MIDDLETOWN — Lakota West didn’t overwhelm Middletown immediately Friday night, Oct. 2.
The Firebirds just kept leaning.
By the time the second half arrived, senior running back Kenyon Norman and Lakota West’s offensive line had taken control, while a suffocating defense gave the Middies nowhere to go.
Norman rushed for 145 yards and four touchdowns, Karmelo Jordan hauled in a 67-yard touchdown pass and Lakota West limited Middletown to 150 total yards in a 35-0 Greater Miami Conference victory at Barnitz Stadium.
“I mean, that defense, they got some dudes on that defense,” Lakota West coach Tom Bolden said of Middletown. “They get after you, and we knew they would. But we got a little bit of a size advantage in some places and things like that, so we thought we could wear on them a little bit.
“Kenyon runs the ball so hard that it does wear on teams.”
Norman did exactly that.
The senior carried 25 times and accounted for all four of West’s rushing touchdowns. He opened the scoring with a 19-yard run with 8 minutes remaining in the first quarter and added a 17-yard touchdown with 5:05 left in the second to make it 14-0.
Lakota West quarterback Jackson Smith then delivered the biggest play of the first half.
Smith connected with Jordan for a 67-yard touchdown with 2:17 remaining before halftime, giving the Firebirds a 21-0 advantage.
Jordan finished with five catches for 135 yards and the score, accounting for nearly three-quarters of West’s 181 passing yards. Labron Lumpkins added four receptions for 38 yards.
Smith completed 11 of 15 passes for 181 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“I’m just trying not to do too much and not do too little,” Smith said. “I think when it comes to having No. 3 in the backfield, I got the luxury of giving him the ball. And then, obviously, Melo — I think every single one of my touchdowns has been to him this year.”
Smith and Jordan have developed that connection over four seasons.
“I moved here as a freshman, kind of hit it off with him a little bit more playing on the same team right away,” Smith said. “Four years, one of my dogs, and that connection I have with him is special.”
Any hope Middletown had of mounting a second-half comeback disappeared as West continued to ride Norman and its defense.
Norman scored on a 1-yard run with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter, then capped the scoring on a 4-yard run with six seconds left in the period.
West finished with 332 yards — 181 passing and 151 rushing — and averaged 5.6 yards on its 27 rushing attempts.
The Firebirds were even more impressive on the other side of the ball.
Middletown managed just nine first downs and 150 total yards. The Middies rushed 29 times for 80 yards and produced only 70 yards through the air.
Most telling was third down.
Middletown converted just 1 of 13 third-down opportunities. West finished 4 of 7.
Middies quarterback Gavin Nolan, making his second straight start in place of Kolby Morgerson, completed 10 of 25 passes for 70 yards. West’s pass rush and run defense also kept Nolan from creating much with his legs, holding him to minus-4 yards on 11 rushing attempts.
Sophomore Memphis Driscoll provided most of Middletown’s offense with 85 yards on 17 carries, including a 19-yard run. Julius Reed caught six passes, but West limited those receptions to 32 yards.
Middletown coach Kali Jones credited West for disrupting what his team wanted to accomplish.
“They really took advantage of their bigs compared to our interior,” Jones said. “It’s evident when you’re looking out through your field. They just got some bodies. It’s just hard for us to match up with.
“That’s where we got to grow as a program.”
Jones also credited Bolden and his staff for breaking some of their previous tendencies.
“Everything that they had on film, tendencies and everything, they went completely different than what they did up front,” Jones said. “They got us really good tonight. They outcoached us tonight.”
The Middies’ offensive situation has been complicated by the absence of Morgerson, a senior transfer from Carlisle who started Middletown’s first five games.
Morgerson completed 63 of 114 passes for 659 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions before becoming ineligible under the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s transfer bylaw.
Morgerson transferred to Middletown after earning All-Ohio honors at Carlisle last season. The OHSAA denied his request for an exception to its transfer rule July 5, and an appeal was denied Aug. 28. Under the transfer bylaw, an athlete who does not qualify for an exception becomes ineligible once the varsity team reaches the prescribed point in its regular-season schedule in a sport the athlete played during the previous 12 months.
Morgerson and his legal counsel subsequently sought relief in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Gregory S. Stephens denied a second request for an emergency temporary restraining order Tuesday, saying an evidentiary hearing was necessary to evaluate the positions of Morgerson and the OHSAA before such relief could be granted.
Jones said Friday the program has been waiting while the matter works its way through that process.
“We’ve known for a while,” Jones said. “We did our part with the athletic department, what we were supposed to do, set it up, and it was denied, and then they appealed it. Then they got legal counsel, went through that process.
“I think we’ll know more next week what’s going on. They’ve been kind of navigating that process, and we just wait to hear back from the AD and from our district or from their legal counsel.”
Nolan had enjoyed a much different debut as the starter a week earlier, throwing for 289 yards and four touchdowns in Middletown’s 41-0 victory over Sycamore.
West presented another level of difficulty.
“It was a good confidence game to kind of jump out there and get to some routine stuff and build some confidence,” Jones said. “Then you go up against this. They’re sound, they’re fast and physical. It was an eye-opener.”
The Firebirds controlled Friday’s game despite forcing no turnovers. Middletown actually won the turnover battle, with DJ Bryant intercepting Smith and returning it 10 yards.
It didn’t matter.
West held a 332-150 advantage in total offense and a 17-9 edge in first downs while possessing the ball for 24:02 — only four seconds more than Middletown. The difference was what the Firebirds did with their possessions.
It was another sign Bolden’s team has responded to its loss to Princeton two weeks ago.
“That Princeton game didn’t go the way we wanted,” Bolden said. “We didn’t sulk. We didn’t pout. We just learned from it. We owned it, and that’s the biggest thing.
“We just talked to these kids about this journey. You got to own it. You got to get better from it.”
Smith sees the same progression but said West still has details to correct, including his interception.
“We played a good, complementary football game tonight, but it comes down to tightening everything up,” Smith said. “I can’t turn the ball over in that situation. I want that back.
“For the next three weeks, playing good football all around, especially offense, defense, and tune it up for the playoffs, because we have a special group. There’s no doubt about it. If we can tie it all together, not turn the ball over, keep the chains rolling, we’re going to be a pretty special team.”
