Garrett Gross had a 30-yard touchdown run as Bellefontaine won its 11th straight Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division game dating back to 2015.
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Statistically, the Cougars entered the game as the second-best offense in the CBC, averaging nearly 390 yards per game. Bellefontaine came to Springfield with the top defense in the entire CBC, allowing just 78 points this season.
Kenton Ridge moved the ball into Bellefontaine territory several times, but found the end zone just once on a 69-yard TD strike to junior wide receiver Calvin Dibert from junior quarterback Dylan Lemen.
“We just didn’t handle adversity very well,” Cougars coach Joel Marratta said. “We just didn’t respond. That’s not a way to go through life. We’ve got to persevere, hit that thing right in the mouth and move forward.”
Bellefontaine opened the scoring on a 1-yard TD run by Smith on fourth and goal.
Kenton Ridge’s defense stopped Bellefontaine at midfield on its next possession, but a personal foul penalty on a punt attempt extended the drive. That led to a 22-yard field goal by Derek Robb to give Bellefontaine a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Chieftains extened their lead to 17-0 at the half on a 30-yard touchdown run by Gross. Smith found Jack Clement from 32 yards out to make it 24-0 early in the third quarter.
Defensively, Bellefontaine keyed on Dibert throughout the game, Marratta said.
“Everyone knows Calvin is a threat and they did a good job spying him with (Clement) in the backfield,” he said. “Eventually we’re going to have to have some other guys step up and make plays. We have to read the defense and get the ball to those other guys. I know we moved the ball and did some things well, we just didn’t do it consistently.”
Bellefontaine improved to 4-2 and 1-0 in the CBC Kenton Trail Division. The Chieftains travel to Tecumseh (4-2, 1-0) in a key division matchup. Their defense hasn’t allowed more than seven points since a 31-28 Week 2 loss at Sidney.
“The defense has played great for the last couple games,” said Bellefontaine coach Toby Smith. “This isn’t the first time. They’ve played well for the last month. The offense has been the one that’s been sputtering a bit. I think we got back on track tonight, we just have to stop turning the ball over.”
Kenton Ridge fell to 4-2 and 0-1 in the division. The Cougars travel to Jonathan Alder (4-2, 0-0), which beat Graham 52-19 in CBC crossover action.
“From here on out everybody has a winning record,” Marratta said. “We’ve got to bring our A-game. We’re banged up like everybody else and we can’t make excuses. We’ve got to play the kids who are healthy and the kids who are going to practice all week long. We’ve got to go out and give a great effort. We can’t hope for luck. We have to execute and get the job done.”
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