Pomeroy Pirates collar the Bulldogs
Oct. 7—POMEROY — 111 years ago, the Dayton Bulldogs and the Pomeroy Pirates played against each other for the first time. The score of that game was 62-0 Dayton. In the 109th meeting that took place between the two teams on Friday, Pomeroy (5-1, 4-1) was the team on the right end of the shutout.
Dayton (2-3, 2-3) fell 76-0 on Friday at Lybecker Field in Pomeroy.
"It's good to renew the rivalry," Pomeroy coach Kyle Kimble said. "It was good to have (Dayton) out and I think our boys played really, really well tonight."
The Pirates played so well that, for the majority of the game, the starters watched from the sidelines. But the starters made sure to make their impact felt before their day was done.
Wasting no time
The first two plays from scrimmage were good indicators at how the rest of the game was going to proceed. Walker Flynn took a handoff 64 yards for the touchdown on the first play of the game. On the next play from scrimmage, the Bulldogs couldn't get the snap down and fumbled. Ollie Severs recovered the ball at Dayton's 6-yard line and returned it for a touchdown.
The fumbled snap was the first in a night full of miscues for the short-handed Bulldogs. The visitors only suited 10 players (one of which was injured on a kickoff return in the second quarter) out of 18 listed on the roster. In total, Dayton had six fumbles, three were recovered by Pomeroy, and threw two picks.
The Bulldogs also did not record a positive play until 2:04 was left in the first half.
"We've got to be able to snap the ball," Dayton coach Lucas Collier said. "I've got to get kids healthy. And the biggest thing is we're so young and such a freshman-heavy team. Got to make sure they held their head up high at the end. I don't care if it's win or lose, I don't want them to beat themselves up over a football game."
Going with the reserves
With more than seven minutes left in the first quarter, the Pirates put in their reserves. The backups scored six of Pomeroy's 10 touchdowns and, aside from a penalty problem (10 flags for 80 yards), the secondary offense and defense was able to show that depth is not something Kimble and the rest of the coaching staff need to be concerned about.
"We can do what we need to do, we can become what we need to become," Kimble said. "I think we can be what we need to be on any given day, we know what we are, and we know how to fix what ails us."
More than football
This is the first season Dayton has fielded its own 8-man football squad in nearly a decade. In previous years, the team would co-op with neighboring Waitsburg to put a squad together. The Bulldogs this year feature multiple players that have never played and coaches that have never coached before this season.
Kimble and his coaching staff have communicated and met with Collier and his staff to offer pointers and discussion to try to build the rebooted Bulldogs team up. Kimble after the game expressed concern in making sure that Dayton was healthy enough to proceed in the season, and Collier expressed gratitude in the newly-formed friendship with Kimble and the Pomeroy coaching staff.
"Kyle's stepped up a lot and offered a friendship," Collier said. "That is beyond meaningful. I'm a new head coach, my whole staff is new to coaching. ... Coming back to (8-man football) with Kyle supporting me, supporting our team, helping me out every step up the way — you can't put words on that. That's just showing me the sportsmanship and brotherhood of football all the way across the board."
Additional stats
Ollie Severs had two fumble recoveries, including his scoop-and-score. Reisinger in addition to his touchdown run had an interception and Boone Schmidt had one of his own.
The Pirates finished with 309 yards rushing and nine out of 10 of their touchdowns came on the ground. Levi Bowen had three TDs and Braxton McKeirnan had three of his own — two rushing and one receiving.
Dayton 0 0 0 0—0
Pomeroy 46 8 16 6—76
FIRST QUARTER
POMEROY — Walker Flynn 64 run (Jett Slusser run)
POMEROY — Ollie Severs fumble recovery (Jacob Reisinger run)
POMEROY — Reisinger 13 run (Severs pass from Slusser)
POMEROY — Slusser 35 run (Severs pass from Flynn)
POMEROY — Braxton McKeirnan 1 run (run failed)
POMEROY —Levi Bowen 10 run (McKeirnan run)
SECOND QUARTER
POMEROY — Bowen 20 run (Robert Van Vogt pass from Vincent Vecchio)
THIRD QUARTER
POMEROY — Bowen 10 run (Bowen run)
POMEROY — McKeirnan 1 pass from Vecchio (Van Vogt run)
FOURTH QUARTER
POMEROY — McKeirnan 16 run (pass failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING — Dayton: Jordan McCowen 4-17-2—33. Pomeroy: Vincent Vecchio 1-4-1—1; Jett Slusser 0-1-0—0.
Receiving — Dayton: Duane Moore 1—3; Raymond Yutzy 1—3; Beau Hazelbaker 2—26. Pomeroy: N/A.
Rushing: Dayton: McCowen 12—(-12); Hazelbaker 7—(-6); Tristan Rennaker 2—(-33); Yutzy 2—(-2). Pomeroy: Vecchio 16—93; Bowen 8—49; McKeirnan 8—39; Flynn 3—80; Slusser 1—35; Reisinger 1—13.
Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.
