TIPP CITY — If Elida was supposed to come out of the locker room nervous or overwhelmed in the Bulldogs’ first football playoff game in 28 years, and only second ever, someone forgot to tell them.
And obviously someone forgot to give them the memo about wilting under pressure late in the game, too.
This was a win for the history books as Elida won 26-21 in a Division III regional quarterfinal game Saturday at Tipp City Tippecanoe. It’s Elida’s first playoff victory in the football program’s history.
“As a senior, this is what we wanted at the beginning of the year,” Elida’s Alex McAdams said. “It’s amazing right now.”
For McAdams and his fellow seniors, the journey has been steep. They failed to win a game during their freshman and sophomore years before jumping up to a 5-5 record last year.
You could almost say the wait was worth it based upon the smiles, cheers and hugs after this win.
“Our class has been through it all,” McAdams said. “This year is so much better. At school, we actually have spirit. We have all of these fans here, supporting us, we have to thank them. The whole community is behind us.”
The Bulldogs (9-2) next face traditional state power Columbus Bishop Watterson at a site to be named today. But no matter where they play, the Bulldogs certainly will savor this fledgling playoff run.
“We’re just going to keep up this ride, we’ll see how far it takes us,” Carpenter said. “We have the skill to match up with (Watterson). We have to control ourselves by not turning the ball over and no stupid penalties. If we can cut that out, I think we’re one of the best teams in the state. A lot of people call me crazy.”
The Bulldogs came out of the gates firing, marching down the field on their first two possessions to score touchdowns. Quarterback Reggie McAdams ran in from 7 yards out for the first score and Colin Blymyer punched in it from 2-yards away for the second.
Early in the second quarter, Nathan Jenkins slammed home a 40-yard field goal, and Chris Biederman blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety and a 19-0 lead, which stood at halftime.
The Red Devils (9-2) answered with a 13-play drive to open the second half, cutting the lead to 19-8. They trimmed it even further, at 19-14, with just 10 seconds to play in the third.
After an Elida touchdown midway through the fourth, Blymyer’s second score, Tippecanoe gave the game new life with a score to go down 26-21.
As it had all game, the Elida defense stiffened on the final Red Devils drive, with Biederman eventually picking off a halfback pass on fourth down.
The Red Devils rushed for 279 yards, mostly in the second half. However, the Bulldogs picked off three passes and came away with two fumble recoveries.
“First half, we came out really fired up. We knew that we had a great opportunity here,” Elida linebacker Quentin Poling said. “We stepped up when it mattered the most and we made some plays, and that won us the ball game.”
Reggie McAdams completed 22-of-31 passes for 257 yards, ending the game on a 10-of-11 streak for 124 yards. The junior added 39 yards on 11 rushes.
Kevin Kraft caught seven passes for 73 yards, Austin Etzler hauled in five passes for 73 yards and Rikki Le had five grabs for 49 yards.
Blymyer had 16 rushes for 70 yards and two scores.
Region 10
Any radio for this game online anywhere?