London uses strong defense in 39-14 win over Hamilton Ross

 

*I used the rosters from both teams league sites.*

London, Ohio- Friday night I made my second ever trip to London High School to watch the Red Raiders host Hamilton Ross in a Division 3 Region 12 playoff game. This would be my first time seeing Ross and my first time seeing London at home. The first time I was in London for a game, the field was still grass and London was playing in the Buckeye Athletic Conference. The only other time that I watched London pay was in a game in Hebron against the Lakewood Lancers.

The Red Raiers would strike first on a 51-yard touchdown pass to June Turner from Chrsi Mason with 10:01 left in the opening quarter. After a flag was thrown on the Rams, London would convert a two-point conversion with Noah Sollers plowing in behind his hard-working offensive line to make the score 8-0.

Isaiah Near would show how solid the London defense was going to be all night long when he got to Emory Severance for a loss of one. A punt would soon follow, getting the dangerous London offense back on the field.

After getting back on the field, the Red Raiders offense would slowly work the ball downfield, using two passes and eight running plays to light up the scoreboard again. The score came on a 1-yard run from Chris Mason. Bryce Peters snapped the ball to holder Kyler Russell, and the kick by Eli Nobel made this a 15-0 game with 3:55 left in the quarter.

Ross would respond with a 62-yard run by Severance, followed by the P.A.T. by AJ Sparks to make this a 15-7 game. The drive totaled 73 yards; for the half, the Rams would total just 75 yards.

The Red Raiders would get a 31-yard run from Steven Gravely before the quarter ended. The scoreboard would say this was a close game, but the stats showed a different story.

London would convert two 4th and two's on their drive, with Sollars picking up 2 yards on the first conversion and 7 yards on the second conversion. The 11-play, 70-yard drive ended with Mason scoring on a 7-yard run with 8:37 left in the half, putting the Red Raiders up 22-7.

The Red Raiders would get a nice 35-yard pass from Mason to Russell to convert a third and eight with 5:29 left in the half. The Red Raiders would cap off an 8-play, 70-yard drive with 3:31 left in the half. The score came on a 32-yard run by June Turner, making this a 29-7 game. 

The half ended when Severance fumbled the ball, and Ladainan McNeal picked it up and made a nice little return. For the half, London had 270 yards while the Rams had 75.

Ross came out in the third and got a 19-yard run from Lucas Kunkel, then a short time later Kunkel scored from 6 yards out to make this a 29-14 game. The drive totaled 74 yards, taking 11 plays. That was the good news. The bad news would turn out to be that for the half, the Rams would total just 14 more years the rest of the half.

A 22-yard run by June Turner turned out to be the last big play in the quarter. The thing that stuck out to me so far in this one was the way the Rams never showed that they had quit and their fans were smallish as they stayed positive, cheering their team on.

Nobel kicked a 24-yard field goal that put the Red Raiders up 32-14 with 5:23 remaining. A 60-yard run by McNeal helped set up the final score of the game, which came on a 3-yard run by Bryston Toronto with 1:09 left on the clock, making the final score 39-14.

My Stats

Ross

40 plays

163 yards

Passing, 1-8

London

61 plays

3014 yards

Passing 4-9, 1TD

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