Waterford’s Hayden Jones (3) carries the ball as Strasburg-Franklin’s Gage Moore (6) goes in for the tackle during Friday’s regional quarterfinal matchup. Waterford won, 42-7. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WATERFORD – Ryker Hutchins’ pregame message to his fellow linemen basically resonated throughout the entire Waterford football team in an Ohio Division VII, Region 27 quarterfinal game, Friday night against Strasburg-Franklin.

With an intensity in his voice, Hutchins said he did not want his final game as a senior to end. And despite falling behind 7-0 on a fumble return early in the first quarter, Waterford thoroughly dominated on both sides of the ball in a 42-7 win.

“Our kids are clicking on all cylinders – we just can’t wait to get back to work,” Waterford coach Eric McCutcheon said. “Obviously, the playoffs get harder. We need to stay focused and keep grinding.”

The Wildcats, ranked second in the region, improve to 9-2 and host No. 11 seed Danville (7-5) next week in a regional semifinal.

“I did not want to lose and this be my last game,” said Hutchins, who had a clean game at center with his snaps despite a wet and muddy surface which he prepared for by snapping with a wet football during practices leading up to game night. As the primary placekicker, he also converted all six extra points.

Waterford head coach Eric McCutcheon, left, pleads his case to an official during the Wildcats’ 42-7 regional quarterfinal win over Strasburg-Franklin Friday. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“I just really wanted to shut them out and send them home,” Hutchins continued. “Other than that early fumble, they did nothing.”

Stats truly don’t lie how one-sided the final 3 1/2 quarters played out. Following Waterford’s opening offensive series that resulted in Strasburg’s Gage Moore covering 66 yards on the fumble return for a touchdown, the Wildcats scored on six straight possessions.

“On the fumble, Strasburg had a double blitz on us – our guys just weren’t ready for it,” coach McCutcheon said. “We worked on it in practice, but when you get into a playoff atmosphere our kids panicked. We knew we were playing a solid football team.

“Once we were done with that, our kids were rolling on both sides of the ball.”

Hayden Jones, who rushed for 93 yards and caught three passes for 47 yards, scored three touchdowns. Trevin Zimmer, who finished with 106 yards on just nine carries, rushed for one TD and caught a pass for another.

Waterford’s Weston Fairchild navigates his way around Strasburg-Franklin defenders during Friday’s 42-7 regional quarterfinal win. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Quarterback Avery Pottmeyer threw incomplete passes on his first two attempts of the night then ended the night by connecting on 12 of his final 14 attempts for 182 yards. The junior used his feet to account for an 8-yard TD run.

Jones’ 10-yard score at the 3:46 mark of the third quarter closed out the scoring and put a running clock in play.

“Hayden is a phenomenal running back for us — he blocks as well as anybody and does all the little things,” McCutcheon said. “Avery is doing a good job back there at quarterback. He is doing a phenomenal job.”

Defensively, same story for Waterford. Strasburg, the No. 7 seed which ends the season at 8-4, managed just one first down and produced a grand total of 1 yard of total offense thanks to several significant tackles for loss by the Wildcats in the fourth quarter. Tylor McDougal was responsible for two, including a quarterback sack on the Tigers’ final series of the night.

Before exiting the game in lieu of the reserves, Weston Hennes registered two quarterback sacks.

Waterford’s Weston Hennes (54) lays out to wrap up Strasburg-Franklin’s Micah McVey (3) during Friday’s regional quarterfinal matchup. Waterford won, 42-7. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“We couldn’t hang our heads about the fumble return and something that happened in the past – we still had almost 48 minutes of football,” said Jones, who also started at outside linebacker. “Our front four on defense just dominated the whole night. Then us linebackers, we were doing a great job at reading.”

Zimmer turned in the play of the night, zig-zagging, weaving and juking defenders down the sideline for a 62-yard gain which took the Wildcats from deep out of their own end of the field. The senior running back nearly reached the red zone before getting crushed out of bounds.

Following a lengthy stoppage of play for an injury, Waterford eventually scored on Jones’ 1-yard run to put the Wildcats in front 21-7 with 5:02 remaining before halftime.

“The guy tackled me and threw an elbow on my shoulder, went into my facemask and poked me in the eye,” Zimmer said. “It’s OK. Since my freshman year, I’ve always wanted to be a running back for Waterford. Couldn’t do anything without my offensive line.

“It was a wet night, and a shout out for our snapper Ryker Hutchins. He was always getting the ball back there and not fumbling. That was really nice.”

Zimmer actually returned to the field during the same series he was shaken up and added a carry for another 11 yards. Waterford tacked on one more TD before halftime to push the gap to 28-7.

“These past two weeks, we came here for at 5 p.m. and practiced until 8 p.m. – we always spent an hour of film just knowing what they do and all their plays, and look how it turned out,” Zimmer added.

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com