Watterson football team edges Bellefontaine for regional title
Friday, November 17, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Bishop Watterson’s Zack Weber carries the ball during the Eagles’ 19-13 regional final win over Bellefontaine Nov. 17 at Marion Harding. Photo: Lorrie Gardner
Facing its first deficit following a rough five-minute sequence early in the third quarter, top-seeded Bishop Watterson didn’t flinch Friday with the Division III, Region 11 championship on the line.
The Eagles’ defense held seventh-seeded Bellefontaine and junior quarterback Tavien St. Clair, an Ohio State commit, in check most of the night at Marion Harding by limiting big plays.
Needing an answer offensively, Watterson found momentum behind the legs of junior running back Zack Weber and came away with a 19-13 victory that sends it to a state semifinal for the first time since it won the 2010 state championship.
Weber scored a game-tying touchdown with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter on a 34-yard run and recorded three first-down runs during the game’s final drive to close out the win.
“You only get so many moments of this, and you have to make the most of it,” Weber said. “It comes down to persistence. Everyone wanted to keep going and gave it everything they had. We had a great week of work and our coaches prepared us. Everyone believed tonight and just made it happen.”
While the Chieftains finished 11-3, the Eagles improved to 13-1.
Watterson, which was the regional runner-up a year ago, will play Celina in a state semifinal Nov. 24 at Xenia Doug Adams Stadium. The Bulldogs were the sixth seed in Region 12 but upset top-seeded and previously unbeaten Hamilton Badin 37-25 for the regional title.
Bellefontaine, which was the seventh seed but knocked out second-seeded London in a regional quarterfinal and third-seeded Granville to reach the regional final, was playing in its first regional final since 1999 when it lost 31-28 to eventual state runner-up Watterson.
Bishop Watterson’s Mark Biagi gets a piece of the ball and Bellefontaine kicker Alex Crabill’s extra point attempt is no good during the Eagles’ regional final victory Nov. 17. Photo: Lorrie Gardner
The Eagles, who are now 4-1 all-time against the Chieftains, set the tone early defensively with first-quarter interceptions by Tommy Haley and Drew Bellisari.
Watterson also held Bellefontaine’s running game to (minus)-12 yards in the first half while kicker Rudy Kessinger made field goals of 23 and 27 yards for a 6-0 lead.
“We’ve been very strong against the run,” senior linebacker Braxton Rundio said. “That’s our strength. We got it done because we all just did our jobs. No one’s selfish and everybody just makes plays.”
On the sixth play of Watterson’s opening second-half drive, Bellefontaine’s Riley Neer intercepted a deflected pass and sprinted down the right sideline for a 65-yard touchdown to give the Chieftains a 7-6 lead.
Eagles quarterback A.J. McAninch was intercepted again five plays later, this time by C.J. Wilson, and Bellefontaine took a 13-6 advantage four plays later when St. Clair hit Wilson for an 11-yard touchdown. St. Clair connected with Neer for a 44-yard reception to set up the score.
The extra point was blocked by Mark Biagi, and the Eagles used that burst of momentum to put together a game-tying drive.
McAninch hooked up with Jake Uhlenhake for a 21-yard pass to move to the Bellefontaine 34 and set up the touchdown run by Weber on the next play that tied it at 13.
After forcing a punt, Watterson got it back at its 30 and put together its best drive of the game, one that included a 29-yard pass from McAninch to Uhlenhake and a 21 yard connection from McAninch to Haley.
McAninch then found Uhlenhake for an 11-yard touchdown that made it 19-13 with 8:56 to go.
“We were definitely scared going into it, but we worked on it all week long and had good receivers practicing against us,” said Biagi, who has been playing all season with a torn meniscus injury. “It was just the fact that we (weren’t ready) to go home. We’ve been working for this since the summer when we were waking up at 6 a.m.”
Bishop Watterson quarterback A.J. McAninch throws the football behind good protection during the Eagles’ 19-13 regional final win over Bellefontaine Nov. 17. Photo: Lorrie Gardner
On Bellefontaine’s final possession, St. Clair hooked up with Neer for receptions of 11 and 19 yards, but after throwing incomplete on second-and-7 from the Watterson 47, he connected with Wilson for just a 3-yard gain.
Then on fourth-and-4 from the Watterson 47, St. Clair threw complete to Chris Fogan, but Rundio tackled him 1 yard short of the first down.
Watterson got the ball at its own 41 with 4:37 remaining and salted away the clock, with Weber running seven times for 41 yards, including going for 3 yards on third-and-2 once Bellefontaine had no timeouts remaining.
Freshman running back Ben Uhlenhake, who has taken on a prominent role offensively in recent weeks, rushed for 55 yards in the first half and 70 overall on 18 carries.
Weber had just one first-half carry but wound up with 16 rushes for 98 yards.
“(Weber) and Ben have done a really good job for us all year,” coach Brian Kennedy said. “Sometimes you go with the hot hand. Sometimes it’s Ben, and tonight it was Zack. I thought he really took over in the second half.”
St. Clair finished 16 of 24 passing for 155 yards, with Neer having eight catches for 87 yards.
Fogan entered the game with more than 1,200 yards rushing on the season but was held to (minus)-8 yards on eight carries.
“There’s no stopping (St. Clair),” Kennedy said. “It was all about trying to limit the big plays. We still didn’t do a great job of that, but we were trying to mix up our coverages. You’ve got to get pressure on him because he’s really good. I thought our (defensive line) played great. They’re undersized. They’re tough. They’re scrappy. We get them moving around and it’s tough for offensive lines to adjust.”
Watterson is in its seventh season under Kennedy, a 1992 graduate of the school whose team went just 2-8 during his first season in 2017 and had only one other winning record before going 12-2 a year ago.
“We’ve built on last year’s success,” Kennedy said. “We’re battle-tested. It means a great deal. I will enjoy this for a while. I’ve been 2-8, so being 13-1 feels pretty good. It’s just been the senior leadership.”
The Bishop Watterson football team and its student supporters celebrate the Eagles’ regional final victory Nov. 17 at Marion Harding. Photo: Lorrie Gardner