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Wildcats shut down Zeps for 35-0 win

By Mike Morrison 5 min read

WATERFORD -- To say the Waterford Wildcat defensive unit has come to play in 2026 would be a major understatement.

In their home opener Friday night against Shenandoah the Wildcats blanked their opponent for the second time in three games with a convincing 35-0 shellacking of the previously unbeaten Zeps.

Waterford has allowed just eight points in their first 12 quarters of football and limited their opponents to a combined 328 total yards in their first three games.

"Our defense played lights out again and they just keep bringing it," said Waterford head coach Eric McCutcheon. "Our coaches really get after them and they just keep responding."

The Mac McLean-coached Zeps were never able to move the ball inside the Wildcats 35-yard line and gained just 121 total yards and seven first downs in the game.

"Our defense for years has been able to keep us in every football game and we take a lot of pride in that," said McCutcheon.

One week after the Wildcat offense struggled to put up just 15 points against Caldwell including a game-winning touchdown with just seconds remaining on the clock they piled up the yards against Shenandoah.

Quarterback Avery Pottmeyer and running back Hayden Jones each eclipsed the century mark in rushing yards while Kameron Johnson had a great night on the ground as well as the Wildcats totaled 461 total yards including 353 yards on the ground on 43 rushes.

Jones got the scoring started for Waterford with a 16-yard touchdown run on the Wildcats opening possession.

Cale Harris added the extra point to give the 'Cats an early 7-0 lead.

After forcing the Zeps to punt on their next possession the Wildcats struck again when they marched 72 yards on seven plays capped by a seven-yard touchdown run by Jones.

The Waterford defense put a couple of points on the board when they backed Shenandoah all the way back to their 10-yard line where a bad snap rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety and a 16-0 Waterford lead.

The Wildcats took the kickoff and were able to methodically move the ball once again as they took just six plays to pick up 54 yards with Jones sealing

the deal once again with a one-yard touchdown run to increase their lead to 23-0.

Shenandoah managed to hang around in the game thanks to their defense being able to come up with three interceptions of passes thrown by Pottmeyer.

"Avery is a pretty solid quarterback for us and we are super excited to have him back there," said McCutcheon. "He had a couple of misreads and I think he was just trying to push the envelope a little bit and he will learn from it."

The Zeps were unable to capitalize on any of the Wildcat miscues as the score remained 23-0 at the halftime break.

Jones picked up his fourth touchdown of the game on a 24-yard scamper in the third period and Pottmeyer capped the scoring with a 11-yard touchdown run midway through the final quarter that increased the lead to 35-0 and forced the running clock into motion.

Pottmeyer led the way by carrying the ball 13 times for 120 yards while also completing 8-of-14 pass attempts for 108 yards.

Jones rushed the ball 15 times for 103 yards while Kameron Johnson picked up 87 yards on just seven carries.

"Our offense is coming and I'm super excited about that," said McCutcheon. "Kam Johnson had a great game tonight, Hayden got his yards like he always does and Avery (Pottmeyer) got us some big yards on those RPO's."

Waterford was so efficient that they never once punted the football away to the Zeps.

"We are a running team and everybody knows that so we just have to keep getting better in the trenches," said McCutcheon. "Our guys on the line were incredible and stuck together on a very hot and humid night."

Shenandoah was led by Davyn Kunkle with 37 yards on eight carries while quarterback Brody Brown carried the ball seven times for 17 yards.

The loss was the first of the season for Shenandoah (2-1) who will next travel to Buckeye Trail.

The Wildcats will have little time to relish their 3-0 start before turning their attention to their annual cross-river showdown with the undefeated Fort Frye Cadets next Friday in Beverly.

"That's a huge game for us against a team that brings it every week and we try to bring it every week and one time a year we get to match up and go head-to-head against one another," said McCutcheon, whose team has not beaten the Cadet since 2007. "They look forward to it, we look forward to it and it's a great atmosphere. We are going to have a great week of practice and see what happens."

Waterford 35, Shenandoah 0

S (2-1) 0 0 0 0 -- 0

W (3-0) 14 9 6 6 -- 35

W: Hayden Jones 16 run (Cale Harris kick) 7:17, 1st

W: Jones 7 run (Harris kick) 20.4, 1st

W: Safety (Ball Snapped Out Of End Zone) 3:49, 2nd

W: Jones 1 run (Harris kick) 2:00, 2nd

W: Jones 24 run (Kick Blocked) 1:19, 3rd

W: Avery Pottmeyer 11 run (Kick No Good) 6:40, 4th

Team Stats

Shenandoah: First downs: 7, Rushes-yards: 24-45, Passing yards: 76, Total yards: 121, Passing: 9-19-1, Fumbles-lost: 1-1, Penalties-yards: 6-54, Punts-avg: 4-35.8.

Waterford: First downs: 23, Rushes-yards: 43-353, Passing yards: 108, Total yards: 461, Passing: 8-14-3, Fumbles-lost: 3-0, Penalties-yards: 4-50, Punts-avg: None

Individual stats

Shenandoah: Rushing: Davyn Kunkle: 8-37, Brody Brown 7-17, Robert Snodgrass: 4-(-3), Hunter McCollum 3-(-6), Passing: Brown: 9-17-0 76yds, Kunkle 0-1-0, Jaxon Wukelich 0-1-1, Receiving: Taige McPeek: 4-39, Cale Miller 2-4, Wukelich: 1-20, Kunkle: 1-7, Jamison Archer: 1-6.

Waterford: Rushing: Avery Pottmeyer 13-120, Hayden Jones: 15-103, Kameron Johnson: 7-87, Ryder Wolfe 2-16, Devin Pottmeyer: 4-15, Phallyn Hutchins: 2-12, Passing: A. Pottmeyer: 8-14-3, 108yds, Receiving: D. Pottmeyer 3-61, H. Jones 2-33, K. Johnson 2-12, Brayden Smith: 1-2.

Next games: Waterford at Fort Frye, Shenandoah at Buckeye Trail.

Starting at /week.