CINCINNATI — On a warm night, the Hurricane heated up after a slow start and opened its 2024 season with a 30-0 win over Northwest at Rebecca Hunt Stanfill Field on the NW campus.

WHS coach Ryan Evans was pleased with this team’s effort. He lamented eight penalties, several of which wiped out big offensive plays for the Hurricane.

“To beat a really good (Miami) Trace team, we’re going to have to clean those up,” Evans said. “But this was a good win, a good first win. We got the jitters out.

“It’s just a different feel this year. Guys studying tape on their own, doing things on their own. It’s kind of like player-led, which is what I wanted, and it’s going in the right direction.”

Wilmington will return to Alumni Field Friday night to meet longtime South Central Ohio League rival Miami Trace. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Eli Stewart had a strong start in the defensive secondary, coming up with several big hits, a fumble recovery and an interception. He was credited with five solo tackles, two of which were behind the line of scrimmage.

Luke Achtermann led the defensive charge with 10 tackles, six of which were solos. Bryson Schutte was in on eight stops while Malachi Cumberland and Jesse Keith had six each.

“The boys were really aggressive coming out,” said Evans. “I’m really excited. Our defense stepped up … the quarterback, the offensive line as well.”

Jake Stephens ran for two scores and passed for two others for the Hurricane.

“Running the ball, throwing the ball, he commands the offense,” Evans said of Stephens. “Since December, he’s getting those guys together, running routes in the gym.”

It was far from a one-man show, though. In all, eight WHS players had rushing attempts in the first half and six different players caught passes, pointing to the multitude of weapons on the WHS offense.

“We’re going to be very versatile this year,” Evans said. “We have a lot of personnel we’re using and that keeps it fresh.”

After three penalties on their first seven plays from scrimmage, the Hurricane picked up steam late in the first period. A Stephens plunge capped a 7-play, 41-yard drive at the 2:16 mark of the period as WHS went up 7-0 following Dylan Groves PAT.

Stewart keyed a three-and-out by the Cane defense and the offense went back to work on its next possession, going 62 yards with a nifty mix of run and pass plays. Stephens, given time to throw, found a wide open Steven Rickman in the end zone as WHS went up two touchdowns. Bouyed by a Northwest penalties, the next WHS drive was a quick one, capped by Stephens to Michael Streety who hauled in the pass in the left portion of the end zone.

The Knights had just 19 rush yards on their first seven attempts but then began to run on the Hurricane defense. They gained 99 yards on the next 17 attempts.

But Wilmington was able to preserve the shutout in the second half and add another Stephens rushing score to put the final touch on a season-opening win.

NOTE BOOK

—Rebecca Hunt Stanfill is the daughter of public address announcer Fred and Lisa Hunt. The 2011 Northwest High School graduate was an expectant mother who died unexpectedly this summer.

—Northwest retired the No. 18 jersey of former standout Preston Brown, who played collegiately at Louisville and then went on to a stellard NFL career with the Bills, Bengals and Raiders.

SUMMARY

Aug 23, 2024

@Rebecca Hunt Stanfill Field

Hurricane 30, Knights 0

W^7^15^8^0^^30

NW^0^0^0^0^^0

First Quarter

W: Jake Stephens 1 yard run (Dylan Groves PAT) 2:16

Second Quarter

W: Stevie Rickman 3 yard pass from Jake Stephens (Dylan Groves PAT) 6:40

W: Michael Streety 18 yard pass from Jake Stephens (Jake Stephens run) 2:53

Third Quarter

W: Jake Stephens 8 yard run (Logan Achtermann pass from Jake Stephens) 4:42

Fourth Quarter

No Scoring

STATISTICS

TEAM

WILM: 17 first downs, 268 total yards (28-122 rushing 13-20 for 146 passing)

NW: 7 first downs, 144 total yards (24-118 rushing, 6-26 for 13 passing)

INDIVIDUALS

RUSHING: Jake Stephens 11-46, Bryson Schutte 7-49, Luke Johnson 4-18, Josiah Puller 4-11, Eli Stewart 1-1, Payden Mawyer 1-(-6)

PASSING: Jake Stephens 13-20 for 146 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

RECEIVING: Payden Mawyer 3-37-1, Josiah Puller 2-28, Eli Stewart 2-24, Steven Rickman 2-21, Luke Achtermann 2-18, Eddie Brooks 1-2, Michael Streety 1-18

TACKLING: Logan Achtermann 10 (1 TFL), Bryson Schutte 8, Malachi Cumberland 6 (1 TFL), Jesse Keith 6 (o.5 TFL), Eli Stewart 5 (2 TFL, Blake Turner 5 (0.5 TFL), Luke Johnson 5, Josiah Puller 3, Rodney Goings 3, Payden Mawyer 2 (1 TFL), Bryant Conley 2 (1 Sack), Steven Rickman 2, Zane Smith 2, Justin Scarberry 2, Carson Brown 1, Colton Stonebreaker 1

INTERCEPTIONS: Eli Stewart 1

FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Eli Stewart 1

UP NEXT

WHO: Miami Trace

WHEN: 7 p.m.

WHERE: Alumni Field

PANTHERS RESUME

2024: 0-1

Last Week: 28-23 loss at home against Waverly.

Inside Info: The Panthers lamented mistakes, including a fourth quarter penalty that wiped out a potential key touchdown, and then a fumble on their next possession. Trace also had a roughing the punter penalty that allowed Waverly to run out the clock.

Series: Since 1972, Trace has a decided 30-15-1 advantage in the series of former South Central Ohio League rivals.

Last Meeting: WHS won 24-21 last season. Trace won 28-22 in 2022