Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

CINCINNATI — The Badin High School football team may not have been calling it a must-win, but the Rams sure played like it was.

Badin shook off its sluggish 0-2 start to the season and dominated host Wyoming on both sides of the ball Friday night, Sept. 5, at Bob Lewis Stadium, rolling to a 36-12 victory.

"That felt good," Rams coach Dave Wirth said. "I'm so happy for (the defense) because they've been under such scrutiny the last two weeks. They worked so hard this week and it was great to see them come out here and get it done."

Badin (1-2) held the Cowboys (1-2) to 246 yards of offense and forced four second-half turnovers to enable the Rams to turn a one-point halftime lead into a blowout.

"This feels really good. Great, actually," said Badin linebacker Matt Combs, who recorded a pair of sacks and also blocked an extra-point attempt. "We knew we had this in us. We knew it was coming."

Tony Cassano recovered two fumbles, and Jake Wurzelbacher and Jeff Smith each had an interception to go along with numerous sacks of Wyoming quarterback Kyle Seyfried.

The one slip-up by the defense came early in the second half when Seyfried hit John Lippert in the flat. The Badin defender gambled for the interception and lost, and Lippert outraced the rest off the Rams for a 74-yard touchdown that trimmed the Badin lead to 14-12 with 6:54 left in the third quarter.

But it was all Rams after that thanks to a physical performance by the offensive line.

"They beat us up front pretty good," Wyoming coach Bernie Barre said. "They're a good football team, and we had a tough time with them."

Badin quarterback Zach Toerner completed 17-of-30 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns, and he also rushed for 57 yards and a pair of scores to help the Rams outscore the Cowboys 29-6 in the second half.

"The whole offensive line just did a great job," Toerner said. "There were times on deep balls where they gave me all kinds of time and just let me hit the receivers in stride.

"We really conditioned hard this week," Toerner continued. "We knew when it got late in the game we were gonna keep going and going and there'd be no stopping us."

Tyler Sanders scored Badin's first touchdown on a leaping catch in the end zone, ripping the ball away from two Wyoming defenders to cap a 10-play, 80-yard drive on the opening possession of the game.

Scott Staarmann hauled in a 34-yard strike on Badin's first play of the second half, and Smith, who lined up as a wide receiver, put the exclamation point on the victory throwing a 50-yard bomb to Wurzelbacher on a trick, fake-reverse play late in the fourth quarter.

The Rams finished with 346 total yards of offense and, more importantly, no turnovers.

Badin opens Greater Catholic League Central Division play Friday at home against McNicholas.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.