Plymouth, already in the playoffs for the first time in school history, would like to be at home for the first round. They took a step in that direction with a (34-6) thumping of New London on Friday night in Firelands Conference play.
Senior quarterback Hunter Bailey broke the Plymouth record for passing yards in a career as he completed 11 of 18 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns for the Big Red.
Two of those touchdown passes came in the first quarter when he found Tyrell Edmiston for a 75-yard strike with 8:29 to play in the first quarter and running back Chance Butcher for a 28-yard score to make it (13-0) Plymouth with 3:01 to play in the quarter.
But, the real stars for Plymouth played on the defensive side of the football on Friday night as they held a New London team that came that had won their last two games and had scored 36 points in each to just 150 yards and one score.
Coach Mark Genders says his squad has really played a lot better on defense since a loss to Norwalk St. Paul two weeks ago.
“We made some adjustments the last couple of weeks in some areas. It really showed itself (Friday) night. We held New London to less than 200 yards and 50 them came on the last drive. I couldn’t be prouder of the guys they really stepped up and played assignment, physical football,” he said.
Bailey found Butcher with another score, this one from 29 yards out, with 7:09 remaining in the first quarter and Plymouth took a (20-0) lead into halftime.
There were two more Plymouth scores in the third quarter as they ended the stanza with a (34-0) lead. Bailey found Remington Smedley with a four yard pass with 10:14 left in the quarter and Butcher added a five yard run with 3:37 remaining.
New London’s only score came with just 57 seconds to play in the game on a 2 yard run.
Opportunistic: The Big Red (7-2,4-2) racked up 343 yards of total offense against New London, 226 in the air and another 117 on ground, again showing pretty good balance. Genders says Bailey and the offense does a good job of taking advantage of what the defense is giving them and that was the case on Friday.
“They did their thing (Friday) night. We did a great job of taking what they gave us. We threw the ball a little bit more than we usually do. (Bailey) does a lot of it on his own. (Offensive coordinator) (Tom) Lewis puts him in great positions where he is checking at the line of scrimmage. The front guys blocked great and usually when we give him time great things happen,” said Genders.
One Goal: Going into this week Plymouth was third in its division seven computer region. The first four host a first round game and that is a goal for the Big Red.
Genders says he was really pleased about how focused they were, especially after clinching the playoff berth last week. “We play a rivalry game next week and played an emotional game last week and you just have to be ready every week. At this point in the season your seniors really have to take the team over. When my seniors are emotional and my seniors are focused, my team is going to be. Those senior boys have worked hard to get where they are at. Some people where calling this a trap game and things like that, but our senior leadership really showed (Friday) night,” said Genders.
Plymouth completes its regular season next Friday by hosting Crestview (2-7,1-5) in a Firelands Conference game.
