Senior Reed Wehr was a scoring machine against Preble Shawnee as he and his fellow seniors become the first senior class to get a football win over Preble Shawnee.
Photo by Eddie Mowen Jr. | The Register-Herald
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
CAMDEN — For the first time in program history, the Tri-Village football team defeated Preble Shawnee. The Patriots went to Preble Shawnee and won 48-14.
Head coach Matt Hopkins said while the first half didn’t go smoothly, the team came out firing on all cylinders in the second half.
“First half was a little rough. We weren’t real crisp and clean, but we came out the second half and played pretty well,” Hopkins said.
The Patriots had a 26-7 lead after the first half. Senior Reed Wehr scored three touchdowns in the first half of the game.
All of the seniors stepped up in this one to finally get that win over the Arrows. Hopkins said while the team focuses on just winning the week and not on the opponent, he knew the seniors had some unfinished business against Preble Shawnee.
On top of losing to them in football the past couple of years, a majority of the basketball team is on the football team. They lost at Preble Shawnee last season as the Arrows went on to win the WOAC.
Those games were never forgotten as the Patriots headed into this matchup.
“They knew what’s on the line. You could tell wanted it from the last two years. We felt from last year, Shawnee capitalized on a lot of our mistakes. We had six turnovers. They took one from us and we were disappointed with ourselves all year long about it,” Hopkins said.
Wehr had another two touchdowns in the second half. Senior Braden Keating had two passing touchdowns in the game, one to senior Tanner Printz.
Hopkins said the team has great senior leadership and all of his seniors stepped up all week long to help the team get this win.
The Patriots are now 2-0 on the season. In the past years, this matchup has helped determine who would win or share the conference title.
Hopkins said this win does make them the hunted even more. The rest of the WOAC will be giving them their best shot.
That’s how the Patriots want it. Hopkins said the WOAC is a league filled with really good teams. This win helps set up a great season for the conference.
“We’re a pretty good league, contrary to what some people think. It just means our target is even bigger. South is going to be good. They’re senior laden and they went on a run at the end of last season and they have a new coach. You got Ansonia that we battled last year,” Hopkins said. “It sets it up to be even more wild and fun. That’s what we want to do.”
The Patriots will go on the road again to Twin Valley South for their next game on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
