ONTARIO — Ontario’s Bodpegn Miller got by with a little help from his friends in the second half Friday night.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior — headed to play for Ohio State next season — was the first to acknowledge his teammates after the Warriors rallied from a 14-0 deficit to knock off Lexington 31-14 in the season-opening football game for the cross-county rivals.
“The first half got to me, man. I was getting tired out there. I was whipped. I wasn’t doing my job, but I have a great group of guys around me to pick me up,” Miller said.
“I couldn’t have done it without them. They picked me up. They believed in me and we got it back in the second half. We cleaned things up and I depended on every single one of these boys tonight.”
Miller, who will be a receiver for the Buckeyes, does everything but that for OHS coach Aaron Eckert. He plays quarterback. He plays defensive back. He punts. He kicks off.
Rumor had it he was also working the concession stands inside Copeland Field at Niss Stadium. There was no truth to that rumor, but Miller likely could add it to his repertoire.
He rushed for 96 yards on 19 attempts. He passed for 94 yards and two TDs to senior WR Noah Poole, and suffered two interceptions. Miller also consistently put Lexington in bad field position by slamming every kickoff into the end zone
He also picked off a pass in the Ontario secondary, tasked while playing man-to-man against 6-5, 225-pound Lexington receiver Brayden Fogle, who has received multiple Division I scholarship offers, including one from No. 1-ranked Georgia.
Fogle finished with four catches for 46 yards, two of those receptions coming on the final Lexington possession as Miller rested on the bench.
“It was definitely a lot of fun. It’s good to be challenged like that. It just makes you reach another competitive gear when you go against a guy like that,” Miller said.
The Warriors needed all of Miller’s heroics after Lexington junior Seven Allen scored twice in the game’s first 10 minutes on an 82-yard interception return and a 37-yard pass from junior quarterback Joe Caudill to take a 14-0 lead with 1:57 left in the initial quarter.
Ontario graduated 22 seniors from last year’s 10-2 team, winning the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title and posting the school’s third-ever football playoff win. As far as Eckert is concerned, his team didn’t lose its “grit.”
“This is a gritty group of kids,” Eckert said. “Grinding it out the way we did, I think we are on to something there. We have a lot of new guys and new faces, but the grit is still there, which is what we want to make our identity.”
Ontario simply pounded the ball on the ground in the second half behind a rejuvenated offensive line and a stable of running backs, particularly 5-10, 175-pound senior Mason Vantilburg.
Vantilburg rushed for 90 yards on 14 attempts, scoring on back-to-back carries in the fourth quarter on runs of 1 and 15 yards. The first gave the Warriors a 21-14 lead and the second put the game away.
“Mason Vantilburg and (sophomore) Gavin Miller were phenomenal tonight,” Eckert said. “It was a total team effort. Noah Poole had two big catches in one-on-one matchups. Collectively, our guys did a heck of a job, especially that offensive line. We used seven different guys up there and they got after it.”
On defense, Ontario limited Lexington to just 225 yards — including just 38 on the ground — and one offensive touchdown.
“Defensively, we didn’t give much,” Eckert said. “That team we beat has a zillion athletes and guys all over the place who can make plays.
“A lot of kudos goes out to our secondary guys. Miller played both ways tonight and he is a man amongst boys out there,” the coach said.
It was a tough opening night for a Lexington team that returned 17 lettermen, including eight starters on offensive and nine on defense.
“We struggled in the second half,” Lexington coach Andrew Saris said.
“We turned the ball over and never gave ourselves good field position. It’s hard, man. It’s hard. We put ourselves in a difficult spot. We turned it over a couple of times in the second half and they had a chance to grind it out.”
The third-year head coach said Ontario pressure from its defensive front made it tough to take advantage of the weapons his team has on offense.
“We’ve got to make sure we protect that guy back there and shore that protection up so we can get a chance to get the ball to those athletes,” he said. “We have got to finish out four quarters.”
What was his message after the game?
“I think it’s important to stress the idea we’re a family and when you go through a difficult moment, everyone gets a chance to come back. That’s the great thing about being in a family.
“We have got to continue to support each other as we move on because it’s all we got. All we got is each other.”
Caudill completed 14-of-30 passes for 187 yards with the one TD to Allen and one interception. Allen, who missed time with leg cramps, had five receptions for 98 yards.
Up next:
— Ontario hosts 1-0 Centerburg next Friday night in another non-league game. The Trojans knocked off Utica in Week One, 21-6.
— Lexington hosts 1-0 Shelby Friday night in a non-league game. The Whippets defeated Madison in their opener, 40-14.
Ontario 31, Lexington 14
Scoring summary
1st quarter
Lexington — Seven Allen 82-yard interception return (PAT Trenton Reed kick), 7-0
Lexington — Allen 37-yard pass from Joe Caudill (PAT Trenton Reed kick), 14-0
Ontario — Noah Poole 56-yard pass from Bodpegn Miller (PAT kick failed), 14-6
2nd quarter
(No scoring)
3rd quarter
Ontario — Poole 23-yard pass from Miller (PAT Cooper Kilgore kick), 14-13
4th quarter
Ontario — Mason Vantilburg 1-yard run (PAT Miller run), 14-21
Ontario — Vantilburg 15-yard run (PAT Kilgore kick), 14-28
Ontario — Kilgore 26-yard field goal, 14-31
