Schneider threw three touchdown passes and running back Jayden Davis punctuated the win with a punishing 64-yard touchdown run on Kenton Ridge’s home field.
The win kept Kenton Ridge (7-0) atop the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Division at 2-0. It also solidified their spot in the Division III, Region 10 playoff chase.
Shawnee (4-3) dropped to 1-1 in the CBC and needs to win out to have a shot at the playoffs.
“Our seniors haven’t beaten Shawnee in their career. It’s only the third time since I’ve back here 14 years,” Kenton Ridge coach Joel Marratta said. “It feels pretty good. We’re going to enjoy this one tonight, but we can’t let that get away from us because we have three games left.”
The Braves came in confident after knocking off then-undefeated Tippecanoe last week and riding a four-game winning streak. They grabbed a 7-0 lead on a 50-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Alec Bennett to Dusty Seelig. It could have been 14-0 if not for a penalty for an ineligible receiver downfield.
The Cougars rallied after that.
Schneider hit Justin Conley and Casey Turner for TDs covering 11 and 72 yards. The last one came 51 seconds before the half, hitting Turner down the middle and stunning Shawnee for the 13-7 halftime lead.
Shawnee pulled to 20-14 on Alec Bennett’s 10-yard run in the third quarter. But KR — and especially Davis — responded with that big touchdown run. Davis eluded a couple of defenders with a stop-and-go run on the slip-and-slide turf. He picked up a key block before shoving away the final defender to make it 27-14.
Schneider then found Conley for a 31-yard scoring strike for the final 34-14 score.
Shawnee’s defense slowed Davis — the CBC’s leading rusher with 936 yards entering the came — but struggled to do the same with Schneider. He ripped off a 67-yard run to set up KR’s first TD. One play before taking the 13-7 lead, Schneider ran 22 yards on third down to keep the drive alive. Another 22-yard scramble set up the 3-yard plunge by Christian Smith.
“I think with the season Jayden is having in the backfield, you have to pick your poison if you’re on defense,” Marratta said. “With people keying on Jayden that just opens the door for Mitchell. If you’re going to key on certain guys, we hope we have certain guys who can hurt you. It was Mitchell’s night.”
The Cougars’ defense. meanwhile, slowed down the CBC’s top-ranked offense that came in averaging 508 yards per game. Davis had a pair of interceptions and Conley added another.
KR also stuffed Shawnee on a fourth-and-goal run from KR’s 2-yard line in the first half.
Next up is a battle with Bellefontaine (5-2). Also standing in the way of a perfect regular season is Stebbins (4-3), which knocked off Tecumseh on Friday, and Tipp (6-1) to end the season.
“We’ll get a look at Bellefontaine on film (Saturday morning) and we’ll go from there,” Marratta said. “We’ll see what we can draw up on the chalkboard. Hopefully we’ll put a great plan together and the kids will be able to execute it.”
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