Austin Hannah, Contributor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHESAPEAKE — Curtis Glenn called game. Twice.
The senior athlete made the biggest plays in Friday’s contest, and did so in the most crucial moments, scoring the go-ahead touchdown before posting the game-sealing interception.
His performance led Minford to a 21-14 victory over Chesapeake on the road.
“Winning is a hard thing to do in football because so many things can go against you, whether it’s penalties or bad bounces,” Minford coach Jordan Michael said. “We’re learning how to win with a bunch of guys who haven’t been in this position before, considering we went 1-9 last season. But we have a lot of guys who are back from last season and I’m proud of the way our guys stepped up.”
CREDIT: Erica Fike/SOSA
Minford (1-1) began the game with the football and pieced together a picture-perfect opening sequence. Using both his arm and his legs, Glenn capped off a 14-play drive with a seven-yard touchdown run to give Minford an early 7-0 lead.
Chesapeake (0-2) looked to counter, but a costly fumble gave Minford possession, sending the Falcons’ offense back out.
Only needing four plays, Glenn aired it out to Wyatt Swick on 4th down for a 26-yard touchdown toss, doubling the lead to 14-0.
“We had a great week of practice, and our offense was clicking really well throughout the week,” Glenn said. “It wasn’t about making the big plays when it came to the game tonight, it was about keeping the ball and not turning it over.”
Although it was facing a double-digit deficit, Chesapeake didn’t sweat.
On the second play of it’s next drive, Jon-Cooper Barker fired a downfield pass to Philip Thacker, who made the catch over a Minford defender and galloped to paydirt for a 78-yard touchdown. It cut the deficit to 14-6 after the first quarter.
Having found some rhythm on offense, Chesapeake’s defense made a huge stop when Marquis Branch came up with an interception. Jon-Cooper Barker then used his legs and, two plays later, ran it in from 23 yards out, forcing a 14-14 tie after a successful two-point try — a score that stood at halftime.
“Those type of plays are ones we should never give up,” Swick said. “We made some mistakes, that being one of them, but we’ll clean those things up moving forward.”
Following a scoreless third and a mostly scoreless fourth quarter, the Falcons’ defense made the Panthers punt late in the game, and that was the opportunity Minford needed.
Taking over at his own 49-yard line, Glenn rolled out and pump-faked before uncorking a pass down the sideline to Swick, putting the ball at the one-yard line.
Glenn then called his own number to finally break the tie with a one-yard plunge, giving Minford a 21-14 lead.
“Two plays before, coach told me that we were going for the right side and the touchdown on that pass play,” Glenn said. “I rolled out and I saw the defender bite on the pump fake, so I just had to make sure not to overthrow it and make a play.”
Chesapeake had one final chance to force a tie, or win the game. However, it all came crashing down when Glenn intercepted a pass to secure the victory for the Falcons.
“We felt like we had a great game plan for these guys and it showed right out of the gates,” Michael said. “We made some big plays, but the big thing for us has been giving up the big plays. We still need to work on that. I’m proud of our guys. I’m proud of how they battled tonight.”
Minford hosts undefeated Eastern on Friday while Chesapeake looks for its first win at Northwest.
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