Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County News
Bellbrook’s defense swarmed Oakwood all game in a 31-0 win on Friday.
BELLBROOK — The opening loss of the season is still motivating Bellbrook.
Check out photos from the week nine matchup between Oakwood and Bellbrook.
The Golden Eagles aren’t letting go of the bad feeling it had that night when they have taken the field each Friday and Oakwood was the next team it passed along that pain.
Bellbrook produced its fourth shutout of the season with a 31-0 victory at the Lumberjacks.
“It seems every year that after we lose our first game, it totally flips our mentality,” Preston Valente said. “It makes us know we’re not impenetrable and people can beat us, so we’ve got to be as close to perfect as we can in order to beat all of these teams.”
Bellbrook’s starting defense held Oakwood under 100 total yards of offense and had two interceptions during the second half. The Golden Eagles have allowed 13 total points against SWBL teams this season, and only one touchdown over the last 28 quarters of play.
“Everybody in the program was not happy,” head coach Jeff Jenkins said about the week one defeat. “That was the best thing that happened to us this season, in my opinion, because it refocused us.”
Bellbrook (8-1, 3-0) never seemed threatened by Oakwood, but struggled in the first half to build a lead.
Riley Ferrin banged a 45-yard field goal off the upright on his team’s opening possession, and then both sides traded punts for the remainder of the first quarter. But Bellbrook’s special teams got their side jump started when Noah Barrios returned one of them 70 yards down his sideline to put his side up 7-0.
After a short yardage field goal before the half extended the lead and a three-and-out by the defense got the offense back on the field, Bellbrook looked primed to score again before halftime before a mistake by the refs cost them the opportunity. After a post-play penalty was assessed to Bellbrook after a second down play, the crew signaled that the next snap was to be fourth down. Bellbrook coaches and fans pleaded with the head official that the down should have been third, but it was not changed and Bellbrook chose to punt to end the half.
It didn’t matter in the end as the defense wasn’t going to allow Oakwood (2-7, 0-5) any breathing room. While the Lumberjacks were held to 20 yards on two third quarter drives, Bellbrook’s offense finally found the end zone after Aidan Caswell threw two touchdown passes in 16 seconds.
The first went to Valente for 25 yards, his first career reception, and the second came after Bellbrook recovered an onside kick that was followed by a long pass to Barrios hauled in at the goal line.
Ferrin capped the scoring with a career long 51-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter.
“We’re just fast, physical and prepared,” Jenkins said of his defense. “It’s just that simple. We take a great deal of pride preparing throughout the week and that way they can just play fast and aggressive on Friday nights.”
Bellbrook was close out the regular season with a home game against Ross next Friday.
See all of the week nine scores for Greene County teams.
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
