Elida headed to state football

WAPAKONETA — This one belongs to the defense.

Elida’s offense took a back seat to the defense, which completely smothered Columbus Eastmoor.

Elida’s defense posted nine sacks in a convincing 37-10 victory over Eastmoor to capture the Division III Region 10 championship Friday at Harmon Field.

Elida (10-3) advances to its first football state semifinals against Springfield Shawnee (13-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at a site to be named. Eastmoor wraps up its season 10-3.

Elida’s Mitch Knotts came up with two big plays when he recovered two fumbles, including taking one back 45 yards for a TD.

“We talked about that mad-dog mindset,” Knotts said. “I think we outquicked them.”

Elida’s defense forced four turnovers and held the Warriors to 146 total yards, 38 coming on the ground.

“Our defense played lights out tonight,” Elida coach Jason Carpenter said. “The defensive was outstanding getting turnovers. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Of Elida’s nine sacks, defensive end Ian Dukehart had six sacks, while middle linebacker Quentin Poling had 13 tackles and two sacks.

“I just stayed low and used my speed against them because they couldn’t move,” Dukehart said of the 300-pounders on the Eastmoor offensive line.

Offensively, Elida quarterback Reggie McAdams completed 12 of 28 for 113 yards. He threw two TDs and had one intercepted. Austin Etzler caught six passes for 80 yards with TD catches of 29 and 20 yards.

The defense completely bottled up Eastmoor, holding it to 55 total yards in the first half, including minus-1 on the ground.

“I think they did a good job of scheming and bringing pressure,” Eastmoor coach Jim Miranda said. “We couldn’t get in sync. Our offensive line couldn’t block kand we couldn’t execute.”

Elida’s defense helped the Bulldogs score first.

Knotts recovered an Eastmoor fumble on the Warriors’ first possession when quarterback David Valdez fumbled a snap. Knotts pounced on it at the Eastmoor 20.

Two plays later, Elida’s Colin Blymyer went off right tackle for a 1-yard TD to give Elida a 7-0 lead. That came with 10:25 left in the first quarter.

The next time Elida had the ball the Bulldogs went 66 yards in seven plays for a score. McAdams hit Etzler on a fake-post, corner route for a 29-yard TD. That gave Elida a 14-0 lead with 5:35 left in the first quarter.

Nathan Jenkins’ 23-yard field goal pushed the Elida lead to 17-0 with 2:21 left in the first quarter.

Elida pumped the margin to 24-2 with 31 seconds left in the half thanks again to the defense. Dukehart was on his way to sacking Valdez for a 24-yard loss, when Valdez mysteriously tossed the ball up in the air. The ball flew out of his hands like toast ejecting from a toaster. Knotts scooped it up and went 45 yards for a TD.

“I remember blitzing and I saw the fumble. I looked, saw the ball and saw the end zone and said I had to go,” Knotts said.