COAL GROVE — It was billed as a battle of unbeatens. It lived up to its billing.

The Coal Grove Hornets and Minford Falcons entered Friday’s game 3-0 and expecting a difficult game and it didn’t disappoint anyone as Minford held on for a 21-14 win.

Both teams had strong running games but the Falcons had some success in the passing game that enabled them to win.

All of Coal Grove’s 201 yards came on the ground including 114 by Frank Delawder on 21 carries.

“I can’t say enough about our offensive line. We just came up a little short,” said Hornets coach Dave Lucas.

“It was a good game. Our kids hung in there and battled the whole ball game. If we could got a break or two, things might have been different. But they have a good team.”

With 2:07 left in the first quarter, Minford began a drive at the Hornets’ 43. Eight plays later Cody McRoberts ran 5 yards for the touchdown and Derek Pennington’s kick made the score 7-0.

After an exchange of punts, Coal Grove took over at its own 38 and marched the distance in eight plays. Frank Delawder carried six times in the drive including the final yard and Taylor Dean’s conversion kick tied the game with 4:01 left in the half.

Minford used an 18-yard pass from Aaron Oesch to Shaz Malone to get the ball to the Hornets 24. Four plays later McRoberts rushed 4 yards and take a 14-7 lead with 42 seconds on the clock.

The Hornets (3-1) put together one of their traditional time-consuming drives to begin the second half by going 65 yards in 12 plays. Delawder ran 3 yards for the touchdown to tie the game.

But Minford (4-0) used a 28-yard kickoff return by Brandon McCormick and the Falcons began the drive at their own 48.

A 20-yard pass from Oesch to McRoberts got the ball to the 2-yard line where Trent Reynolds took over and scored on the next play to give Minford the lead for good.

Coal Grove got to the Minford 32 on the next series but turned the ball over on downs.

In the fourth quarter, Coal Grove ran only five plays in two possessions. The second opportunity ended with an interception at the Hornets own 26.

Reynolds finished with 101 yards as the Falcons racked up 221 rushing yards. Oesch was 3 of 5 passing for 49 yards.

Minford01470=21

Coal Grove0770=14

Second Quarter

Mi — Cody McRoberts 5 run (Derek Pennington kick) 10:34

CG — Frank Delawder 1 run (Tayor Dean kick) 4:01

Mi — McRoberts 4 run (Pennington kick) 0:42

Third Quarter

CG — Frank Delawder 3 run (Dean kick) 5:03

Mi — Trent Reynolds 2 run (Pennington kick) 2:38

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MinCG

First downs1412

Rushes-yards44-22141-201

Passing yards490

Total yards340201

Cmp-Att-Int.3-5-00-5-1

Fumbles-lost0-02-2

Penalties-yards8-606-35

Punts-average2-37.54-29.7

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Minford: Aaron Oesch 7-14, Cody McRoberts 9-47, Trent Reynolds 18-101, Ethan Gaines 7-47, Brandon McCormick 3-12; Coal Grove: Frank Delawder 21-114, Jacob Jenkins 8-34, Matt Cooper 10-39, Chris Brammer 2-14.

PASSING—Minford: Aaron Oesch 3-5-0 49; Coal Grove: Zack Murphy 0-4-0, Frank Delawder 0-1-1.

RECEIVING—Minford: Cody McRoberts 2-31, Shaz Malone 1-18; Coal Grove: None.