Starfires trounce Bellmont in one half, 49-7

DANE FUELLING

WZBD.com

Friday night’s big matchup between two Adams County schools had just about everything.

What it didn’t have was four quarters of smashmouth football.

The Z Team sums up the game and gives the scoring rundown for the Starfire victory in Decatur Friday night.

Instead, the South Adams Starfires turned their ship around and gained a lot of confidence in their offense with Tytus Lehman at the helm, smashing Bellmont for seven touchdowns in a 49-7 victory.

*South Adams QB Tytus Lehman makes a throw going to his left as he is chased by Bellmont’s Grady Baker. (Photo by Tara Riehm)*

It was unorthodox to say the least.

The two teams emerged from the halftime locker room talks to warm up for a second half that would have included a running clock, but instead went right back after lightning lit up the sky across the St. Marys.

A lightning delay was declared and 30 minutes were put on the stadium scoreboard, creating a mass exodus of fans from both sides of the field. They had little faith that the lightning would relent and just minutes later, both coaches agreed that there was little to be gained by waiting for hours just to hope that the situation would change.

The teams likely could have gotten the game in before the weather, but a long injury delay took nearly 30 minutes at the end of the quarter.

*Will Patterson gets around the corner and goes in for the touchdown to give the visitors a 21-7 lead. (Photo by Tara Riehm)*

After a South Adams touchdown put the Starfires up 21-7, Will Kintz fielded the kickoff and went straight upfield, where he was met by a head-on tackle by Drew Subler. Both players immediately went down and a hush came over the crowd. Kintz was able to sit up and eventually be helped off by teammates, but Subler reported numbness and was stabilized by trainers, coaches and teammates as medical help was summoned.

*Friday night’s game came to a standstill after this hit, delivered by Drew Subler to Will Kintz. (Photo by Tara Riehm)*

Subler eventually left the field of play strapped to a stretcher, carried by four teammates and two medics, before being placed on a stretcher and taken away by ambulance.

The teams spent a few minutes warming back up, but it was essentially all South Adams from the point of the injury until halftime.

Manny Juarez picks off Easton Curtis on the first play of the second quarter.

Tytus Lehman picked up big chunks of yards at a time and threw two more touchdown passes, one to Derek McKean (his best throw of the night, shown below) and another to Caiden Neuenschwander.

Noah Hunley added an impressive pick-six and Dillan Ramirez added the exclamation mark with a 40-yard run with less than two minutes to play.

The Braves, on the other hand, did not find the same offensive success they enjoyed in moving the ball against Heritage, struggling to just 41 yards of offense.

Two fumbles, two interceptions and four penalties all compounded the Braves’ problems ahead of the start of the NE8 schedule in Week 3.

The lone highlight for the team was a long fumble return by senior Gavin Krull, who went the distance for six.

*Gavin Krull scores Bellmont’s lone touchdown on an interception return in the first quarter. (Photo by Tara Riehm)*

Gavin Krull runs back a fumble for a TD in the first quarter to tie the ballgame.

The Starfires now enter the game against Bluffton at home in Week 3 with the confidence of Tytus Lehman’s 194 yards passing (and an additional 12 yards on the ground on four carries). The ability to hit five different receivers for big gains will also intrigue Starfire fans.