“I feel like we could have played a whole lot better,” said Wildcats senior Royce Rogers, who was crowned homecoming king at halftime. “We should have let up a whole lot less yards. I don’t feel like we played as good as we should be defensively. We have to play a whole lot better in order for us to beat Fairmont next week. We’re looking for a great week of practice this week, preparing for that.”
Springfield senior running back Deontre Long rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats beat Beavercreek 31-0 in a Greater Western Ohio Conference game on Friday night at Wildcat Stadium.
Wildcats junior CJ Wallace went 12-for-15 for 116 yards, tossing TD passes to senior Sherrod Lay, Jr. and junior Braylon Keyes as Springfield won its fifth straight game, improving to 5-3 and 5-0 in the GWOC.
Their performance, however, wasn’t what the coaching staff was looking for, said Wildcats coach Maurice Douglass.
“We’re thankful for the win, but we’re not happy with the performance that we had the first half or the whole game to be honest,” Douglass said. “I’m not a fan (of homecoming). You got to have homecoming, but I’m not a fan. It’s the worst day because everybody is distracted. They’re so focused on the wrong thing that you forget about the game, the thing that people are really here for. I’m so glad it’s over, but glad to be 5-0 (in the GWOC).”
The Wildcats hold a one-game lead over Wayne (5-3, 4-1) in the GWOC with two games to play. Springfield travels to Fairmont (3-5, 3-2) next week with a chance to earn a share of the GWOC title. The Firebirds fell to Springboro 16-12 on Friday night at CareFlight Field.
Springfield senior kicker Natalie Erdman kicked a 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to make it 31-0 and trigger the running clock.
Beavers junior Kelvin Keyes rushed for 47 yards as Beavercreek fell to 3-5 and 2-3 in the GWOC.
This story will be updated with quotes, photos and video.
“We are working through our foundational things, trying to continue to be a good football team,” said Beavers coach Trace Smitherman. “We are a good football team. We’re in the juggernaut part of our schedule, so things are hard. You get to go to - surprise - Springfield at Springfield right as they are trying to get things rolling. We are young team to a certain extent. We’re learning, you just don’t want to learn lessons in this capacity.”
“We’re fighting our butts off right now coming off of tough loss and the reward is Springfield,” Smitherman said. " It’s just tough. We’re trying to get our mindsets right and do things the right way."
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