Findlay's defense delivers another dominant effort against Ross

FREMONT – Jack Young and Trace'son Hyde, bookend defensive ends for Findlay High's football team, have their own little competition going this season.Expanding that on a wider screen, that explains a lot about the Trojans' defense overall.Hyde and Young had two sacks each, combined for seven total tackles and had a fumble recovery, spearheading a devastating defensive effort in Findlay's 42-0 win over Fremont Ross on Friday in the 103rd meeting between the long-time rivals."I love playing football with that guy," Young said of the player on the other end of Findlay's three-man front."We've been playing football together since freshman year and trust me, we're keeping stats to see how it comes out at the end of the year. That's what makes us all better, I think."Caleb Kanney led Findlay with seven tackles. Young had four and Hyde had three, with two of them being sacks."We're just having fun out there, playing good football," Hyde said."We play rough, we play tough, we fly to the football fast. It's lights on, lights off football. I'm very proud of all of these guys because both sides of the ball were really firing out."The stats for Hyde and Young reflected a staggering stats line by the Trojans overall.Fremont Ross had just two first downs the entire game, and one of those came from a penalty.Findlay limited the little Giants to 11 yards rushing, 2 yards on six pass completions and 13 yards total offense.And the Trojans turned three take-aways into 21 points and a stunning 35-0 lead at the half."We played complementary football, and that's great to see," FHS coach Stefan Adams said after Findlay (4-1) won its fourth straight game."A lot of the credit has to go to the players, and a lot of credit has to go to the coaching staff. They put together a game plan and we came out really ready to execute that plan. We talk about execution all that time; I think that was about as clean of execution and we can do."Findlay drove 40 yards with the opening kickoff. When the drive stalled at the Fremont Ross 18, Greyson Geiser came on to attempt a 35-yaerd field goal. Geiser had plenty of leg, but the ball bounced back off the left upright.That, in a nutshell, is about the only thig that went wrong for Findlay the entire first half.On Fremont's second play after the field goal miss, Hudson Yeager made a perfect read on the eyes of Ross quarterback Breylen Garza, intercepted his pass and returned it to the 8-yard line.Miles Bailey, a 200-pound senior running back/linebacker who stepped into the quarterback role in the wildcat position two games ago, carried twice and scored the first of his three short-yardage touchdowns.On the ensuing kickoff, Geiser punched a low liner that Fremont could not pin down. Deiondre Herrera did, though, recovering the muff at the Little Giants' 34. Shawn Hines III raced for 30 yards on a jet sweep before Bailey scored his second TD.Young's first sack of the game stalled Fremont's next possession and Findlay answered with a 90-yard drive capped by Bailey's 2-yard burst into the end zone. Bailey's 46-yard pass to Hines was the big play.Sacks by both Young and Hyde highlighted another defensive stand and Findlay put two more touchdowns on the board in the final 6:54 of the half.Carter Imke caught three passes on the first drive, including a 6-yard catch on an inside screen for the score.After Young recovered a fumble at the Fremont 34 with 52 seconds left in the period, Findlay covered that distance in five plays, with Bailey's 22-yard strike to Jed Scott on a down-and-out pattern putting Findlay up 35-0 at the half and triggering a running clock in the third quarter.Junior running back Ramier Williams added a highlight moment in the fourth quarter when he shot through the line and raced 54 yards for Findlay's final score."We took advantage of some things, and we scored on a 90-yard drive," Adams said."That's progress. We're getting better, and the kids have confidence in what we're doing.Bailey was 12-of-15 passing for 131 yards, rushed for 39 yards and accounted for five touchdowns either through the air or on the ground.Friday's win wrapped the cross-over portion of the 2025 schedule for both teams. Findlay opens Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division play Friday when the Trojans host Oregon Clay (3-2) for Homecoming at Donnell Stadium.Fremont Ross (2-3) faces Toledo Scott in a nonleague contest, then opens NLL Cardinal Division play at Sylvania Southview on Oct. 5. Findlay 14 21 0 7—42Fremont Ross 0 0 0 0—0First QuarterFIN – Bailey 1 run (Geiser kick)FIN – Bailey 3 run (Geiser kick) Second QuarterFIN – Bailey 2 run (Geiser kick)FIN – Imke 6 pass from Bailey (Geiser kick)FIN – Scott 22 pass from Bailey (Geiser kick) Fourth QuarterFIN – Williams 54 run (Geiser kick) FIN SPRFirst Downs 16 2Rushes-yards 36-204 16-11Passing Yards 131 2Comp-Att-Int 12-15-0 6-11-1Punts-Avg. 0-0.0 4-36.8Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2Penalties-Yards 3-30 5-45INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING – Findlay, Williams 6-66, Hines 4-35, Lane 7-22, Bailey 12-39, Smith 1-13, Lomeli 4-16, Scott 2-13. Fremont Ross, Brown 7-19, Garza 4-(-24), Reiter 2-6, Roberts 2-10.PASSING – Findlay, Bailey 12-15-0, 131 yards. Fremont Ross, Garza 5-10-2, 2 yards; Simms 1-10-0, 0 yards.RECEIVING – Findlay, Imke 4-38, Scott 1-22, Hines 2-49, Geiser 4-25. Fremont Ross, England 1-(-7), Mackey 1-8, Reiter 4-1.Game stats courtesy of Jim Welch