When they say defense wins championships, the Tippecanoe football team took that to heart. With their 63-0 rout of West Carrollton last Friday night, the Red Devils not only wrapped up the league championship with a perfect league record, but they also set a new standard in doing so.
With their seventh shutout of the season, the Red Devils set a new school record for most games in a season where they held their opponent scoreless, an incredible feat. To put their defense in perspective, after week one, when they lost to Bellbrook, Tipp has allowed only 20 points in the last nine games of the season. Last Friday, they scored 21 points in the first five minutes.
The game sent the Red Devils into the playoffs as the number two seed in their region, and they get a week off this Friday to prepare for week two of the playoffs. This is a home game next week against an opponent that will be decided after Friday’s opening round of the playoffs. Tipp will play either Cincinnati Hughes or Goshen at Tipp Park Stadium next week.
“Our guys came out tonight and did exactly what we had to do,” Tipp coach Matt Burgbacher said after their big win over West Carrollton. “We prepared like champions all year, and it has been building the last nine weeks. We had a decision to make that Saturday morning after we lost to Bellbrook. These guys made the right decision.”
“They still believed in themselves and us, and great things were going to happen.”
Tipp led 28-0 on Friday after the opening quarter and it all started at the 8:37 when James Merry scored from five yards out to put the Red Devils on the board.
The following kickoff was never touched by West Carrollton, and Tipp recovered at the three-yard line, where Coltson Artz later scored from a yard out. Two minutes later they scored again when Toby Hoover had a 36-yard punt return for a touchdown, and it was 21-0 with 6:31 left in the opening quarter.
Levi Jones continued his outstanding season with a 50-yard touchdown run with 5:14 left in the first, and Tipp was in total control.
Tipp scored three more times in the second period as Larkin Thomas hit Bentley Heckman on a 40-yard scoring strike. Jones added a nine-yard touchdown run and Heckman took a 40-yard pass and scored from Thomas, making it 49-0 at the half.
Tipp wrapped up the scoring in the second half with a running clock on a 5-yard run from Jackson Wemple and a short run from Ramsey Nicholls.
Burgbacher reflected back on giving up only 20 points in two months and noting how much these kids have worked for all of this.
“The proof is in the pudding,” he said. “These guys come to play, and they played hard. You can win a lot of football games with that discipline. We have the ingredients.”
“It is great to finish the regular season the way we did, now the fun starts.”
