Benesh tallies over 300 yards

WELLINGTON – Rob Howells is not the kind of coach to make excuses. The turnaround in his second year as head coach of the Wellington Dukes is uncanny.

His team was stride-for-stride with the Western Reserve Roughriders who capped a 42-34 win on a 300-yard rushing night for senior Cody Benesh.

Trailing by two touchdowns, the Dukes comeback was stalled by an interception, after receiver Jayden Skinner was flattened to his face from a two hand push from behind. It happened so far ahead of the ball the trail official was not even looking in that direction. The side judge’s view obscured – and no penalty was called.

The Dukes played on without dwelling on the turnover, coming back to score once more. Kicker Grace Dudziak who was 4-for-4 on extra points when Howells got crafty, calling for the two-point conversion toss to the 5′-5″ senior out of the backfield. She nearly hauled in quarterback Ben Higgins pass, but came away just shy.

After that the Roughriders run game was just too much and they were able to run out the clock.

SIDEBAR: It was a tough night for the officials. A holding penalty negated a would-be touchdown for WR in the first half – upsetting fans. Then at halftime the officials were held up by a third-party over concern for a drone. Turns out it’s use was clearly spelled out in the OHSAA rule book and deemed within guidelines. Refs barely had a few minutes to themselves before the midway respite was over.

Here’s a look at the OHSAA rule on drones, that we found in less than 30 seconds online thanks to OHSAA media updates. These rules are also open to the public.

The FAA classifications have tightened around drones, mainly for aircraft hovering over 400 feet and greater details regarding restricted airspace. (High School football fields away from areas like an airport are not included.)