BELPRE - It didn't take long for Belpre High School sophomore Manney Tullius to make his mark in the annals of running success for Belpre.
In fact, it took just one play.
Tullius took the first carry of the football game 80 yards to the end zone as part of a Golden Eagle ground game that racked up 400 yards on 38 carries as Belpre took a commanding 54-14 victory over the visiting Miller Falcons at Belpre High School Friday evening.
"We were just fired up. We wanted this game and we wanted it bad," Tullius said.
Tullius led all runners with 272 yards on just 18 carries while scoring three touchdowns as Belpre had seven different players post positive yardage on the ground, including junior offensive tackle Dakota McDaniel, who swapped out jerseys and got 23 yards on five touches.
"We played good defense and we operated real well on offense. We did a lot of good things (Friday) night," said Belpre football coach Greg Adams.
Fact Box
Belpre 54, Miller 14
Miller 0 0 7 7 - 14
Belpre 20 20 14 0 -54
First quarter
B:
Manney Tullius 80 run (kick fail) 11:48
B:
Tavian Miller 8 run (Jamie Barrett kick) 6:14
B
: Tullius 21 run (Barrett kick) 2:13
Second quarter
B:
Miller 3 run (kick fail) 7:57
B:
Tullius 46 run (Barrett kick) 6:06
B:
Tyler Martin 35 pass from Miller (Adrienne Blair kick) 2:39
Third quarter
B:
Robbie Postlewaite 51 interception return (Blair kick) 9:37
B:
Matthew Colvin 52 run (Blair kick) 5:39
M:
Garrett Sinift 4 run (Skylar Hook pass from Sinift) 2:50
Fourth quarter
M:
Dustin Spencer 6 run (kick fail) 6:21
Team stats
MILLER (1-8):
First downs: 12; Rushes/yds 39-155; Passing yds 74; Passing (comp/att/TD/int) 9-22-0-1; Total yds 229; Penalties/yds 7-60; Punts/avg. 4-15.5; Fumbles/lost 2/1
BELPRE (3-6):
First downs 7; Rushes/yds 38-400; Passing yds 35; Passing (comp/att/TD/int) 1-2-1-0; Total yds 435; Penalties/yds 6-55; Punts/avg. 2-41.5; Fumbles/lost 4/2
Individuals Stats
Miller:
Rushing: Garrett Sinift 17-31, TD; Kaleb McKinniss 3-5; Dustin Spencer 17-108, TD; Skylar Baker 1-(-1); Cody Euman 1-12; Passing: Garrett Sinift 9-22-74 yds, int.; Receiving: Skylar Hok 3-36; Aaron Waldrop 1-6; Kody McKinniss 2-9; Nick Lanning 3-23
Belpre:
Rushing: Manney Tullius 18-272, 3 TDs; Tavian Miller 5-31, 2 TDs; Nate Teeters 3-2; Matthew Colvin 3-64; Daniel Law 4-8; Dakota McDaniel 5-23; Passing: Tavian Miller 1-2-35 yds, TD; Receiving: Tyler Martin 1-35, TD
Belpre at Waterford, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26
That began with the opening possession, and didn't stop until the game was well under control.
Belpre scored on six of its first seven possessions of the game, with the only one that didn't result in points coming when the Golden Eagles lost a fumble at the Falcons' 5-yard line.
After Tullius opened the scoring with his 80-yard scamper on the game's first play, Belpre forced Miller into a three-and-out to take possession again. From there the Eagles promptly marched 73 yards on 10 plays with freshman quarterback Tavian Miller finding the endzone from eight yards out with 6:14 in the first for a 13-0 Belpre lead.
Tullius found the endzone on the next series for Belpre as he scored on a 21-yard run with 2:13 in the first quarter. Overall, Tullius had seven carries of at least 20 yards and all three of his TD runs covered at least that.
"I gotta give it all to my line making holes," Tullius said.
The second quarter was more of the same for Belpre as the Golden Eagles scored 20 points while running just 10 plays.
Miller got the Eagles scoring in the second frame started with a three-yard run after Belpre blocked a Miller punt. That was followed by Tullius scoring on a 46 yard run with 6:06 to play before the break.
Belpre tallied its final score of the first half when Miller connected with senior Tyler Martin on a 35-yard pass with 2:39 to play in the first half.
"On offense it starts with our linemen and on defense you have to tackle well. We did that tonight," Adams praised.
Leading by a comfortable 40-0 margin at the break, the Eagles turned to the reserves and the defense to start the second half, and they too got in the scoring act.
Golden Eagle senior Robbie Postlewaite got Belpre on the board when he intercepted Miller quarterback Garrett Sinift's pass and returned it 51 yards to the endzone for a 47-0 lead after Adrienne Blair's kick.
Much like they did the first half, Belpre took their first official play from scrimmage to the endzone when freshman tailback Matthew Colvin ran 52 yards to the endzone for the final points for the Golden Eagles.
Miller ruined Belpre's effort at the shutout when Sinift found the endzone from 4-yards out, with the score setup by Kody McKinniss' kickoff return to the Golden Eagles' 36.
The Falcons scored their second touchdown in the fourth quarter when tailback Dustin Spencer plunged in from six yards out with 6:21 to play in the game.
Belpre improves to 3-6 on the season while Miller fell to 1-8.
"I'm proud of my team. I'm glad we came out and executed," Tullius said.
