By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
GOWER - The East Buchanan football team leaned on its defense all game long, and the Bulldogs shut out Mid-Buchanan 21-0 in the Class 1 District 8 championship on a frigid Friday night in Gower.
The win is East Buchanan's 10th win in a row, it's their fourth straight shutout and now their third straight win over their rival Dragons.
Since beating Mid-Buchanan, 48-12, on October 14, East Buchanan has outscored its opposition a combined 180-0.
"We have about 16 guys who rotate in on that defense," East Buchanan head coach Dan Ritter said after. "All of those kids are doing a phenomenal job. That starting 11...they had a few short fields and (Mid-Buchanan) had a few first downs, but they couldn't get anything going. I was very proud of their effort."
Mid-Buchanan (10-2) punted four times, had two turnovers and turned the ball over on downs four times as well.
East Buchanan (11-1), who has now won three district titles since 2017, grabbed a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter after a six-play, 61-yard drive ended with a 25-yard touchdown run from junior Trevor Klein.
The score remained 7-0 at halftime, as East Buchanan had three second quarter punts themselves.
Mid-Buchanan got the ball to start the second half, and started that drive on the Bulldogs' 29-yard line, but the Dragons turned the ball over on downs after six plays, getting within nine yards of the end zone.
East Buchanan salted the game away with two long scoring drives in the second half. Taking over at their own 10-yard line with 6:27 left in the third, the Bulldogs marched 90 yards on six plays. Junior Aidan Hensley capped things off with a 35-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs now led 14-0 with 3:34 left in the third. Jack Archdekin intercepted Mid-Buchanan quarterback Xavier Arambula on the Dragons' ensuing possession.
Taking over at the Mid-Buch 29, East Buchanan turned the interception into points in just seven plays. Klein scored his second touchdown of the night, this one from eight yards out, to put the Bulldogs up 21-0 within the first minute of the fourth quarter.
Mid-Buchanan had two possessions in the fourth quarter, but both ended in turnover on downs. The Dragons were limited to 201 total yards unofficially and were shut out for the first time since October 2017.
East Buchanan moves onto the Class 1 state quarterfinals. The Bulldogs will travel to take on Class 1 District 7 champion Gallatin. Those Bulldogs (11-0) beat Putnam County Friday, 21-7.
"Mid-Buchanan is a good team," Ritter said. "Any time you beat them and get to do it in front of your home fans, even though it was cold, it was a whole lot of fun to do that. We'll just take it one game at a time. I know next week (the matchup) will be a good Gallatin team."
Saturday's game in Gallatin starts at 1 p.m. and will be carried on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3).
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.