BELLEVILLE — Needing a win over the final two weeks of the regular season to clinch at least a share of the Eastern Suburban Conference title, the eighth-ranked Wildcats wasted no time in taking care of business. Belleville convincingly defeated Marshall 35-7 in Week 8.
“Our main football goal this year is to win a conference championship,” said coach Mike Nolden. “I know we’re not satisfied with a share and we’re going to try to win this thing outright next week.”
The ’Cats got things moving right away on Senior Night, which was also Belleville’s Homecoming. On the first play from scrimmage, Nolden dialed up a home run pass play that the offense delivered on. Senior QB Rayden Taylor chucked up a perfect ball that found fellow senior Max McCluskey in stride for a 63-yard TD strike.
Belleville’s defense then entered the fray and forced a quick three-and-out of Marshall’s offense. On the 10th play of the ensuing drive, the Wildcats scored again as senior Jackson Fahey plunged ahead from four yards out with 4:35 left in the opening quarter.
The defense stepped up again — a theme on the night — with Taylor getting a six-yard tackle-for-loss on Marshall’s next snap, and Dylan Kremer sacking Cardinals QB Ryan Braun for another six-yard loss on third down. A short punt gave the Wildcats the ball back with just 39 yards until pay dirt. Four plays later, Fahey scampered 24 yards for a third score, putting Belleville ahead 21-0 with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.
“I think we were just executing and playing with energy in the first quarter,” Nolden said. “It looked like it was going to be a blowout, and the energy kind of dropped and that allowed Marshall to make some plays on us later in the game.”
Belleville didn’t score in the second quarter, as both teams shifted into cruise control heading into halftime. The Wildcats had 254 yards of offense in the opening half while holding Marshall to just 30 yards.
Belleville’s fourth TD came with 1:46 left in the third quarter on a 23-yard TD connection between Taylor and McCluskey.
Marshall’s lone score came in the fourth quarter off of a short field. Taylor was picked off by Logan Ney deep in his own territory. The Cardinals scored on the very next play — an 8-yard draw from Braun.
Belleville’s final TD came with 2:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, as Taylor used a play-action fake to find senior Charley Spiegel wide open in the seam for a 39-yard score.
The Wildcats held Marshall to zero total rushing yards on 33 attempts in the game. The Cardinals did gain 123 yards through the air.
Taylor was 10-for-18 passing for 222 yards, three TDs and one INT. He added 67 yards on 14 rushing attempts. Fahey had 63 yards on eight carries. Spiegel had 83 receiving yards on three catches, and McCluskey’s 86 yards came on his two TD scores. Belleville finished with 392 yards of offense.
Defensively, Marcus Hebgen led the Wildcats with 11 tackles, including nine solo and four TFLs. Taylor had seven tackles — all solo — with five TFLs and a sack. Kremer had nine tackles, three for a loss and 1.5 sacks. Dawson Smith added 10 tackles, with three going for a loss. Landon Yarbough added two tackles for a loss and a sack, and Spiegel intercepted a pass. In all, the Wildcats had 19 tackles for a loss.
“That was actually the first points our first team defense has given up since Week 3 against Cambridge. So, yeah, our defense is playing great,” Nolden said. “And it was good for our starters to kind of get a full game in. They haven’t done it because we’ve been getting so far ahead. We feel pretty good about what we’re doing right now.”
The only thing standing in Belleville’s way from owning the Eastern Suburban outright is a road win over second-place Pardeeville in Week 9.
The Wildcats have scored at least 31 points in each conference game this year, out-scoring opponents 217-48 (average score of 36-8).
