By Cort Reynolds

LEIPSIC__The visiting Ada High School football team played explosive Leipsic close for a half, but a third-period outburst led to a 47-14 loss in the Blanchard Valley Conference and season finale on Friday, October 24.

The Bulldogs trailed just 14-7 at halftime after a scoreless first period. But a 26-7 Viking third quarter broke up the close game.

The potent Leipsic offense rolled up 606 total yards, including 418 on the ground.

Ada finished 5-5 overall and 3-5 in the BVC after ending the season on a three-game skid to come in seventh in the league.

“The kids competed at a very high level tonight,” said fifth-year Ada head coach Toby Smith. “I am very proud of our seniors and how they led us to a successful season.”

Leipsic improved to 9-1 overall and 7-1 in the BVC to finish second in the conference behind unbeaten champion Liberty-Benton (10-0, 8-0 BVC).

Pandora-Gilboa (6-2) finished third in the BVC standings, while Arlington and Van Buren tied for fourth (5-3). McComb came in sixth at 4-4.

Leipsic scored on its second possession of the game early in period two. Marquis Williams tallied on a 37-yard gallop, and Aaron Hazelton tacked on a two-point run to make it 8-0 Vikings with 11:57 left in the second period.

Ada responded with a six-play, 73-yard drive to paydirt. Junior quarterback Blake Zoladz connected with senior receiver Gavin Oldfield for a 44-yard gain to ignite the march. 

Thad Smith completed a clutch fourth and 20 aerial to Kayleb Hickman for 21 yards to the Viking 18.

On the next play, Zoladz found Oldfield for an 18-yard TD pass. Andrew Allen booted the extra point to pull the Bulldogs within 8-7 at the 7:50 mark.

A 37-yard run by Leipsic back Aaron Hazelton jump-started the next Viking drive. Two plays later, Marquis Williams rambled 25 yards to the end zone.

The extra point kick was blocked to keep the score at 14-7 with 6:25 left in the first half.

Neither team scored over the rest of the second period. 

Leipsic took the second half kickoff and Hazelton started the possession with an 18-yard run. But the Bulldog defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs when a fourth down and nine pass was incomplete.

Ada took over at its 32 yet had to punt quickly. An 11-yard rush by Hazelton ignited a 75-yard, three-play scoring drive.

The speedy Williams then scurried 69 yards to the end zone with 6:31 left in the third period. Hazelton ran in the two-point conversion for a 22-7 lead.

Ada senior Hickman fielded the ensuing kickoff and raced 90 yards to paydirt for a Bulldog touchdown. The Allen PAT kick inched the scrappy purple and gold within 22-14 midway through the third stanza.

But two plays later, the Vikings struck back to regain the momentum. Williams scored again on a 48-yard run, and the following two-point pass was incomplete to keep it 28-14 with 5:49 still left in the third quarter.

Penalties thwarted the next Ada drive and after a punt, Leipsic took over at their own 44. Three plays later, Viking QB Marc Kirkendall scampered 44 yards to the end zone to cap a 56-yard drive.

Another two-point incompletion kept it 34-14 at the 2:50 mark.

Williams intercepted a Zoladz aerial and the Vikings took over at their own 24.  

On the next play, Kirkendall connected with Avery Paris on a 76-yard touchdown pass to break the game open at 40-14 with 2:40 still left. The extra point kick missed to maintain the margin at 26.

Leipsic then embarked on an 86-yard, eight-play scoring march to finish the scoring. A 34-yard toss from Kirkendall to Hazelton reached the Ada 20.

After a Viking penalty, Kirkendall hit Eban Hardy with a 27-yard TD aerial with 6:11 left to play to cap the 4:31 march. The extra point kick by Blake Eagleson provided the final margin of 47-14.

1 2 3 4 F

Ada 0 7 7 0 14

Leip 0 14 26 7 47

Notes and stats

Ada was limited to 188 yards of total offense on 44 plays. The Bulldogs averaged 4.3 yards per play. Ada ran for just 43 yards on 12 tries, and passed for 145 net yards. 

The Bulldogs earned eight first downs, one on the ground and seven in the air. The Vikings moved the chains 21 times – 14 via the rush and six in the air, plus one by penalty.

Leipsic netted 606 yards in offense on 56 snaps, an average gain of 10.8 yards per play. The Vikings netted a whopping 418 yards rushing on 30 carries (13.9 avg.), and added 188 net yards passing.

Ada junior quarterback Blake Zoladz completed 16 of 28 passes for 133 yards and one TD with one interception. 

He netted 36 yards rushing on nine carries with a long run of 14. Zoladz ended up with 169 yards in total offense.

Smith completed his lone pass for 31 yards.

Senior wideout Oldfield pulled down five receptions for 78 yards and one TD, with a long catch of 44.

Senior Hickman snared three passes for 43 yards. Senior Zack Zimmerman caught three passes for 25 yards. 

Hickman also returned three kickoffs for 153 yards, including a 90-yarder.

Viking QB Kirkendall completed just eight of 24 passes for 188 yards and two TDs. He added 45 yards rushing on two carries with a 44-yard TD scamper.

Viking back Williams rushed for 216 yards and four TDs on 13 runs.

Hazelton ran the ball 15 times for 157 yards. He added one catch for 34 yards.

Paris caught five passes for 119 yards and one TD. Hardy added a 27-yard scoring reception.

Zimmerman led the Ada defense with seven solo tackles and eight assisted stops, with one sack. 

Oldfield made three solo stops. Hickman made two solo tackles and had three assists. Easton Lane added two solo stops and two assists.  

Allen punted six times for an average of 30.7 yards per boot. Leipsic punted only once for 32 yards.

The Vikings were penalized eight times for 44 yards, while Ada was flagged 13 times for 93 yards. 

The Bulldogs were only one for 11 on third down, while Leipsic was successful on four of nine. Ada went 2-3 on fourth down, while the Vikes were 1-4.  

Ada made one turnover, while Leipsic committed no miscues.

The Bulldogs compiled 19:53 of possession time, while the Vikings had the ball for 28:07. 

Coach Smith concludes his fifth season at the Ada helm with a 20-31 record, including 13-8 the past two seasons.

The Bulldogs finished the campaign 4-1 at home and 1-4 on the road after the season finale defeat. The loss killed any Ada hopes for a second straight playoff berth.

The Bulldogs were 17th going into week 10 in the Div. VII, Region 26 computer rankings, and finished 19th in the 29-team region.