the Indians’ first of the season, as time was running out in the first half to make it 22-0 at the half.
The Vikings managed 29 yards of offense in the first half and made two first downs. Arron Adams ran for 18 yards on five carries, but East had only 11 plays in the first half.
Miami East slowed its hosts a little in the third quarter. But the Indians were able to hit paydirt on the last offensive play of the third quarter, on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Romero to Drew Meyers. Romero ran it in for a two-point conversion to make it 30-0.
The Indians scored two more times in the fourth quarter. One was a team safety as the Vikings snapped a punt attempt into the end zone and East punter Gunnar Gearhart smartly kicked it out of play. The other was a 1-yard TD run by Joey Mascadri.
Kaleb Nickels of Miami East scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run on the last play of the game as the Vikings avoided the shutout.
Romero, who had accounted for over 2,500 yards in total offense and 164 of Burg’s 436 points, finished with 245 yards on 25 carries. Knapp, who rushed for 941 yards in the regular season, also had a nice night with 154 yards on 18 carries. The Indians had 491 yards of total offense to East’s 81.
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