WELLSTON — The Minford Falcons finished this one off in early fashion.
That’s because the visiting Falcons, facing a struggling Wellston Golden Rockets team on Friday night, scored all 53 of their points in the opening half —en route to a 53-12 non-league football win inside Wellston’s C.H. Jones Field.
The now 3-0 Falcons, already winners over run-oriented Ohio Valley Conference clubs Rock Hill (33-14) and Chesapeake (41-7), had their easiest runaway win to date —amassing 26 first-quarter points followed by 27 second-stanza counters.
As both teams ran 37 plays from scrimmage, the Falcons forged 254 rushing yards on 25 attempts —and scored on back-to-back second-quarter fumble recovery returns, as Wellston’s first fumble of three lost and four total set up the Falcons’ second touchdown of the night.
That would be all the points Minford needed for the win, with the entire second half being played with the Ohio High School Athletic Association running-clock rule in effect.
Jeffery Pica, with touchdown runs of 20 yards four minutes in and 34 yards with only a minute and 23 seconds to play in the opening half, had the bookend Minford scores.
Jackson Shoemaker caught a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes from Peyton Caudill —a 14-yarder that made it 12-0 and a 32-yarder that made it 19-0, with the aid of the first of five Myles Montgomery extra-point kicks.
Speaking of Caudill, with 16 seconds to play in the first quarter and only four minutes and 35 seconds into the second period, he galloped 30 and 31 yards for touchdowns —making it 32-0 by the seven-minute mark before halftime.
But that’s when Tysen Kingery returned a Golden Rocket fumble 47 yards to the house, as —only two minutes and 13 seconds later —Shoemaker made a recovery from a yard away and scored.
That made it 46-0, as the Falcons grounded the Golden Rockets into only one yard rushing on 27 attempts.
Minford also held a 16-7 advantage in first downs, did not turn the ball over any, and outgained the Golden Rockets by a count of 362-123.
The freshman quarterback Caudill completed 6-of-8 passes for 108 yards —with the two TD tosses to Shoemaker, who made three receptions for 56 yards.
Caudill with 84 yards on five carries and the junior Pica with 83 yards on seven carries were Minford’s leading rushers.
Wellston (0-3) scored once in each of the second-half quarters —both on pass plays to Brenton Breech, who racked up 116 receiving yards on four catches.
His first TD reception was a one-yarder from Johnny Scott with two-and-a-half minutes left in the third period, followed by a 63-yarder from Justin Jackson with seven minutes left in the game.
The Falcons return home, and return to non-league action, on Friday night against 2-1 and pass-heavy Washington Court House.
* * *
Minford 26 27 0 0—53
Wellston 0 0 6 6 —12
M — Jeffrey Pica, 20-yard run (kick failed), 8:01, 1st (6-0 M)
M — Jackson Shoemaker, 14-yard pass from Peyton Caudill (kick failed), 5:53, 1st (12-0 M)
M — Jackson Shoemaker, 32-yard pass from Peyton Caudill (Myles Montgomery kick), 2:44, 1st (19-0 M)
M — Peyton Caudill, 30-yard run (Myles Montgomery kick), :16, 1st (26-0 M)
M — Peyton Caudill, 31-yard run (kick failed), 7:25, 2nd (32-0 M)
M — Tysen Kingery, 47-yard fumble return (Myles Montgomery kick), 7:00, 2nd (39-0 M)
M — Jackson Shoemaker, 1-yard fumble return (Myles Montgomery kick), 4:47, 2nd (46-0 M)
M — Jeffery Pica, 34-yard run (Myles Montgomery kick), 1:23, 2nd (53-0 M)
W — Brenton Breech, 1-yard pass from Johnny Scott (2-point conversion try failed), 2:31, 3rd (53-6 M)
W — Brenton Breech, 63-yard pass from Justin Jackson (2-point conversion try failed), 7:00, 4th (53-12 M)
Team Statistics
M W
First downs 16 7
Scrimmage plays 37 37
Rushes-yards 25-254 27-1
Passing yards 108 122
Total yards 362 123
Cmp-Att-Int. 6-12-0 6-11-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-3
Penalties-yards 5-70 4-39
Punts-Ave. 2-34 4-38
——
Individual Leaders
RUSHING — Minford: Peyton Caudill 5-84 2TD, Jeffrey Pica 7-83 2TD, Mason Bradley 5-44, Tysen Kingery 3-26, Curtis Glenn 3-14, Keagan Roe 2-3; Wellston: Cole Kemp 6-25, Justin Jackson 2-6, Seth Lambert 2-4, Josh Clarkson 3-(-1), Braley Thompson 1-(-1), Johnny Scott 12-(-18), Team 1-(-14)
PASSING — Minford: Peyton Caudill 6-8-0-108 2TD, Curtis Glenn 0-4-0-0; Wellston: Justin Jackson 1-2-0-63 TD, Johnny Scott 5-9-0-59 TD
RECEIVING —Minford: Jackson Shoemaker 3-56 2TD, Collin Rice 1-38, J.D. Matiz 1-17, Bennett Kayser 1-(-3); Wellston: Braley Thompson 1-6, Brenton Breech 4-116 2TD
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