Preble Shawnee’s Isaac Blankenship scored two touchdown to help the Arrows to a 52-0 win over Middletown Madison on Friday, Aug. 23.
Eddie Mowen Jr. | The Register-Herald
CAMDEN — Preble Shawnee had been waiting a full year for its shot at redemption against rival Middletown Madison.
Last season the Arrows’ trip to Middletown ended with a disappointing loss and head coach Dave Maddox said his team didn’t want to go through that again.
And it didn’t take long for Shawnee to make sure the outcome was going to be different this season.
The Arrows scored on the first play of the game and rolled to a 52-0 thumping over the visiting Mohawks to reclaim the Totem Pole.
“I tried not to speculate what was going to happen,” Maddox said. “I told the guys at the beginning of the week; we’re not concerned with the opponent. We don’t care how good they are, we’re going to focus on us doing the job that we need to do, playing as hard as we possibly can, playing as a team. And they did exactly that, and I think they realized how good they can be when they play like that.”
After the Mohawks attempted an onside kick to begin the game, running back Lane Lovely took the first play from scrimmage and raced 48 yards to set the tone of the game.
“We kind of let them get us last year. We talked about that a lot, especially this group of seniors, they decided at the end of last season they were going to do everything they could, and they worked their butts off and got bigger and stronger. But that’s how I expected them to start our season,” Maddox said. “That run was big. I think that set the tone that as soon as we stepped on the field, we were ready to play and weren’t messing around.”
Shawnee scored on eight of nine possessions as it racked up over 500 yards of offense, while the Arrows defense limited Madison to less than 100 yards for the game.
Isaac Blankenship scored on the Arrows second possession, taking a hand off 34 yards to a 13-0 lead.
Two possessions later, Lovely, who rushed for 111 yards on 10 carries, scored his second touchdown of the game for a 19-0 lead.
Reece Smith then caught a 62-yard TD pass from quarterback Brody Morton to make it 25-0 midway through the second quarter.
Morton then connected with Caleb Blankenship for a 32-yard TD pass to extend Shawnee’s lead to 32-0.
Shawnee added another score just before the half as Isaac Blankenship scored on a two-yard run.
The Arrows added two more scores in the second half – a 3 run by Nolan Earles and a 28yard run by Ethan Mauller – to round out the scoring.
“I love the Madison, Shawnee rivalry,” Maddox said. “I’m glad we’ve got it back. There’s a few years that we didn’t have it. But, you know, being a neighboring district, and these guys have wanted it bad. I think they’ve had their sights set on getting that totem pole back. I told them after that game last year, I looked over at Madison. They were celebrating, so I said look at them. Look at them. I hope this hurts and you need to feel that pain and use it. Use it as motivation. And I think they did that.”
Shawnee will begin Western Ohio Athletic Conference play on Friday, Aug. 30 with a trip to Tri-Village, who beat Troy Christian 56-0 last week.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.
