COAL GROVE – The Coal Grove Junior Hornets put number 16 in the record books, but they needed a little help from the Fairland Dragons.

Coal Grove was sitting at 2-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference Middle School and needed two things to happen.

First, the Hornets had to defeat Rock Hill, which is never an easy task. Second, they needed a Fairland victory over Chesapeake.

They got both.

The Hornets were able to defeat Rock Hill 28-0 while Fairland won a thriller over Chesapeake 28-22. The combination put the Hornets in a three-way tie with the Dragons and Panthers as all three teams finished with identical OVC records of 3-1 and 6-1 overall.

Coal Grove started out quickly taking only three plays to put the first score on the board. Greg Bender rumbled in from 5 yards giving the Hornets an early 6-0 lead.

The Redmen fumbled on their first possession giving the Hornets a short field at the Rock Hill 35. A few plays later, Corey Sherman sprinted in from 7 yards for the score.

Bubba Wood added the two-point conversion giving Coal Grove a 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Rock Hill would punt on their next series but would get the ball back six plays later when the Hornets fumbled a reverse. The Redmen would be forced to punt again, this time pinning the Grove on their 12-yard line.

In traditional Coal Grove fashion, the Hornets would put together another long drive going 88 yards in 15 plays while eating up over seven minutes of clock. The drive was capped off with Wood bashing in from 5 yards out.

Sherman added the conversion setting the halftime score 22-0.

The Hornets would add another score late in the third quarter when Cody Gool plunged in from 1-yard out setting the final score at 28-0.

Wood led the Hornets ground attack with 135 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion. Rye Goodwin went 3-for-4 for 58 yards with all completions going to Devin Monnier.

For the season the Hornet offense averaged more than 27 points per game. Wood led the ground game with 885 yards on 100 carries averaging

nearly 9 yards per carry.

Wood led the team in touchdowns with 12 while teammate Jake Murphy added five scores and Sherman added two.

Rye Goodwin was the triggerman at quarterback completing 17 of 30 for 228 yards and two touchdowns. Monnier and Eric Knipp were Goodwin’s main targets.

The offensive line was anchored by center Steven Boyd. Also up front were guards Eli Pennington and Jared Eldridge, tackles Dylan Melvin and Drew Tate, and ends Zach Carey, Knipp and Monnier.

Linebackers Justin Delawder, Pennington, Bender and Boyd all led coach Layne Wireman’s defense that gave up less than 8 points per game. Melvin was the leading scorer for the defense with a touchdown and a safety.

Other 8th graders contributing were Shelby Norris, Jordan Rigsby, Justin Hildreth, Shannon Ghee, Bryan Jenkins and Cody Gool.

Coaches were head coach Rick Barrett and assistants Jared Keaton, Brian Kidd and Wireman.

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