DEFIANCE — Edgerton had been unstoppable all season long, winning every game by at least 30 points.
But McComb would have nothing to do with that.
Tha Panthers dominated from the outset in beating the second-rated Bulldogs 33-18 in the Division VII Region 26 championship game at Defiance’s Fred J. Brown Complex. McComb will now play Fort Loramie in the state semifinals at 7 p.m. on Saturday at a site to be determined.
How dominant were the Panthers?
McComb did not punt until there was less than five minutes to play. By then the Panthers had the game in hand thanks to the all-around play of Tanner Schroeder.
The senior standout ran for two touchdowns, kicked two field goals, added three PAT kicks and also had an interception.
For the game, Schroeder finished with 177 yards rushing on 24 carries to lead a ground attack that totaled 372 yards against a team that had permitted more than eight points in just one game all season.
If Schroeder was not enough, Kheaghon Loe contributed 117 rushing yards on 15 attempts, hitting paydirt twice for the Panthers.
Schroeder put McComb up 7-0 with a 1-yard rush with 7:23 to go in the first quarter before Loe upped the advantage to 13-0 with a 27-yard scoring run.
Schroeder made it 16-0 in the second quarter with a 30-yard field goal at the 9:58 mark, set up by a Loe fumble recovery, one of four turnovers in the game by Edgerton. Then Schroeder made the score 19-0 on a 42-yard field goal with 4:56 left in the opening half, with the Panthers gaining possession after a sack by 5-11, 270-pound freshman Dylan Swisher.
Hunter Prince finally put Edgerton on the board with a 1-yard run at the 1:32 mark of the second quarter and the Bulldogs, which played all but the first 14 minutes of the game without injured quarterback Clayton Flegal, nearly pulled closer before McComb stopped Edgerton at the five-yard line as the first-half clock ran out.
Loe made it 26-6 with a 29-yard touchdown in the third quarter following a Schroeder interception, his eighth of the season. Schroeder scored the final McComb touchdown on a 1-yard run with 8:45 remaining after a Tyler Durfey interception.
Durfey aided the McComb ground attack with 77 yards on seven carries, helping the Panthers improve to 12-1 on the season.
Prince, who ended the game with 133 yards on 30 attempts to conclude the season with 2,223 rushing yards, tallied the final touchdown of the game for Edgerton.
The Bulldogs, which threw just 71 passes in outscoring the opposition 624-74 their first dozen games of the season, went to the air 20 times against McComb, completing 10 for 140 yards with backup signal-caller Jaron Cape 10-19 through the air. McComb did not complete a pass on just three attempts, all in the first half.
First Published November 18, 2018, 3:50 a.m.