John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — 480 yards.
When you run the ball like Miami Trace did on Friday night, success follows quickly.
On Friday night, the Panthers (1-0) ran wild for 480 yards in their 48-14 season-opening win over the Waverly Tigers.
Maybe even more impressive than the Panthers’ total yardage was how many came on the legs of their standout senior running back, Julian Baker.
Baker finished with 220 yards on the ground on just 19 totes and scored four touchdowns as the Panthers rumbled to a dominant win.
“It’s so fun, I’m so blessed,” Baker said of running behind his offensive line. “it is nice running behind a line where everyone is trying their hardest to help me out.”
In the early going, it wasn’t Baker making an impact in the backfield for the Panthers.
After Baker had 48 yards on his first five carries, the Tigers’ defense was set up for a little trickery.
On a 3rd down play, Baker took a pitch to his right before handing the ball to Evan Parsley on a reverse, allowing the senior to score from 16 yards out to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead with 7:09 left in the first quarter.
“We’re so blessed that he [Parsley] has come back,” Baker said of his classmate’s return to football. “He finally did it and look what he’s doing.”
“He’s a difference-maker,” junior offensive lineman Matthew Barnard added.
Parsley wasn’t the only difference-maker for the Panthers on opening night as Camden Lebeau made a major impact with a touchdown run of his own on the ensuing possession. Following a block to the outside, Lebeau slashed toward the pylon and scored to push the advantage to 14-0.
On the next play from scrimmage, Miami Trace forced a fumble, setting up Baker for his first score of the night. Baker sprinted through the middle for a 16-yard touchdown, his first of four on the evening.
“It’s so much pressure off, knowing that when I’m making my block, that I have a running back who is going to hit the hole,” Barnard said of Baker. “I know that my o-line has been putting in work for months and it’s great to see them play the way that they did today.”
Waverly (0-1) immediately answered the with a little bit of trickery of its own, late in the first.
Gunnar Myers threw a backwards pass to Davion McBride, setting McBride up to throw a perfect ball downfield to Trae Perry, for a 69-yard touchdown.
Midway through the second, Baker struck again, taking a handoff and getting around the edge to stretch the Panthers’ lead back to 20 points.
Late in the first half, it was time for Miami Trace’s defense to prove their mettle.
On consecutive red-zone possessions, the Panthers stuffed the Tigers on 4th and short, bottling up the run game and eliminating any chance of Waverly gaining momentum into the break.
“Everybody on our team was flying to the ball, it was great,” Barnard said of the late defensive stand.
After a big first half, Baker exploded for an even bigger second half … well, third quarter.
On the opening possession, Baker scored for the third time, before breaking off his biggest run of the night to put the game into a running clock late in the quarter.
With Miami Trace at their own 17-yard line, Baker took a toss to the left side of the line and cut between a block towards the sideline. Once he was on the sideline, he turned on the jets, staying in bounds and flying to an 83-yard touchdown run to close out his sixth 200-plus yard game over his last 12 contests.
Waverly showed a little more of their impressive skill positions as Myers found Perry downfield early in the fourth quarter for Perry’s second score of the game. But it wouldn’t be nearly enough to overcome the deficit.
“The coaches had been preaching to us about coming out fast,” Baker added. “Taking the game right to them, and that’s what we did tonight.”
Both teams are back in action next Friday.
The Tigers will try and bounce back with a home date against Zane Trace while the Panthers travel to Wilmington.
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