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Arcanum senior Cole Burrell brings down MV freshman Will Hall during
first half action at
Arcanum Friday. The Blackhawks were no match for
the Trojans, falling 56-6 in Cross County
Conference action. CNO Photos
by Dylan Knoop
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Arcanum rolls
over MV on senior night
Hawks prove no match for Trojans
By George Starks
ARCANUM- When it came to things going right for Mississinawa Valley
Friday at Arcanum, it all really stopped after the coin toss.
The visiting Blackhawks won that aspect of the game.
About the only other thing that went in the Hawks favor was a third
quarter touchdown run of 66 yards by senior Tyler Jenkinson with 6:12
left in the frame. After that, not much went right for the Hawks on
this night as the Trojans rolled to a 56-6 Cross County Conference
victory.
As for the Trojans, it was the fourth straight win in the conference
(4-5 overall) but with the first five games going into the loss column,
Arcanum coach TJ Powers told his kids that next Friday’s game with
Bethel will be their Super Bowl as the season will come to an end.
“I told them when we were 0-5 that we’ve got five games left so we have
a season now of five games and our goal is to win them all,” said
Powers. “You’ve got to play one at a time and all that, but you do have
to refocus yourselves when you have a tough start like that. I’m just
really proud of the guys for persevering and getting to this point.”
The Trojans took control right off the bat and it started on defense.
With the Hawks looking at a second and 10 from their own 27, Hawks
quarterback Andrew Johns dropped to throw left, looking for Jenkinson.
Instead, he found Arcanum DB Cole Burrell and the Trojans took control
at the Mississinawa Valley 17.
On the Trojans second play from scrimmage, senior QB Daniel O’Donnell
took it in from 13 yards out and the Trojans were up 6-0 with only 1:11
having elapsed off the clock.
By the end of the opening quarter, the Trojans were up by a 33-0 count
and it was O’Donnell that had led the charge.
Before the end of the half, Powers had called off the dogs as Arcanum
held a commanding 42-0 lead.
When O’Donnell was pulled, he had accounted for four of the five Trojan
scores.
Two can by the way of the rushing attack as O’Donnell scored on runs of
13 and 18 yards with the other two coming through the air with scoring
passes of 10 and 30 yards.
In all, the Arcanum signal caller had been responsible for 160 yards of
total offense as the Trojans tallied 286 yards in the first half and
over 400 yards for the game
“We were getting starters out in the second quarter, which is big for
our program to be able to get guys that are going to be helping us in
the future,” Powers said.
With O’Donnell doing his damage for the Trojans, it was Dalton Geesy
that was wreaking havoc on the on the Arcanum extra point team as he
blocked two extra point attempts by the Trojans.
“Dalton is a physical force,” MV coach Patrick Baker said. “For
somebody in college, he’s one of those kids who is going to have a
chance to go on. Somebody in college is going to get a steal because
he’ll get to weight lift all year round. He’ll get a position coach to
coach him and he’ll get to play one side of the ball, he loves the
weight room … that kid is going to be a steal for somebody.”
With the final score being the third quarter score, 56-6, Baker spoke
of his team’s effort.
“Effort is good again,” Baker said. “For the most part our effort has
been good all season. It’s just the execution and playing under the
lights. We play with a lot of young kids. And obviously we all know
what this program is, and we’re not going to fix it overnight. It just
kind of is what it is. Anybody who thinks that needs to reexamine that
statement. We’ll get there. We’ll get there. I think our effort is
there.”
But when it came down to the rules of the game, Powers said it was all
about one thing.
“I always say it’s a simple game and it’s about blocking and tackling,”
Powers said. “We blocked well, and we tackled well. And up front we
really pushed them around, and we had a few good reads. We had a lot of
good reads and a lot of good checks offensively that gave us the
opportunity to have those big holes. Plus our offensive line really did
a number up front tonight.”
While Arcanum will travel to Bethel to end the season, the Hawks, 0-9,
will host Troy Christian Friday night for their senior night.
“These next seven days are for the seniors,” Baker said. “We have a
couple kids that have a chance to go on (and play college football).
But a coach told me a long time ago football is a terminal condition.
So it’s all going to end for us one day or another. We’re all going to
be in that shoe one day. Let’s put our best foot forward for our
seniors.”
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Trojan
senior Daniel O'Donnell runs the ball in for Arcanum in the
first quarter. O'Donnell
accounted for four touchdowns in the Trojans
blitz of Mississinawa Valley.
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