Leonardo
By TIM McDONOUGH
- DEFIANCE CRESCENT-NEWS
BATH TOWNSHIP — Aaron Smith rushed for a school record 296 yards on 45 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead Lima Bath to a 29-12 victory over the Bulldogs of Defiance in the season finale on Friday at Bath Stadium.
The Wildcats (5-5, 4-5 WBL) broke open a 0-0 game in the second quarter against the Bulldogs (1-9, 1-8 WBL) with a trio of touchdowns in a two-minute span. Bath scored on a 43-yard run by Smith and Todd Long returned an interception 40 yards for a score to put the hosts up 14-0 with exactly 11 minutes to play in the first half.
When Defiance failed to recover Bath’s short kickoff, the Wildcats took over at the DHS 29-yard line. Just five plays later quarterback Brad Davis went over from the 1-yard line to put his club in front, 21-0.
“You take that flurry out of there where we went brain dead and made bad mistakes and it could have been different. But that’s what you talk about when you’re a 1-9 team,” commented Defiance mentor Jerry Buti. “Bath is a nice team, and coach Miller is doing a nice job rebuilding over here. But I give my kids a ton of credit for the fight they put tonight. When you’re 1-8 coming in, you don’t know what you’re going to get. But our kids came in focused to win this game, which I think shows a lot of character for our senior class. I’m pretty proud of our effort tonight.”
Defiance scored on a 41-yard TD pass from Joe Keween to Evyn George in the second quarter. Smith added a 25-yard run to paydirt in the fourth quarter, before Keween scored his first rushing touchdown in the fourth to make the final 29-13.
“We’re not satisfied with losing ever, but I was pleased with the attitude of the kids and that’s a good place to start,” concluded Buti. “Now it’s time to get to work on next year and see how we can turn this thing around.”