Windham Bombers’ football Coach Jake Eye describes each season is like a roller coaster. Right now, the Bombers’ wild ride got off to a less than ideal start when they were defeated by Strasburg-Franklin 56-8 in their season opener last Friday evening at Ed Liddle Field.
“I knew it was going to be a challenge for us,” said Eye. “We didn’t meet the bill. Losing key guys early in the game just threw us off our rhythm.”
The Bombers (0-1, 0-0) fell behind early when Tigers’ sophomore quarterback Brody Baughman connected with junior wide receiver Ryan Becker for a 67-yard touchdown strike, pushing Strasburg-Franklin ahead 7-0.
Windham’s offense struggled to sustain any momentum and were forced to punt on its opening drive but a bad snap to the punter prevented the Bombers from attempting a punt, allowing Strasburg-Franklin to take over at Windham’s 30 on its second drive.
The Tigers doubled their lead when senior tailback Gage Moore plowed into the end zone on a five-yard touchdown run, capping off a three-play, 30-yard drive, extending their lead to 14-0.
In addition to struggling to stop Strasburg-Franklin’s offense, Windham also was plagued by turnover woes, as sophomore quarterback Bryan Smithberger was intercepted by the 6-foot-2 Becker at Strasburg’s 18 on the ensuing drive and threw another interception on the Bombers’ third drive of the game, as junior tailback/defensive back Micah McVay recorded an interception at Windham’s 43.
Both turnovers were proved costly as the Tigers increased their lead to 28-0 with junior running back Keizer Thomas scoring on a one-yard touchdown run and junior tailback Tanner Tucker scoring a touchdown on a 16-yard run.
The fifth-year coach acknowledged that having turnovers only compounded a difficult start for the Bombers.
“We preach to the guys all of the time to cover the ball up in traffic,” he added. “We continue to do our own thing at times, and it is going to cost us.”
Windham committed its third turnover of the game when it fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Tigers’ senior Zayden Barr recovered at the Bombers’ 18. The Tigers needed only one play to score another touchdown, as the 5-foor-9 Baughman threw an 18-yard touchdown strike to Becker, pushing the lead to 35-0.
According to Eye, the Bombers’ struggles stemmed from not meeting the physical style of play that Strasburg-Franklin presented.
“That team was far more physical than we were,” he noted. “We just didn’t meet their physicality. Any football coach will tell you they want their football teams to be physical and we have not created that identity yet.”
The Tigers’ massive lead allowed them to trigger the running clock at the beginning of the second half, as their lead exceeded 30 points. Windham avoided the shutout near the end of the fourth period when freshman tailback/linebacker Isaiah Mitchell scored on a six-yard touchdown run and the Bombers successfully executed a two-point conversion.
According to Eye, although the season opener served as a harsh wake-up call for a young squad, he has full confidence in his team’s resiliency.
“We are going to watch film,” he said. “We will put it behind us. We will put Friday night behind us; we will fix our mistakes and continue to get better. That’s all you can do. You can’t hang your season on one game. You just can’t do it.”
After a season in which the Bombers enjoyed success largely due to their upperclassmen, Eye said that Windham is starting from square one with a lot of new players to be worked into the system.
“We are not the same team we were a year ago,” he said. “Not even close. We have to create a more physical identity and just try to continue getting better each week. You are not going to win every game; you are going to take lumps. You have to take the good with the bad and small school football for us is a roller coaster. You have good years and years where you just have to keep battling.”
Windham will attempt to rebound when it hits the road to face East Palestine in a non-conference duel at Reid Memorial Stadium in Columbiana County on Friday at 7 p.m.
