Buckeye Local’s Brody Keyoski (32) tackles Bellaire’s Bradyn Beckett on Friday at Nelson Field.

BELLAIRE — It was a historic night Friday as Bellaire played its first-ever night game at legendary Nelson Field. The Big Reds didn’t disappoint.

Overcoming a whopping 18 penalties for 130 yards, Bellaire scored just before halftime and then added 18 markers in the third quarter to pull away from the visiting Panthers, 38-6, before an overflow crowd.

“We just kept committing penalties on offense and defense in the first half,” veteran Bellaire head coach Mark Bonar assessed of his team’s slow start. “Maybe it was first-game jitters and maybe it had something to do with all the hoopla going on. Maybe we just weren’t focused enough.

“Buckeye Local did a nice job early on. They had a good game plan.”

Leading 14-6 late in the first half, Bellaire’s Luke Heatherington picked off a Buckeye Local pass near midfield. The Big Reds needed six plays to go the distance, with sophomore quarterback Michael Dippel rolling to his right before lasering a strike to a wide-open Graham Campbell in the end zone for a 24-yard TD with 36.1 ticks showing on the clock. The PAT was no good, but the hosts had a 20-6 lead and the momentum heading into halftime.

“We have a lot of stuff to work on going forward,” Bonar added. “We have to correct a lot of things. We threw the ball pretty good at times, but our passing game isn’t where it’s going to be. Michael is only a sophomore and he’s going to get better.”

Buckeye Local hung tough in the first half defensively, but, on offense, it couldn’t get out of its own way and turned the ball over three times – twice on lost fumbles and the aforementioned interception.

“Bellaire is a good team, especially in this scenario,” first-year Buckeye Local head coach Chris Kiedaisch said. “Our guys came out and played really, really hard, especially in the first half but you can’t turn the ball over and you can’t make day one mistakes like we did in the first half and expect to stay in the game.

“To have all the mistakes in the first half and to still be in the game shows something about our kids. The turnovers and penalties are the difference between a program (Bellaire) that is used to winning and a program like ours that is still trying to learn how to win.”

Three straight scores to start the third quarter instituted the OHSAA mercy rule as the Big Reds cruised.

Dippel, making his first varsity start under center, found a leaping Raekwon Pettigrew in the right corner of the end zone from 15 yards out. After Campbell blocked a Panthers’ punt, it took Bellaire just two plays to find the end zone again, this time on a 9-yard run by Bradyn Beckett. Following a Buckeye Local punt, Maurice Webb took a pitch left to the house from 52 yards to cap the scoring.

“We’ve got some athletes and they can make some plays,” Bonar said.

Webb opened the scoring with an 18-yard jaunt around left end in the first quarter. Dippel ran kin from two yards out in the second quarter and then found Heatherington for the two-point conversion and a 14-0 lead.

Buckeye Local got on the scoreboard when quarterback Alex McDiffitt and Andrew Jones hooked up from 12 yards out midway through the second quarter.

Bellaire piled up 375 yards of offense, with 214 coming on the ground on 30 carries. Webb led the balanced attack with 82 yards on a mere four attempts, while Pettigrew added 59 and Beckett 58. Heatherington caught two passes for 64 yards and Landon Preston aso snagged a pair of aerials for 55. Dippel was 7 of 13 for 161 yards, with two TDs and a like number of INTs.

Brennin Takach and Xavier Eastham had the picks.

The Panthers were not effective running the ball as 27 carries resulted in just nine yards. McDiffitt completed 9 of 17 attempts for 58 yards and the aforementioned TD.

“Our defense played well at times, but we had way too many penalties,” Bonar stressed. “We’re not going to beat anybody else committing that many penalties. That won’t happen again.”

Webb and Alex Ney had fumble recoveries for the Big Reds.

Both teams are on the road next week as Buckeye Local treks to Morristown to meet Union Local, while Bellaire heads to Barnesville. The Jets and Shamrocks both won Friday night.

GAME NOTES

– A moment of silence was held prior to the contest for the late Bruce Stolz and Stanley Stein. Both recently passed away.

– A superb fireworks display was set off at halftime in the south end zone.