BELLEFONTAINE – Mechanicsburg didn’t have much trouble with Delphos Jefferson on Friday, rolling over the Wildcats with a 56-20 victory and advancing to the Division VI, Region 24 final.
The Indians were unstoppable offensively from the first possession, with Kaleb Romero’s vision and cutback ability causing problems for the Jefferson defense. Romero dashed, threw and pounded his way to four first-half touchdowns – three on the ground.
“It’s typical of what our kids have done all year,” MHS Coach Kurt Forrest said. “We’ve got a very experienced, tough group up there, and then you’ve got (Romero) and (Dustin Knapp) in the backfield to run the ball with a lot of authority and a lot of violence.”
Romero opened the scoring with a 1-yard run late in the first quarter, but Jefferson’s Hunter Binkley went 70 yards on the next play from scrimmage to tie the game at 7-7.
Outside of that long gain, Mechanicsburg’s defense did a nice job of bottling up the Wildcats’ offense, forcing a turnover and a couple of more on downs, along with a couple of punts.
“That’s what we’re about. We’re about how much fight you’ve got in you and how physical you can be. That’s who we are,” Forrest said. “We had our breakdowns, but other than the big plays, that’s about all we gave up.”
Romero hit Joey Mascadri for an 18-yard touchdown, then punched in another 1-yarder and scampered in on a scramble from several yards out to give Mechanicsburg a 28-7 lead at halftime.
The Indians picked up right where they left off after the intermission, with Knapp capping off the opening drive with a 6-yard touchdown run.
From there, Romero and Knapp continued their dominance for Mechanicsburg and Binkley ripped off a couple of big runs for Jefferson.
Romero would torment the Wildcats all night, adding another rushing touchdown and keeping the Indians ahead of the sticks. Knapp scored twice more, both times activating the running clock.
The first 30-point margin was short-lived, with Binkley going to the house from 67 yards for his third touchdown.
The Indians answered with another scoring drive, pushing the margin beyond 30 points (56-20) and forcing the clock to zero in the next series.
“It makes calling plays easier, when you’ve got some momentum and your defense is getting some stops. I can’t say enough about these kids,” Forrest said.
For the game, Romero had 275 yards on 27 carries with 4 touchdowns and Knapp had 174 yards on 28 carries with a trio of scores. Binkley had 194 yards on 19 carries with 3 touchdowns for Jefferson.
The Indians (12-0) advance to play Marion Local (11-1) in a rematch of last year’s regional final next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at a site to be determined.
