Leonardo
SANDUSKY — Matt Spragg threw for four touchdowns and ran for another Friday and Findlay High’s football team, on the verge of falling from contender to spoiler in the Greater Buckeye Conference, breathed new life into its league championship hopes with a 49-14 win over Sandusky Friday at Strobel Field.
“I thought it was as complete a game as we’ve played,” said FHS coach Mark Ritzler. “We made good decisions. We didn’t force things. We took what they gave us. They gave some opportunities and we made good plays. I’m happy for the kids. We just played relaxed and had fun tonight.”
Findlay ended a three-game skid, including last week’s 43-35 loss to Fremont Ross, and stands 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the GBC. Sandusky, which cost Findlay an outright league title and a playoff spot with a 21-7 win over the Trojans last season, is 4-3, and also 1-1 in the league.
Victimized by crippling turnovers and costly penalties, Findlay suffered four its five losses by nine points or less. And for a moment Friday, it seemed those gridiron gremlins would haunt the Trojans once again.
Alex Henry’s 6-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left in the second quarter capped a dominating 95-yard drive and gave Findlay a 19-7 lead.
The Trojans’ defense, which stopped Fremont’s previous possession at the 5 thanks to huge stops by linebackers Mitch Geyer and D.J. Pullom and a fourth-down pass break-up by Austin Niswander, then stopped the Streaks again and forced a punt.
Dylan Blunk lost the handle on the ball, however. Sandusky recovered at the Findlay 17, and Lucas Poggiali hit Cordney Strickland with a 3-yard touchdown pass with two seconds on the clock.
Instead of a comfortable 19-7 halftime lead, Findlay led just 19-14.
And Sandusky had the momentum. But not for long.
Sandusky stripped Henry of the ball as he was driving for the goal line early in the third quarter. But on Sandusky’s first play, Geyer led a defensive surge that dropped Strickland in the end zone for a safety.
Findlay then marched 48 yards following the free kick, with Spragg hitting Jimmy Orwick with a 12-yard TD pass to put the Trojans up 28-14.
Geyer, Pullom, Ryan Agin and Devin Dennard then stopped another drive by Sandusky, which failed to convert on four of five fourth-down attempts between the 40-yard lines. Spragg capped another short drive with a 40-yard TD strike to Blunk, who caught eight passes for 113 yards and two scores.
Spragg completed 16 of 20 passes for 228 yards. He hit Orwick (4 receptions, 60 yards) with 24- and 13-yard TD passes and Blunk with 26- and 40-yard strikes. He also scampered 10 yards for a score to put Findlay up 42-14 a minute into the fourth quarter.
Jon Runion added a 12-yard TD run with 40 seconds left as Findlay’s back-ups got into the scoring column as well.
Strickland, who entered the game as the GBC’s leading scorer (9 TDs) and third-leading rusher (700 yards), rushed for 119 yards and both TDs for Sandusky, including a 39-yard burst on a fourth-and-2 call in the first quarter.
Findlay outrushed the Streaks 244-165, however, and had 472 yards total offense.
“We played some good football tonight,” Ritzler said. "We wanted to make sure we ran the ball, and I thought we were pretty efficient with the run and the pass. We didn’t get greedy. We were patient, we took what they gave us and we executed on both sides of the ball. We tackled better, we didn’t give up big plays, it all clicked.”