BELLBROOK — Taft football saw its season come to an end Saturday night with a 14-0 loss to Versailles in the Division V regional semifinals at Bellbrook High School's Miami Valley South Stadium.
After the game, first-year head coach Tyler Williams was trying to lift his team's spirits as he reminded them of all they accomplished this fall. Taft finished 9-3 and was the first Cincinnati Public School program to advance to the Ohio High School Athletic Association regional semifinals. Just a few years ago, CPS teams had gone more than two decades without a single postseason win.
"It means a lot, but I honestly expect more from my guys," Williams said. "I would like to continue to win and for them to understand that it's not an easy road. I want this loss to burn. Not just for the players, but for the coaches to understand that our grind has to be way harder to make it through that next hoop."
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Williams' Taft tenure began with an 0-2 start this season, but the Senators rallied to win nine consecutive games, wrapping up a Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference championship in the process, heading into Saturday's regional semifinal. Williams was also named the CMAC coach of the year.
"They started to focus. They started to play together as a brotherhood and not point fingers. They understood that it was bigger than them; it was more for our program and for our community," Williams said of his team's streak.
Saturday was a night of missed opportunities for the top-seeded Senators, who looked to take an early lead after a muffed Versailles' punt attempt gave them great starting field position. Taft, using its signature run-heavy attack, churned out a first down into the red zone, but running back Jahmar Richardson was stopped on fourth-and-1 from the Tigers' 3-yard line with 1:47 left in the opening frame.
"We actually thought one of the referees said we had a first down (before the fourth-down play)," Williams said. "We would've actually sped it up a little bit more no-huddle if we would've knew we didn't have the first down. That right there turned the game a little bit with that stop."
Versailles then embarked on the first of two 97-yard scoring marches. The Tigers used their own rushing attack behind quarterback Carson Bey and running backs Jack Osborn and Landon Henry to methodically march to pay-dirt. Osborne and Henry each finished with 50 yards rushing on a combined 19 attempts and Bey, who led Versailles to the regional semifinals last season, had 60 yards on a dozen carries.
Bey's 1-yard quarterback sneak with 7:18 left in the second quarter gave Versailles a 7-0 lead that would stand up going into the intermission. Taft would run out the final seven-plus minutes on its ensuing drive, but three holding penalties turned a promising possession into an empty one.
Taft's defense, which posted three shutouts in October and had allowed just 13 points combined in the first two rounds of the playoffs, stood strong early in the second half. Elias Rudolph recovered an Osborne fumble on Versailles' opening drive of the third quarter, then Taft forced a turnover on downs with Versailles knocking on the red zone door.
Taft's most explosive play of the night came through the air when sophomore quarterback Anton Canady hit Ke'yandre Larry for 45 yards to the Versailles' 30. Three plays later, though, Canady was picked off by Versailles' corner Eli McEldowney at the 3-yard line.
Versailles would then begin its second 97-yard march to put the game away. Bey hit McEldowney for 22 yards on the first play when Taft did not see the receiver line up at the top of the field.
"They had a guy break late and we didn't see it when we tried to come in and get a timeout, but the ref was a little bit too far down," Williams said. "He blended in and before you knew it he was throwing it to him."
The Tigers would not go to the air for the rest of the night, dialing up 12 consecutive run plays to cover the final 75 yards. Fullback Titus Gehret bruised his way for 10 yards into the red zone, then Bey sliced in from eight yards out to cap the game's scoring at 14-0.
Both 97-yard drives by the Tigers could come down to a pair of crucial fourth-down conversions. In the first half, Versailles faced a fourth-and-9 when Bey found a sliding McEldowney near the sideline. In the second half, Bey picked up a fourth-and-1 when his quarterback sneak went for 13 yards.
"It doesn't happen too much (against us)," Williams said of Versailles' two scoring drives. "We always tell our guys, 'bend, but don't break.' They're a great coached team, well-put-together team. Those guys wanted it just a little bit more than us. They've been here before. We're still in the process of learning. This was great for our kids and our program to see how you gotta take that next step and on and off the field you gotta continue to work hard."
Versailles' defense went to work in preserving its fourth shutout of the season, forcing back-to-back Taft turnovers on downs to end the game. It was the first time Taft had been shut out since Sept. 6, 2019.
More:Here is the Cincinnati Enquirer's high school sports postseason coverage, Nov. 8-14
Versailles moves on to face Preble Shawnee in the Division V regional championship game next weekend. The Arrows did their own Greater Cincinnati hunting when they knocked out Roger Bacon Saturday night at Lakota West, 35-28.
Versailles 14, Taft 0
Taft — 0 0 0 0 — 0
Versailles — 0 7 0 7 — 14
V— Bey 1 run (McEldowney kick)
V— Bey 8 run (McEldowney kick)
Records: V 12-1, T 9-3
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