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Springfield TWP, Ohio —
The first football game of the season might as well have been a track meet with pads.
At least it seemed that way for Springfield’s Dillon Matthews and Ellet’s Aaron Male, who combined for 528 offensive yards in the Spartans’ 20-14 win over the neighboring Orangemen Friday. The win gives the Spartans rights of the Shoe—the award for the winner of the Springfield/Ellet rivalry game dating back to 1952—for the second straight year.
Matthews (19 carries for 263 yards) and Male (20 carries for 104 yards and eight catches for 152 yards) set the tempo early, and it was a fast one. Matthews had a 55-yard touchdown in his fourth carry, and Male earned 47 yards on two catches and two runs in the Orangemen’s first possession.
“We watched film and thought Male would be very similar to Dillon [Matthews],” Springfield head coach Kevin Vaughn said. “I shook his hand after the game and told him he was one hell of a player.”
Despite driving inside their opponents’ red zones, neither team managed to score in their opening drives. Matthews’s touchdown with 2:54 to play in the first quarter put the Spartans up 7-0, but Ellet quickly answered with a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in its next possession.
Ellet’s drive actually would have ended a play sooner had Springfield senior defensive back Johnny McIntyre—a teammate of Matthews both on the football field and in the school track record-holding 4x200 meter team— raced across the field to yank down an otherwise unchallenged Male one yard from the end zone. Ellet tied the game a play later on a keeper by senior quarterback Rennick Dutton, but McIntyre showed he wasn’t going to let Male go unchallenged.
McIntyre, who broke his elbow and missed almost all of last season, chased Male down to prevent touchdowns on two other occasions and intercepted him in a flea-flicker play.
“[McIntyre] made a lot of pursuit tackles, a lot of touchdown-saving tackles,” Vaughn said.
McIntyre caught Male on a 47-yard run, dragging him down at the Springfield 18-yard line to set up an eventual turnover on downs. He also stopped Male on a kickoff return to start the second half, although Ellet would go on to score for a 14-7 lead.
“I told them we’ve got to play great defense,” Vaughn said. “That’s part of our game we’re still looking to get better at. We have a new defense this year. And we did a lot of bending, but we didn’t break. One of our goals was to hold our opponents to 14 points or less, and we did that.”
Perhaps the biggest difference in the game is Ellet’s defense didn’t have a “Johnny McIntyre,” leaving Springfield’s tailback tandem of Matthews and Zack Talbert (117 yards rushing) to run free as the Spartans amassed an impressive 392 rushing yards on 41 attempts (9.56 yards/carry).
The first football game of the season might as well have been a track meet with pads.
At least it seemed that way for Springfield’s Dillon Matthews and Ellet’s Aaron Male, who combined for 528 offensive yards in the Spartans’ 20-14 win over the neighboring Orangemen Friday. The win gives the Spartans rights of the Shoe—the award for the winner of the Springfield/Ellet rivalry game dating back to 1952—for the second straight year.
Matthews (19 carries for 263 yards) and Male (20 carries for 104 yards and eight catches for 152 yards) set the tempo early, and it was a fast one. Matthews had a 55-yard touchdown in his fourth carry, and Male earned 47 yards on two catches and two runs in the Orangemen’s first possession.
“We watched film and thought Male would be very similar to Dillon [Matthews],” Springfield head coach Kevin Vaughn said. “I shook his hand after the game and told him he was one hell of a player.”
Despite driving inside their opponents’ red zones, neither team managed to score in their opening drives. Matthews’s touchdown with 2:54 to play in the first quarter put the Spartans up 7-0, but Ellet quickly answered with a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in its next possession.
Ellet’s drive actually would have ended a play sooner had Springfield senior defensive back Johnny McIntyre—a teammate of Matthews both on the football field and in the school track record-holding 4x200 meter team— raced across the field to yank down an otherwise unchallenged Male one yard from the end zone. Ellet tied the game a play later on a keeper by senior quarterback Rennick Dutton, but McIntyre showed he wasn’t going to let Male go unchallenged.
McIntyre, who broke his elbow and missed almost all of last season, chased Male down to prevent touchdowns on two other occasions and intercepted him in a flea-flicker play.
“[McIntyre] made a lot of pursuit tackles, a lot of touchdown-saving tackles,” Vaughn said.
McIntyre caught Male on a 47-yard run, dragging him down at the Springfield 18-yard line to set up an eventual turnover on downs. He also stopped Male on a kickoff return to start the second half, although Ellet would go on to score for a 14-7 lead.
“I told them we’ve got to play great defense,” Vaughn said. “That’s part of our game we’re still looking to get better at. We have a new defense this year. And we did a lot of bending, but we didn’t break. One of our goals was to hold our opponents to 14 points or less, and we did that.”
Perhaps the biggest difference in the game is Ellet’s defense didn’t have a “Johnny McIntyre,” leaving Springfield’s tailback tandem of Matthews and Zack Talbert (117 yards rushing) to run free as the Spartans amassed an impressive 392 rushing yards on 41 attempts (9.56 yards/carry).
“Matthews, we expected to have a big game,” Vaughn said. “He’s faster, and we’ve got five offensive linemen who are returning starters. Talbert did a great job as well. He takes a lot of pressure off of Matthews.”
The Spartans only made it a yard past mid-field in their first possession of the second half, but, after forcing a punt in four downs, gave it to Matthews on second down for a 37-yard touchdown. The Spartans bounced the extra point attempt off the upright to trail 14-13.
Springfield’s defense held again, setting the stage again for the Matthews/Talbert show.
Matthews carried the first two times for five yards in the Spartans’ first possession of the fourth quarter, Talbert went up the left sideline for 10 yards, Matthews went right for 18, Talbert went left again for eight yards following a holding penalty, then Matthews went untouched up the middle for a 47-yard touchdown—his third of the night.
Sophomore kicker Brody Westover nailed the extra point after the Spartans were penalized on their first PAT attempt, forcing them back just far enough to not go for two.
“[Westover] is a new kicker and he can kick,” Vaughn said. “We’re real proud of the way he missed that extra point and then nailed the next one.”
With Springfield leading 20-14 and 8:29 remaining on the clock, the Spartans did what they didn’t want to—let Male field the kickoff. He answered, as he had all night, tearing up mid-field and cutting left before finally being drug down at the Springfield 25.
But, after failed running and passing attempts, Dutton pitched a flea-flicker to Male, who threw an interception to (who else?) McIntyre.
The game was all but over, until the Spartans were penalized twice for 25 yards, forcing them to punt from their own 22-yard line.
Male sensed a final opportunity and earned 30 yards on a pass and rush, moving the Orangemen to the Springfield 31-yard line. That’s when Zack Talbert, also a linebacker on defense, drilled Male on the next two plays, forcing Dutton into a scrambling desperation throw that was nearly picked off on fourth-and-four.
The Spartans took over on downs with just under two minutes to go, and, after pushing the line forward on a few quarterback keepers, were able to take a knee in victory formation for their first win of a season with high hopes.
“I’ve been telling everyone all week that I thought it was going to be a great game,” Vaughn, who played football at and graduated from Ellet, said. “We thought they felt they had something to prove. And their coaches did a great job.”
The Spartans return home for the next two weeks to face Cloverleaf and Northwest. Cloverleaf defeated Buckeye 32-0 Friday, while Northwest fell 24-22 to Orrville.
