Ayersville: The 50th meeting of the River Rivalry took place on Friday night at Craig McCord Field at Ayersville High School. The once lopsided rivalry has become closer over the last two decades, with Ayersville holding a slight 25-23-1 record.

A stake for both teams, the coveted Victory Bell.

The visiting Rams were looking to stay in the running for the GMC title, trailing Paulding by one game as they took the field in front of a packed house at Ayersville on Homecoming night.

Tinora got the scoring underway midway through the first stanza as Owen Ferrell would hit Owen Reynolds for a 15-yard score in the corner of the endzone, Parker Hancock’s extra point put the Rams on top 7-0.

The host Pilots would immediately march down the field, capped by an Eli Berner 19-yard burst, cutting the Rams’ lead to 7-6 with 2:47 in the first quarter. The Pilots would miss the XP attempt.

After an Ayersville fumble inside their 10-yard line, the Tinora offense capitalized on the next play as Doug Hattemer took it in for an 8-yard score. Tinora missed the XP, and the Rams led 13-6 with 5:15 left in the half.

Ayersville would lose leading rusher and defender Eli Burner late in the half due to a shoulder injury, Berner would not return to the contest, and Tinora took a 13-6 lead to the locker room.

Tinora would add to their lead with 7:06 remaining in the third quarter as Doug Hattemer would hit paydirt for the second time, this one from 2 yards out. The Hancock XP would increase the Tinora lead to 20-6.

On their next possession, the Rams and Owen Ferrell struck again with a diving 9-yard snag in the endzone by Dylan Schaufele for a score, giving the Rams a 26-7 lead. Parker Hancock’s XP extended Tinora’s lead to 27-6 with 4:47 in the third quarter.

The Pilots would tack on the final points of the contest with 3:34 in the fourth quarter as Tucker Sprow dashed in for a 2-yard score. Sprow also added the two-point conversion on a run over the left side. Ayersville trailed 27-14 with 3:34 in the contest.

Ayersville would attempt the onside kick, but the Rams would recover and run out the remaining clock, keeping the Victory Bell at Tinora High School for another 365 days.

Game notes:

Tinora’s Owen Ferrell added two more season records tonight, most TD passes in a season with 15, breaking Brevin Renollet’s 14 from 2015. Ferrell also broke Renollet’s yards in a season record of 1,594 from 2014. Congratulations, Owen.

The Rams Josh Lieb tied Nick Sheets record for catches in a season with 50 from 1996.

Tinora and Ayersville combined for a total of 29 accepted penalties. The Ohio record is 32, set back in 2023.

Tinora 7-6-14-0 = 27
Ayersville 6-0-0-8 = 14

Tinora passing: Ferrell 17-31-204-2 TD, 1 int
Tinora rushing: Hattemer 13-46- 2 TD, Jimenez 6-28, Lieb 2-11, Ferrell 2 (-20)
Tinora receiving: Schaufele 8-117-1 TD, Reynolds 3-32-1 TD, Lieb 2-24, Hancock 3-18, Sheets 1-13

Ayersville passing: Zartman 1-24-171-0-0, Lloyd 0-1
Ayersville rushing: Berner 14-70-1 TD, Sprow 17-55, Zartman 1 (-4), Johnson 1-0, Peake 1-0, Tressleer 3-14, Brown 1-0
Ayersville receiving: Ewers 6-152, Brown 1-0, Peake 1-5, Stambaugh 1-14

Tinora improves to 4-4, 4-1 in the GMC. The Rams will host Paulding in a huge GMC contest Friday.

Ayersville drops to 1-7, 1-5 in the conference. The Pilots head to Antwerp next Friday.

The Higbea Embroidery Player of the Game went to Doug Hattemer, congratulations, Doug.

The Patriot Outdoor Hinter Play of the Game went to Dylan Schaufele for his diving TD. Great job, Dylan.

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