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Spartans secure share of SWBL title with rout of Madison

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By Scott Hayes, Staff Writer 10:05 AM Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Waynesville High put the finishing touch on a championship season with a flurry of points.

The Spartans scored 51 unanswered points to beat visiting Madison, 51-12, on Friday, Oct. 30.

With the win, Waynesville improved to 8-2 overall and captured a share of the Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division crown with a 5-1 record. It is the Spartans’ third league title in five seasons.

Waynesville also earned a third straight playoff berth with the win, combined with a loss by Milton-Union.

“It was a great way to send our seniors out on their home turf and hearing that everything fell into place elsewhere made the postgame celebration more enjoyable,” Waynesville coach Glen Burchfield said. “I can not say enough about how hard our kids fought back after a disappointing first four weeks.

“Being 2-2 and losing those two games so closely through our own mistakes was frustrating. However, we got healthy, endured the elements week-in and week-out and focused on each opponent on a weekly basis. We did not look down the road. All of that has now paid off.”

Like their season, the Spartans started off slow on Friday, battling Madison through a scoreless first quarter.

But then, Waynesville exploded.

The Spartans scored 23 points over the final eight minutes of the second quarter.

A Cory Young touchdown pass to Chase Gianattasio covering 35 yards got Waynesville going. That was followed by touchdown runs from Seth Millar and Devon Burton and a 28-yard field goal by Caleb Keeton capped the half.

But, the Spartans weren’t done.

Waynesville rattled off another 28 points to take a 51-0 lead.

Young scampered 75 yards for a score, then 16 seconds later Gianattasio returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown. Another touchdown run by Millar and a six yard run by Matt Lindsey finished off the Spartan scoring.

Millar finished with 135 yards rushing on 15 attempts for the game, while Young gained 127 yards on 15 carries. Young also completed 8-of-11 passes for 85 yards.

Devon Burton (nine tackles) and Mike Tarkany, Michael Hanauer and Joe Tweel (six each) led the Spartan defensive effort.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4526 or shayes@coxohio.com.

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