Bowling Green freshman quarterback Grant Gillispie completed 6-of-10 passes for 51 yards — one of few bright spots in the Bobcats’ 38-0 Division III playoff loss to Defiance Friday. (Albert Onderko | Sentinel-Tribune)
DEFIANCE — On the first play from scrimmage, Bowling Green 6-foot, 227-pound senior center Drew Erekson was injured and had to be walked off the field, limping, with the help of two members of the coaching and athletic training staff.
From that point on, you knew it was going to be that kind of night for the Bobcats.
BG quickly fell behind 24-0 in the first quarter and lost 38-0 to Defiance in a Division III first round playoff game at Fred J. Brown Stadium Friday.
“The first play of the game when your center goes down, that hurts,” BG coach Shawn Kiss said. “You know, it’s tough, but they played really well. We battled but we didn’t have enough tonight.”
Defiance (7-4) advances to the regional quarterfinals, facing Cleveland Benedictine (9-2) on the road next Friday, while BG sees its season end at 6-5.
Despite getting shut out by a combined score of 87-0 to teams with comparable records the final two games, including a 49-0 loss to Fremont Ross last week, Kiss is grateful for what his senior class did for the program.
“You know, it’s sad, but the biggest thing I want to say right now is I want to thank those 22 seniors who have come out and worked hard for us,” Kiss said.
“What I just told them is you’ve brought this program from 2-8 when they were freshmen to a 6-5 playoff team, so all the accolades go to those guys. They’ve really done a lot for this BG program, and I just appreciate them a lot.”
The Bobcats were without the services of 6-1, 209-pound senior slotback Jackson Shafer the final two games, and there were other injuries, but Kiss says even some of those who were banged up kept going at it.
“We played so tough tonight. Injuries are not the reason,” Kiss said. “They kept getting up and trying to go again. Their resilience is important but hats off to Defiance — they are a good football team.”
BG finished with just 89 total yards, while the Bulldogs had 134 rushing yards by halftime and Defiance senior quarterback, Brez Zipfel, set the program’s new career passing record during the game.
BG, forced to get away from its multi-pronged rushing attack out of the winged-T offense, did have success through the air in the second half.
BG freshman quarterback Grant Gillispie completed 6-of-10 passes for 51 yards, including one to Joey Kline for 15 yards, one to Aiden Rohleder for 11 yards, a pass to Carter Earl for 11 yards, a completion to Jamison Horst for eight yards, and two completions to Ja’ceous Shannon for six yards.
But Gillispie also threw an interception, and so did Horst, who threw two passes but did not complete either.
BG’s rushing attack struggled to gain 38 yards with Horst leading the way, garnering 18 yards on six carries, Shannon had 15 yards on nine carries, Brogan Pasley had four carries for 11 yards, Colby Joseph had three carries for four yards, and Gillispie was sacked once for a loss of 10 yards.
The offensive struggles, without Erekson, were apparent immediately. As soon as Erekson left the game just 25 seconds after the kickoff, BG failed to get a first down, and on the ensuing punt the snap went over the head of the punter and into the end zone for a safety less than two minutes into the game.
Defiance senior playmaker Anthony Wilder returned the kickoff to the Bobcats’ 30, and three plays later Wilder scored on a 19-yard run. After Zipfel converted on a two-point conversion pass to senior Cohen Stockman, the Bulldogs were up 10-0 just over three minutes into the game.
Before the end of the quarter, Defiance scored on a 19-yard pass from Zipfel to Wilder and a three-yard run by Wilder to grab a quick 24-point advantage.
In the second quarter, Defiance senior Abel Rubio scored on a one-yard run, and in the fourth Zipfel threw a five-yard TD pass to Wilder, his fourth trip into the end zone.
The BG defense did force Defiance into negative rushing yardage the second half, in part due to sacks of Zipfel by Shannon from his defensive back position and junior linebacker Antwon Lawrence, who had two tackles for a loss. BG senior safety Carter Earl intercepted a Zipfel pass near the end of the first half.
Zipfel finished the game completing 10-of-13 passes for 113 yards, Wilder had five catches for 41 yards, and he ran for 104 yards on 10 carries.
