BELLBROOK — If one hadn’t seen the scoreboard after Friday’s Golden Eagles home contest with Monroe, the emotions on the Bellbrook players’ faces would’ve suggested the team lost.
That’s because, despite a lopsided 45-0 home win Nov. 1 over Monroe (2-8), the Bellbrook Golden Eagles in all likelihood played their final game of the season.
Bellbrook (8-2) sat in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Division III, Region 11 computer ratings going into Friday’s final regular season contest, but it appeared the team needed possibly as many as four other teams within the region — Thornville Sheridan, London, Columbus Centennial and Zanesville — to lose.
Sheridan was playing a 1-8 team on the road.
London was likely going to lose against undefeated Plain City Jonathan Alder, the No. 2-rated team in the region.
Centennial bashed Whetstone 55-7 on the road.
And Zanesville defeated Marietta, 52-28.
As the scores rolled in, reality hit the Bellbrook team.
“It was this senior class that set the bar for this program,” Bellbrook coach Jeff Jenkins told the team after the game. “Don’t make any mistake about it. It was this senior class that showed Bellbrook how to consistently win! And we are forever grateful to our seniors. … They laid the foundation for years and years and years to come of successful football here at Bellbrook.”
The Golden Eagles senior class consisted of Braeden Gedeon, Mitchell Brittain, Ian McCarty, Adam Birri, Sam Sherrill, John Malas, J.R. McCormick, Ben Borszcz, Torrin Foster, Davis Hagler, Max Shonaur, Caden Barr and Caleb McConnell.
“Those guys are incredible. They really set the foundation for what we’re trying to do here. We’re playing a brand of hard-nosed, aggressive style of football. They bought into that from day one. They won 32 games in four years.
“These kids are winners.”
Despite likely missing out on the playoffs, Jenkins remained understandably proud of his team’s effort in 2019.
“We had a long shot to get in. And so we kinda prepared for this as it being our last game, and if we got lucky we’d get in,” Jenkins said. “That’s high school football sometimes. If we were in a different region, we’d have been able to get in no problem. We were very very close, and I’m very proud of our guys. We got better every game, and we really picked that last half of the season.”
A one-point loss at Waynesville on Aug. 20, followed by an overtime road loss to Franklin the next week, hurt the Golden Eagles’ chances of returning to the postseason. But Bellbrook won its final five games of the season, outscoring the likes of Valley View, Eaton, Brookville, Oakwood and Monroe by a combined score of 188-33.
Bellbrook announced that the school would be providing playoff updates on its Twitter page, which is twitter.com/bellbrooksports. However, by 10:34 p.m., Bellbrook had slipped to ninth on the JoeEitel.com computer rating forecast site.
London lost, but still had enough computer points to surpass the Golden Eagles, as did Zanesville, Centennial and Sheridan.
Score By Quarters
Monroe 0 0 0 0 — 0
Bellbrook 7 24 0 14 — 45
Scoring Plays
B — Seth Borondy 17 run (Taylor Jordan kick)
B — Borondy 1 run (Jordan kick)
B — J.R. McCormick 19 run (Jordan kick)
B — McCormick 8 run (Jordan kick)
B — Jordan 27 field goal
B — McCormick 22 run (Caleb McConnell kick)
B — Sam Sherrill 2 run (McConnell kick)
