By SETH STASKEY

BELLAIRE — Mark Bonar talked all week leading up to Saturday’s opening-round Division VI, Region 23 playoff game about needing to find and exploit mismatches against 14th-seeded Galion Northmor.

Bellaire found plenty and exploited them all en route to a 54-27 victory.

And those mismatches were visible both via the running and passing game as Bellaire accumulated 485 total yards and produced 24 first downs as five different players scored at least one touchdown and for good measure, the Big Reds’ defense produced a score on a 15-yard pick six by Logan Edgar.

Add it all up and it was a convincing victory to send Bellaire into next week’s regional quarterfinal against Worthington Christian. The game will once again be played at Nelson Field with kickoff slated for 1:30 p.m.

“We thought we could run the ball effectively all day,” Bonar said. “We threw the ball pretty well, too. We did a really good job of getting guys open. I really thought we played well.”

While the game produced plenty of offensive fireworks, it was also quite chippy throughout. There were seven, 15-yard penalties, most of which were of the personal foul and/or unsportsmanlike variety, called against Northmor. Most of those came when the game had been long decided in the second half. Actually, the visitors were penalized 12 times for 148 total yards in the game. Bonar made a wise decision to have his team leave the field immediately as the clock hit all zeroes to avoid any possible incidents.

“They were the most classless team I’ve seen,” Bonar lamented. “They left their starters in to basically try to start to fight. It’s a real shame. I’m not sure what they were doing, but it was not football. Some of their dirtiest players were their worst players. They wanted to fight and push, but I thought our guys handled it well. Northmor had nothing to lose because they’re going to go play winter sports. I sent them off the field because they were ready for a fight, and I am sure there are people who won’t like it, but tough luck.”

Before all of that, the Big Reds let their offensive firepower do the talking.

Actually, it took literally one play for Bellaire to demonstrate its ability. Senior quarterback Jake Heatherington found classmate Ray Ray Pettigrew all alone behind the Northmor defense for a 66-yard touchdown on the opening play. Lucas Littell was good on the first of his six PAT kicks.

From there, other than a brief burst of momentum that Northmor gained when it scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7 and then picked off a Heatherington pass and proceeded to drive deep into the red zone. However, Bellaire’s defense came up with a huge defensive stop.

“That was a big stop,” Bonar said. “We had some things that we need to get corrected on both sides of the ball, and we will. Plus, there are times when we, as coaches, put them in bad situations.”

Bellaire’s offense went back to work and proceeded to score the next 14. Terrin Frazier caught a 29-yard touchdown from Heatherington and then after forcing a punt, Bellaire’s Drew White, who had a solid day at the office with 71 yards on 13 carries, plowed into the end zone from three yards out.

Northmor went into the locker room riding a high, however. It connected on a 39-yard touchdown pass with just six tenths of a second to play in the half.

Again, though, the Bellaire defense rose to the occasion to thwart any type of thoughts of a Northmor comeback when Edgar picked off a pass and raced it back the other way.

The outcome was all but decided when senior running back Brayden Roth, who rushed 22 times for 152 yards, scored the first of his two touchdowns. This one was from 2 yards out. White tacked on another from 4 yards out and Roth capped the Big Reds scoring from 5 yards out.

All told, Bellaire rushed 44 times for 292 yards. Heatherington was very efficient, completing 11 of 14 throws for 193 yards.

Max Lower had a big game for Northmor, rushing 20 times for 229 yards and two touchdowns.