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Belpre drops season opener to Fisher Catholic, 28-19

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

BELPRE – In a season-opening Division VII, Region 27 showdown here Friday night at Ralph Holder Stadium, Fisher Catholic watched Belpre strike first, but the Irish responded with the next four touchdowns to help secure a 28-19 victory.

The Golden Eagles of first-year head coach Brian Hutchinson traded punts to open the affair against the Irish and then scored the game's first six-pointer when Malik Currie found AJ Copen for a 47-yard scoring strike as the visitors trailed 7-0 at the 9:15 mark following Malakai Ensor's extra point.

Sam Tencza, who had 15 carries and a game-high 112 yards rushing, raced for 11 stripes and the Irish's initial first down of the campaign to start the ensuing drive. Four plays later, Blake Wohrer sprinted 43 yards to paydirt as just 65 seconds after the Golden Eagles' score it was 7-7 following Gordon Crabtree's PAT.

Belpre used a 22-yard completion to Ensor and then a 7-yard scamper by Currie to cross midfield, but Tencza had a sack that helped force a Golden Eagles punt.

The Irish then needed eight plays to take the lead for good as Tencza darted 32 yards to the end zone to make it 14-7 with 1:20 remaining in the first after another Crabtree conversion.

Although the Golden Eagles forced another punt, their next drive resulted in an interception by Justin Schmelzer, but the ball was at the Irish 4.

The BHS defense stood tall once again and forced a three-and-out, but Crabtree's punt was a low liner that Gunner Willis tried to snag. However, he was unable to corral the pigskin and Gavin Thomas was Johnny-on-the-spot and pounced on the loose ball, but the Irish couldn't take advantage.

A Belpre fumble on the first play of its next drive was recovered by Jude Clum and this time the Irish of head man Luke Thimmes cashed in when Damian Neal grabbed a 4-yard touchdown pass from James Wilkinson, which set the halftime score at 21-7.

Fisher Catholic, which held a 159-68 total yards advantage at intermission but finished with just a 279-234 edge, extended its lead to 28-7 after Wilkinson and Tencza hooked up for a 51-yard touchdown to open the second half.

"They have a good team. We were hungry," admitted Hutchinson, whose squad plays host next Friday to Sciotoville East. "Just a couple young guys, a couple mistakes and then we're playing catch up the rest of the game, but I couldn't be prouder of the fight.

"The score doesn't reflect what the defense did tonight. I thought they played out of their minds. We talked about big plays, but that's kind of how that offense runs. They want to lull you to sleep and then hit you with something big."

Down but not out, Belpre responded with a touchdown when Currie found Jayden Gibbs all alone for a 54-yard score. However, the extra point was blocked and the Golden Eagles trailed 28-13 with 8:04 left in the third.

Belpre's final six-pointer was aided by the defense as Maverick McCartney not only stripped Tencza, but then fell on the ball to secure the recovery. That led to the final score of the affair as Ensor made a leaping grab and then bolted to the end zone for a 50-yard TD, but the final score was set with 10:28 still remaining after the two-point conversion pass failed.

"We had some big plays and the effort is there," added Hutchinson. "Some of them didn't need to be as dramatic, but the boys are playing hard and made some plays when they weren't there and we're very proud of them.

"We need to run the ball more and that will set up the other things, but we're still learning. We have two freshmen on the offensive line and we have three seniors and we're trying to sprinkle them in there so they'll have help. We'll get there. We're going to keep building and just try to go 1-0 next week."

Fisher Catholic, which welcomes in Tuscarawas Central Catholic next Friday, held the Golden Eagles to 19 yards rushing on 19 attempts.

Currie finished 8 of 22 for 215 yards with two interceptions as Gibbs (3-90) and Ensor (3-78) were his top targets.

Wilkinson went 7 of 13 for 98 yards with Tencza hauling in three passes for 65 yards.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Fisher Catholic 28, Belpre 19

FCHS (1-0) 14 7 7 0 – 28

BHS (0-1) 7 0 6 6 – 19

B: AJ Copen 47 pass from Malik Currie (Malakai Ensor kick) 9:15, 1st

FC: Blake Wohrer 43 run (Gordon Crabtree kick) 8:05, 1st

FC: Sam Tencza 32 run (Crabtree kick), 1:20, 1st

FC: Damian Neal 4 pass from James Wilkinson (Crabtree kick) 1:12, 2nd

FC: Tencza 51 pass from Wilkinson (Crabtree) 9:47, 3rd

B: Jayden Gibbs 54 pass from Currie (kick blocke) 8:04, 3rd

B: Ensor 50 pass from Currie (pass failed) 10:28, 4th

Team stats

FCHS: First downs: 12; Rushes-yards: 41-181; Passing yards: 98; Total yards: 279; Passing: 7-13-0; Punts-average: 5-23.0; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 6-60

BHS: First downs: 8; Rushes-yards: 19-19; Passing yards: 215; Total yards: 234; Passing: 8-22-2; Punts-average: 4-34.3; Fumbles-lost: 3-2; Penalties-yards: 9-79

Individual stats

FCHS: Rushing: Team 1-(-3), James Wilkinson 6-(-5), Sam Tencza 15-112, Ethan O'Rielley 16-33, Blake Wohrer 3-44; Passing: Wilkinson 7-13-0, 98 yards; Receiving: Tencza 3-65, Wohrer 1-8, O'Rielley 1-4, Damian Neal 2-21

Belpre: Rushing: Malik Currie 10-14, Alex Parker 3-2, Carson Woodford 5-5, Jayden Gibbs 1-(-2); Passing: Team 0-1-0, 0 yards; Currie 8-22-2, 215 yards; Receiving: Gibbs 3-90, Malakai Ensor 3-78, Parker 1-0, AJ Copen 1-47

Next games: Sciotoville East at Belpre on Friday; Tuscarawas Central Catholic at Fisher Catholic on Friday.

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