Barnesville Rolls To 30th Straight Regular Season Win vs. Panthers
Mike Hughes Trending
YORKVILLE--Barnesville took a few minutes to get rolling offensively Friday in Yorkville but once Trey Toliver scored from 2-yards out in the first quarter, it got the ball rolling quickly.
What was once a 7-0 game quickly evolved into a rout as Barnesville put up 50 points in the first half, bringing about the running clock in the second half.
When the final horn blew, the Shamrocks extended their regular-season win streak to 30 games with a 57-7 victory against Buckeye Local on Alumni Night at World War II Memorial Stadium.
Toliver's touchdown came with less than eight minutes to play in the first quarter, but two Shamrock interceptions of Buckeye quarterback A.J. McDiffitt turned into quick points.
Casey Carpenter hit Bradey McIntire from four yards out on fourth down for the second touchdown, followed by a Koby Jones 2-yard jaunt after the second pick.
Just like that, the visitors held a 22-0 advantage after one.
"Our defense put our offense in some great position and it felt like we were playing on one side of the field the entire first quarter," Barnesville head coach Blake Allen said as his team improved to 4-0. "We were able to capitalize on some short fields, get ahead early and ride the momentum into the half."
The Shamrocks scored four more times in the second quarter, ballooning the advantage to 50.
Carpenter found an open Cameron Carpenter on a passing play, and the latter took it 70 yards to the house.
After forcing a Buckeye punt, Cameron Carpenter then fielded a punt at his 35 and took it 65 yards to paydirt.
Casey Carpenter again hooked up with McIntire, this time from 42 yards out before a Jones 24-yard TD run capped the first half scoring.
Buckeye couldn't muster much offensively in the first half, minus a few tough yardage runs out of it's wishbone formation.
The Panthers' coaching staff and players knew the caliber of opponent coming to Yorkville on Friday, but was hoping his team would still go out and put up a fight on Alumni Night when the school honored the 30th anniversary of the Panthers' state runner-up team from 1995.
That, however, wasn't the case.
"We didn't prepare the way we needed to this week and I told the coaches in the locker room that I think we prepared the way we had the first three games," Buckeye head coach Chris Kiedaisch said. "We came out and they are a really good team and when you don't prepare for a really good team, this is what happens."
Despite going 1-2 in their first three games, the Panthers, even in defeat, put up a fight in losses to Bellaire and Union Local.
That wasn't the case Friday.
"I think they had an idea Barnesville was one of the best teams on our schedule, but for them to come out and lay down on Alumni Night is probably one of the most disappointing things," Kiedaisch said.
Buckeye finally got on the board when backup quarterback Grant Dombroski ran into the end zone from nine yards out.
The Panthers had a chance to score to begin the second half after Daniel Divjack took the kickoff and returned it into the Shamrocks' red zone. But Buckeye was turned away and turned the ball over on downs.
"The varsity did a great job taking control of the game and we were able to get a lot of kids some playing time," Allen said. "The backups did a nice job with the goal line stand and then coming back to answer a score in the fourth quarter."
Buckeye will look to bounce back next week when Monroe Central makes the trip to World War II Memorial while Barnesville will try to keep its streak going when it travels to Hannibal to face River.