September 30, 2000

TC takes a win from the Rams

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

Number six goes to the defense.

An offensive performance that featured seven penalties somewhat saddled the Columbian attack during a 34-7 win over Upper Sandusky Friday at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.

But the defense made it a certainty the Tornadoes would win their sixth game by making every battled waged an uphill one for the Rams. Upper Sandusky managed just 119 yards of offense, 30 of which came on a late touchdown against TC's second unit.

The Rams rushed the ball 28 times for just 27 yards.

"Hey, we're 6-0 and we just pounded one out tonight," Columbian coach Steve Gilbert said. "The kids did a nice job of staying focused during all the homecoming activities. On the field they played hard.

"Defensively, we were outstanding. We had great pressure on the quarterback, and we pretty much just shut down their offense. I'm upset with the penalties because we just haven't had those."

Columbian may have administered a slow death in this one, but the start was as fast as they come.

Brett Krupp took the opening kickoff at his 10-yard line, found a seem up the middle and raced to the Upper Sandusky 9, setting up Adam Oster's 21-yard field goal with 10:54 left in the first.

Oster tacked on his second field goal, this one a 25-yarder, later in the quarter to put the Tornadoes on top, 6-0.

"They break the big kickoff right away, but I thought our defense did a good job standing ground," said Upper Sandusky coach Dick DeWitt, whose team fell to 1-5, 0-3 in the Northern Ohio League. "Our offense didn't give them any help and our special teams certainly put them in a hole early, so we didn't get the start we needed to be competitive with these guys."

Krupp (117 yards, 16 carries) broke loose for a 49-yard touchdown run on TC's next possession. That gave the Tornadoes a 13-0 lead and set up the back-breaker later in the quarter.

With 3:26 left in the half, a 54-yard punt by the Rams' Lucas Miller had Columbian pinned at its 1-yard line.

A three-and-out series had Upper Sandusky in striking distance at the TC 43, but on the first play, Columbian's Adam Powers smacked Rams quarterback Aaron Leitzy and forced a fumble. Steve Lee recovered and the Tornadoes (6-0, 3-0) had 2:03 to put the ball in the end zone.

Krupp carried for 18 yards, Lee went for 8 and Krupp 11 more on consecutive plays to move the Tornadoes to the Upper Sandusky 18.

Four plays later quarterback Mike Buckner lofted a pass for Drew Hanley, who beat his defender to the left corner and made a basket catch to push Columbian's advantage to 20-0 with 18 seconds left in the half.

"Defensively, we played a pretty good half and they kept us in the game," DeWitt said. "But then the offense turns the ball over late (in the half). And that's the second or third ballgame lately that we've done that. We have the ball late, turn it over and give up a score. The defense played too well for us to let that happen."

The Rams suffered another self-inflicted wound on the second play of the third quarter when Columbian's Jarrett Fuller fell on a fumble at the Upper Sandusky 23-yard line.

Krupp put the finishing touch on a short drive with a 4-yard scoring run at the 8:40 mark, his 14th rushing TD of the season.

"We score before the half to go up by 20 and then, boom, we get the big play on defense, put it on offense and then it's 27," Gilbert said. "From there we started to wear on them.

"In the fourth quarter we got a lot of new kids in the game and that's going to help us down the road," he said. "I was happy to get Danny (Lutz, backup QB) in the game because he's gotten better and better and he deserves some time at quarterback. He gives us another weapon we can use."

Lutz completed both passes he attempted for 13 yards, rushed six times for 38 yards and scored TC's final touchdown, a 3-yard run on fourth-and-goal with 6:42 left in the game.

The Rams got their only score of the game on the next drive when Leitzy hit Brian Kimmel for a 30-yard TD pass.

Leitzy completed 7-of-17 passes for 73 yards.

Buckner was 6-of-11 for 50 yards.

Columbian finished with eight penalties for 80 yards, seven of which came on offense or offensive special teams. One forced Oster to kick a 35-yard extra point.

"Overall, we did a lot of things well," Gilbert said. "The penalties are disappointing, but we'll work on that. But I'm proud of these kids because they hang in there. They don't lose their composure, and they play hard.

"I thought, especially on defense, that we dominated the game. I mean we just shut them down," he said. "This is a good win. It wasn't great, but we're 6-0."