Jonas Tester of Wauseon runs the ball versus Bryan Friday night. He recorded three total touchdowns as the Indians cruised to a 31-0 shutout win over the Golden Bears.
Max Householder | AIM Media Midwest
Wauseon running back Bryson Stump finds a hole and gets upfield. Stump finished with 145 yards on the ground and a score.
Max Householder | AIM Media Midwest
Wauseon got three total touchdowns from Jonas Tester as they rolled to a 31-0 win over Bryan Friday night in the regular season finale.
The Indians secured a playoff spot with the win. They will visit Wooster Triway on Friday at 7 p.m. in the opening round of the Division IV, Region 14 playoffs.
While it wasn’t necessarily a perfect night by the Indians, they were able to be effective enough.
“Offensively we got to limit our turnovers. We just can’t be putting the ball on the ground and things like that. We were able to get our running game going a little bit more tonight. Put a couple different wrinkles, did some different things than we’ve done so far this year. Our guys I think battled well, and had a good performance tonight going into the playoffs,” said head coach Shawn Moore.
Wauseon got their first score with just 5:35 before halftime. A possession that began at their own 29-yard line, it ended with Tester running up the middle and reaching for a touchdown from four yards away, and Tyson Rodriguez’ point after made it 7-0.
Following a Bryan punt, the Indians struck again on a long pass from Elijah McLeod to Tester. On third-and-12 from the 35, McLeod found Tester up the right sideline who hauled it in and ran the rest of the way for a 65-yard score and 14-0 lead.
“Jonas is a tremendous athlete. We are gonna miss him,” said Moore of the senior. “We were able to put him in the backfield a little bit and run some quarterback which he’s done in the past. And just make some plays. He’s really shifty, and just (does) really well with the ball in his hands.”
Then, a Logan Carroll interception of Dylan Dominique’s pass led to a field goal before half. Rodriguez’ 25 yarder with just 12 seconds remaining gave the Indians a 17-0 edge at the break.
A 26-yard completion from McLeod to Tester set up Wauseon inside Bryan territory at the 34 in the beginning of the second half.
From there they leaned on tailback Bryson Stump. He had multiple first downs on the drive, and on second-and-goal at the three, bounced outside to the right and found the end zone at the 8:26 mark of the third quarter.
Stump finished the game with 145 yards on 23 attempts and a TD.
“Bryson did a great job as well,” said Moore. “Tweaked our running (game) and let him get outside a little bit. He made some nice cuts.”
Wauseon’s final score of the night came in the game’s final minute, a 42-yard punt return by Tester.
The Indians outgained the Golden Bears 339-145. Tester paced Wauseon (7-3) with 129 yards receiving on just five catches.
For Bryan (5-5), running back Korbin Sheperd tallied 114 yards on 25 carries.
Reach Max Householder at 419-335-2010.
