Prep football: Bellbrook tops Brookville in SWBL showdown

Unlike basketball, high school football teams usually don’t have to construct resumes to impress voters for postseason seeding. This year is unique. So is Bellbrook’s football team.

With one game remaining in 2020′s shortened six-game regular season, Bellbrook continued to make its case for the top spot in Division III, Region 12 with a 42-21 win Friday over host Brookville in a meeting of Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division unbeatens. Coaches will vote on seeding for the playoffs Tuesday-Wednesday. Brackets will be released Thursday. Higher seeded teams can host playoff games through the regional finals.

“I would hope (we get the No. 1 seed),” Bellbrook head coach Jeff Jenkins said. “I think our resume speaks for itself. We’ve had some very impressive wins against some very impressive teams.”

Ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Division III state poll, Bellbrook (5-0, 4-0) notched another key win by outscoring the Blue Devils 28-0 in the second quarter and forcing five turnovers in the game. Ranked No. 10 in the state in D-V, Brookville (4-1, 3-1) outscored Bellbrook 14-7 in the second half.

The Eagles have won 10 of the last 11 against Brookville, including five straight. It was the fourth straight game in the series that Bellbrook scored 41 points or more.

It was also the last time the two will face off for a league title. Having played annually since 1975, the two will be in different SWBL divisions next year due to re-alignment.

“At halftime I told (the kids) they were going to define themselves in the second half,” Brookville head coach Mike Hetrick said. “They did everything we asked.”

The game featured the SWBL’s top two defenses and offenses.

Bellbrook entered having allowed 21 points, while Brookville had yielded 23. The Eagles had scored 152 points and the Blue Devils 119.

Tied 7-7 after the first quarter, Bellbrook scored 28 points in the final 7:27 of the second for a 35-7 halftime advantage. The Eagles scored on a 22-yard run by Jonah Atchison, a 35-yard pass from Alex Westbrock to Ethan Fryman, a four-yard run by Seth Borondy and a 55-yard fumble return by Nick Cumpston.

Brookville opened the third quarter with a 10-play drive that ended with a fourth-down interception at the Eagles 1-yardline. Three plays later Brookville’s Dylan Starnes hit Bellbrook quarterback Alex Westbrock in the end zone and forced a fumble that teammate Trevor Lockard recovered for a touchdown.

Bellbrook responded with a 10-play drive that resulted in a 1-yard Borondy touchdown run.

Brookville’s next drive went 10-plays and ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass from AJ Eller to Daniel Dominique on fourth down. Eller also connected with Dominique for a 75-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Bellbrook’s Atchison opened the scoring with an eight-yard run on the games' first possession.

The Eagles outgained the Blue Devils 336-260 in total yards.

Bellbrook’s top competitor for the top spot in Region 12 is Badin.

Brookville will challenge for the top seed in Region 20.

“It got a way from us a little bit in the second quarter,” Hetrick said. “We made too many mistakes in a short span.”

Said Jenkins: “We made some big plays when we needed to, but we didn’t put a full game together. Our kids know we have a better game in us than the one we played tonight. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than what we showed out there.”

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