Ross and Edgewood both went into Friday’s football game in Trenton hoping to clinch at least a share of the Southwest Ohio Conference championship.
Playing on their artificial turf at Kumler Field, the Cougars made a decisive claim.
Edgewood scored three second-quarter touchdowns and went on to steamroll Ross in a 42-0 win that guaranteed the Cougars at least a share of the 2021 Southwest Ohio Conference championship.
Running mostly behind senior right guard Radical Rothermel and sophomore right tackle Kohen Moore in their Wing-T offense, the Cougars got two rushing touchdowns from junior running back Tavionne Crosby and one each from senior running back Jaquan Dailey and senior quarterback Eli Jones on the way to their sixth straight win.
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Jones also completed a 70-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Braden Sullivan for Edgewood’s first score of the game and junior defensive back Brice Barker recovered a fumble and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown to complete the scoring after the game went to a running block late in the third quarter.
“That was our goal going into the game – get to a running clock,” Rothermel said. “That was a lot of fun.”
Edgewood (6-2, 4-0) can earn its first outright SWOC championship since 2017 with a win at Harrison on Friday. The Cougars and Wildcats shared the 2018 SWOC championship. Edgewood also won the 2016 title.
Ross (6-2, 3-1), the defending outright SWOC champion, was shut out for the first time since a 31-0 loss at Harrison on Sept. 15, 2017, according to the SWOC website. They still can forge a three-way tie for the SWOC title with a win at Mount Healthy on Friday and an Edgewood loss at Harrison.
The shutout win was Edgewood’s first since winning, 35-0, at Northwest on Sept. 20, 2019. The Cougars, who snapped a three-game losing streak in the series, went into the game ranked seventh in Division II, Region 8 Harbin computer ratings.
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Ross, ranked third in Division III, Region 12 Harbin computer ratings and No. 8 in the Associated Press Division III statewide Top 10 poll going into the game, was leading the SWOC with averages of 372.0 total yards and 325.9 rushing yards per game. The Cougars’ defense, ranked No. 1 in the conference in all categories, limited the Rams to 147 yards, all on the ground, according to statistics posted on the conference website.
“Anything I say now would sound like an excuse,” Commins said. “The bottom line is they just were better than us. They’re really good. They just out-physicalled us. We just couldn’t get out of our own way.”
Junior Layne Howell recovered a Ross fumble on Ross’s first play after Edgewood’s first touchdown, and Jones converted the turnover with his four-yard run around right end to complete an eight-play driver with 6:35 left in the second quarter.
The Rams seemed determined to get back into the game with their initial third-quarter possession and converted one fourth down, but Dailey stopped Aidan Brown for a three-yard loss on a second fourth-down shot at Edgewood’s 37-yard line and the Cougars scored second seven plays later on the way to taking a commanding 28-0 lead.
Ross 0-0-0-0 – 0
Edgewood 0-21-14-7 – 42
E – Sullivan 70 pass from Jones (Rumpler kick)
E – Jones 4 run (Rumpler kick)
E – Dailey 3 run (Rumpler kick)
E – Crosby 1 run (Rumpler kick)
E – Crosby 5 run (Rumpler kick)
E – Barker 97 fumble return (Rumpler kick)
Records: Ross 6-2 (3-1 Southwest Ohio Conference), Edgewood 6-2 (4-0 SWOC).
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