Kenneth Hay, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
KINNIKINNICK — After dealing with a major injury in the offseason, Zane Trace’s Brice Johnson made sure he put his stamp on his return to the field.
“You know, it was tough, sitting on the couch for two months,” said the senior back on his injury. “I put the work in, did what I could, and got it done.”
Got it done, indeed.
Johnson ran for 220 yards while tying his own single-game record with five rushing touchdowns in the Pioneers’ season-opening 46-27 win over Logan Elm on Friday night.
Zane Trace (1-0) came out of the gates seething hot.
A healthy serving of Johnson and junior Jake Stauffer — a commont theme all night long — led the Pioneers down the field to strike the scoreboard first.
Stauffer opened up ZT’s first drive with a 37-yard rush on the first play from scrimmage. Johnson then took a toss 18 yards to the house, a few plays later, to put the Pioneers ahead 7-0.
Logan Elm (0-1) threatened to score on its opening drive, highlighted by a 44-yard run from sophomore back Kyler Gummoe, to give the Braves a fresh set of downs at ZT’s 12-yard line. But with some help from penalties and a troubled snap, the Pioneers stood firm as Stauffer forced a fumble to shift momentum.
Johnson made Logan Elm pay for the turnover, scoring on a 57-yard touchdown rush just four plays later, putting the Pioneers up 14-0 with 4:26 left in the first quarter.
After LE went three-and-out from, Zane Trace got back on the board quickly as sophomore quarterback Bryson Payne rolled to his right and found Stauffer for a 51-yard score.
ZT’s defense then flexed its muscles once again, stuffing three straight runs to keep a 20-0 score intact at the end of the first.
Continuing the theme in the second, ZT’s Blake Brower blew up a reverse play for a huge tackle for a loss, which was followed by an interception from Mason Hartley, who returned to the Braves’ two-yard line.
Johnson took advantage of the field position Hartley gave them, finding the end zone on the next play for a 27-0 lead.
Then, the Braves woke up from their slumber.
Sophomore Ayden Hartley started pushing the tempo immediately for the Braves’ offense, ripping off a 61-yard run to put the Braves in prime scoring position.
Two plays later, he capped off the drive with a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 27-7.
Zane Trace then turned the ball over on downs, and the Braves picked up where they left off.
LE’s next drive was highlighted by a 37-yard reception from Connor Kint, and was finished off by a touchdown pass from Austin Holbrook to Sanford Byrd, narrowing the gap to 27-14 at the break.
The Braves wouldn’t take long to get back on the board, either.
After receiving the second half kickoff, Ayden Hartley took a direct snap 26 yards to the house, eroding the deficit to just 27-20 — after a failed PAT.
Adding to his great evening already, Hartley then picked off a ZT pass to continue shifting momentum.
Logan Elm struck again on a 38-yard receiving touchdown from Connor Kint, knotting up the score at 27-27 with 27 unanswered points.
The Pioneers had to make a statement soon to try to get back any shred of momentum. And in the most dire moment of the contest, their senior leadership from Johnson, Brower and Hudson Williams truly showed.
“We just had to do our job and do it to our best ability,” said Johnson when asked about how he led, even through the Logan Elm siege.
In a drive that included multiple big-time plays, including a huge third-down conversion from Payne to Mason Hartley, Johnson finished with a 29-yard touchdown run to put the Pioneers back on top at 34-27.
Brower then made a huge fourth down stop, giving ZT the ball with under 10 minutes to play, and Stauffer took it from there. With 6:59 left, he’d score from 28 yards out to make it a 40-27 count.
With all momentum flipped back to the home team, Johnson continued the theme, forcing a fumble with a huge hit to give the Pioneers a chance to ice the game for good.
And, at that point, why not hand the ball to No. 3 for No. 5?
Johnson, who had been everywhere all night long, capped off his excellent night with his fifth score, tying his own single-game touchdown record and rounding out the night’s final.
“I’d love a 10-0 season as seniors. We haven’t had that yet and we haven’t had a Gold Ball,” Johnson said. “I’d love to make a deep playoff run. That’s what we’ve been wanting since we were freshmen.”
Statistically, Johnson led the Pioneers with 22 carries for 220 yards and five touchdowns while Stauffer had 11 carries for 111 yards and two total scores. Stauffer also had a forced fumble and interception on the defensive end.
Payne went 4-of-7 through the air for 78 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Three of those completions were to Hartley, who also added an interception.
The Pioneers are back in action on Friday at Waverly while Logan Elm attempts to earn their first win, hosting Westfall the same evening.
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