Waterford's Trevin Zimmer twists his way into the end zone while dragging Trimble's Aiden Dixon and getting hit in the helmet by Kevin Bycofski during the Wildcats' 47-0 senior night victory on Friday. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

WATERFORD — Trevin Zimmer, Weston Fairchild, Weston Hennes, Ryker Hutchins and Cadon Riley celebrated senior night in a big way here Friday as Waterford scored on all seven of its possessions in the first half en route to a dominating 47-0 victory versus Trimble in what was a Division VII, Region 27 showdown.

Junior Avery Pottmeyer hit 7 of 9 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns while teammate Hayden Jones found paydirt thrice and finished with game-highs of 11 rushes for 125 yards.

“We had a great week of practice to start with. Our kids, we’re starting to hit our stride I feel like a little bit here in the second half of the season,” said WHS head coach Eric McCutcheon, whose No. 3 Wildcats improved to 7-2 and end the season next week at Belpre.

“We got a lot of moving parts on offense and defense and the guys are really starting to buy into what we are trying to accomplish. I’m just so proud of our guys and how they were so dialed in this week. We knew Trimble was a tough team. We didn’t take anything for granted. They came out here and put on a pretty good show.”

The No. 9 Tomcats of head man Phil Faires, who slipped to 5-4 and head to Federal Hocking next week, managed just four first downs and 28 total yards. Running back Luke Orsborne, who has 15 touchdowns and nearly 1,000 yards on the ground, was limited to just defensive duties as Trimble also lost the services of senior Marcus Cable in the first half.

Waterford's Hayden Jones uses a block from Colby Roberts on Trimble's Paul Sharp while Tomcat teammate Hunter Bycofski attempts to make a tackle during the Wildcats' 47-0 senior night victory Friday. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

The hosts had the ball on the plus side of midfield on their first three offensive series.

Jones got things going when he capped a six-play, 46-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run and it was 7-0 at the 7:33 mark after Hutchins converted the extra point.

After taking over at the Tomcat 48, Pottmeyer raced 30 yards to get into the red zone and culminated the drive on the fifth play when Gavin Hiener had a 12-yard scoring grab.

Trimble, which got 16 rushing yards on five totes from Cade Burba, turned the ball over on its next series when Paul Sharp was picked off by Jones.

On the very first play from scrimmage, Zimmer took a “slingshot” counter and darted 21 yards into the end zone as he twisted and turned his way past the goalline while dragging Tomcat defenders. Hutchins’ PAT put the visitors in a 21-0 hole with 3:20 remaining in the first.

Waterford's Maddox Antill tackles Trimble quarterback Paul Sharp during the Wildcats' 47-0 senior night victory Friday. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Following another three-and-out by Trimble, Pottmeyer hooked up with Zimmer for a 64-yard completion before hitting Fairchild on an 11-yard slant, which made it 28-0 just five ticks into the second.

Jones, who started the year at quarterback, went for a gain of 9 yards in the Wildcat to start Waterford’s next drive, which he finished off on the next play when he darted 50 yards to the end zone and a 35-0 bulge at the 9:34 mark.

A reverse to Burba, which went for 18 yards, finally allowed the Tomcats to pick up their initial first down on the opening play of the next drive, but it was ended after crossing midfield when Sharp was picked off by Hiener.

Despite taking over at their own 12, Pottmeyer hit Brayden Smith for a 38-yard gain to get the ball to midfield. Fairchild followed with a 34-yard reception on the second play of the drive and a shovel pass to Zimmer, who just got the ball inside the pylon, made it 41-0 with 5:15 to go as Hutchins’ PAT went wide and drilled the scoreboard.

“We just put it in for this week,” Zimmer said of the shovel pass. “We did it last year and we thought it’d be fun to bring it back. I semi-stretched it out.

“I mean the ball was actually kind of like behind my back and I kind of extended my arm in the back, but anything to get the job done.”

Trimble was forced to punt out of its own end zone late in the half as Jones returned it 20 yards to the 16. He then ran in for the score on the next play for a 47-0 advantage with the clock at 2:51 as Hutchins’ PAT was blocked by Burba.

Although Jones was intercepted by Sharp to end the Wildcats’ opening drive of the second half, the hosts got the ball right back when Sharp was picked off by Kameron Johnson, but eventually had to punt it as the running clock moved into the fourth quarter.

“Hayden is just a competitor and he wants to win and he loves running back as well as quarterback, but Avery Pottmeyer has done such a phenomenal job through camp and we knew eventually in the season he was going to put us coaches in a tough situation,” added coach McCutcheon.

“He’s helping our team win offensively and defensively. He’s stepped up for us on defense as well. He had a super game tonight on both sides of the night. In the first half he was 6 of 8 for 175 yards.”

With a victory next week, the Wildcats are expected to remain one of the top seeds and will open the postseason at home.

“We’ve said it since peewee. We knew this class was going to be the class to go deep in the playoffs,” added Zimmer. “I hope everyone is ready for us to go deep and get ready for cold weather and everything.

“It’s awesome. There’s only five of us, but we enjoy every single second of it. It’s crazy to think we’ve played since peewee and now we’re seniors in high school.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com