BETHEL — After a scoreless first half, Bethel-Tate exploded in the second half against Blanchester en route to a 35-20 win Friday in a OHSAA Division V Region 20 playoff football game at BTHS.

The win puts the Tigers (7-4) in the second round against top-ssed Valley View this coming Friday in Germantown. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The loss for the Wildcats ends the first season for Justin Schmitz as head coach at his alma mater with a 7-4 record.

NOTE: This story will be updated with quotes and photos soon.

Blanchester’s offense struggled all night against Bethel-Tate’s defense. The first time these two teams met Blanchester put 54 points on the scoreboard.

But BHS drives in the playoff battle ended like this: fumble, punt, punt, fumble, punt, touchdown, half, punt, blocked punt, downs, touchdown, interception, downs.

Counting punts, Blanchester had just three drives of five plays or more — a neatly executed all-run drive late in the first half that put Blanchester on top 6-0 when Caleb Sears reached the end zone, the drive before that which had a first down wiped out by penalty and a late fourth quarter drive that resulted in an interception to seal the outcome.

Chase Barnes led BHS in the first meeting with 16 tackles and helped Blan force six turnovers. He was unavailable for this game, though, because of an injury late in the East Clinton game. His absence caused a ripple effect in the Wildcats defense that was not a factor early.

The Tigers, however, picked apart the Wildcats in the second half. After 129 yards in the first two quarters, Bethel-Tate overpowered Blan for 305 yards in the second half.

The defense had several valiant efforts. Tristan Malone had numerous big plays up front before being helped off the field in the second half.

Austin Dick came up with a big sack, blitzing off the edge to take down Snider. Zach Musselman had a couple pass breakups to keep the Tigers from from piling up more yardage.

Bethel-Tate started strong with its passing, hitting on 3 of its first 4 attempts but then misfired on 12 of the next 13. Blanchester couldn’t take advantage, though, as the offense was stagnant.

Snider and Tiger pass game heated up in the second half, going 9-for-10 for 198 yards and five touchdowns.

Blanchester was able to remain in the game on big plays alone. But there weren’t any time-consuming, point-producing drives. BHS had Dick’s 81-yard kickoff return for touchdown as hidden yardage.

From scrimmage, the offense had 245 total yards with plays of 28, 36, 35 and 54 accounting for 60 percent of the output.

SUMMARY

Oct 27, 2023

Div V Region 20 first round

@Bethel-Tate High School

Tigers 35, Wildcats 20

BL^0^6^8^6^^20

BT^0^0^22^13^^35

SCORING

First Quarter

No scoring

Second Quarter

BL: Caleb Sears 36 yard run (Conversion failed) 0:59

Third Quarter

BT: Morris 17 yard pass from Snider (Snider PAT) 7:43

BL: Austin Dick 81 yard kickoff return (Sipple to Sears) 7:31

BT: Harris 30 yard pass from Snider (Armacost run) 5:44

BT: Morris 31 yard pass from Snider (Snider PAT) 3:16

Fourth Quarter

BL: Isaiah Abbott 54 yard pass from Bryce Sipple (Pass failed) 10:39

BT: Harris 36 yard pass from Snider (PAT failed) 10:18

BT: Harris 25 yard pass from Snider (Snider PAT) 3:47

STATISTICS

First Downs: BT: 22, BL: 8

Plays-Yards: BT: 73-434, BL: 49-245

Rushing: BT (39-178) Snider 10-23, Armacost 11-52, Darnell 15-86, Schultian 1-2; BL (32-160); BL (32-160) Austin Dick 1—1, Bryce Sipple 14-32, Ian Hopkins 8-49, Caleb Sears 7-65, Ayden Basham 1-5

Passing: BT (15-34-0, 252 yards) Snider 15-34, 252 yards; BL (3-17-1, 85 yards) Bryce Sipple 3-17-1, 85 yards

Receving: BT (15-252) Houston 1-1, Morris 3-60-2, Jordan Essig 2-2, Darnell 2-17, Harris 7-186-2); BL (3-85) Caleb Sears 1-28, Austin Dick 1-3, Isaiah Abbott 1-54

Penalties: BT 2-25; BL 9-56

Fumbles: BT 0-0; BL 2-2

Interceptions: BT Will Rapp; BL 0

Tackles: Jude Huston 12, Zach Musselman 7, Bryce Sipple 4, Tristan Malone 7, Caleb Sears 3, Ayden Basham 2, Kane Scott 5, Schuyler Smith 2, Xander Culberson