By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
SAVANNAH - Savannah scored 28 second quarter points, including 21 unanswered in the final six minutes of the first half, to hand Chillicothe a 42-7 loss in a cold, windy and rainy Class 3 District 8 semifinal at Savannah High School Friday.
Savannah (10-1) grabbed a lead in the first 16 seconds of the game and never lost it. On the first play from scrimmage, junior running back Cade Chappell took off up the middle, nearly untouched, for a 56-yard touchdown run, putting the Savages up 7-0 with 11:44 left in the first quarter.
Chillicothe (6-5), who shut out Savannah 42-0 in last year's district semifinal round, came up empty on each of their first two drives on offense. The Hornets lost a fumble on their opening series in the first quarter, but it did not lead to Savannah points.
Savannah's points came a bit later, though. On the second play of the second quarter, senior Alex Hopper found the end zone on a four-yard run, putting the Savages up 14-0 with 11:15 left in the second.
Chillicothe answered on their ensuing possession, driving 63 yards on six plays. Senior quarterback Griff Bonderer took off on a 37-yard touchdown run, and he made the ensuing point-after to make the score 14-7 with 7:36 left in the second.
That's as close as the Hornets would get all night. Savannah proceeded to score touchdowns on each of their next three possessions on offense. The Savages were also aided by a fumbled kickoff return by Chillicothe midway through the second, which eventually led to points.
After two more Chappell touchdown runs, and a 19-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Dudeck to Hopper just before the half, Savannah led 35-7 at intermission, scoring 21 points in just over 7.5 minutes of game time.
Chillicothe got the ball to start the second half, but went three-and-out on that drive. The Hornets also had a pair of second half interceptions - one went to Hopper and the other to Truman Bodenhausen.
Chappell led Savannah in the ground game with 23 carries for 252 yards and four touchdowns. His fourth and final blow was the biggest - a 73-yard run to the house with 5:17 left in the third.
Hopper had 65 yards rushing and a touchdown on 11 carries. His lone catch of the night was for 19 yards and a score.
Chillicothe was unofficially held to just 129 yards of total offense and the Hornets wound up with four total turnovers.
Savannah now heads back to Maryville next Friday to face the No. 1 seed in the district. The Spoofhounds (7-3) defeated No. 4 seed St. Pius X in the other semifinal Friday 38-21.
Kickoff on Friday is set for 7 p.m. Savannah's lone loss of the season came at home to Maryville on Oct. 14, as the Spoofhounds won the Highway 71 rivalry for an 11th straight year by the score of 39-28.
A win Friday would give Savannah its first district title since 2019 and its most wins in a single season since 2011.
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