The Beavercreek 8th grade football team opened the season against Miamisburg on September 9th with a 28 to 6 victory. The game started with Miamisburg scoring in the opening 46 seconds and missing the extra point. Miamisburg had 102 offensive yards in the opening 5 minutes and then the tide and the game switched to all Beavercreek. The Beavers put up 343 yards of offense on 41 possessions while holding Miamisburg to 107 yards of total offense including the 102 earned at the onset of the game. Leading the balanced offense was Airius Moore with 200 yards on 20 carries and 2 touchdowns, Michael Berry with 74 yards on 7 carries, 2 touchdowns plus 12 yards in the air, and Kevin Grimes with 38 yards on 4 carries. Tyler Reasoner led the defense, with 3 solo tackles, 2 sacks, a blocked pass, and a strip that Alex Harter recovered when the Vikings were driving. This led to the Beavers scoring touchdown number one to take the lead for good 58 seconds later. Another turnover when Daniel Combs picked off a Viking pass which led to the third Beaver touchdown. Rounding out the Beaver defense were Tanner Smallwood with 3 solo tackles, Austin Johnson and Daniel Meister with a sack each, and outstanding pass defense from Michael Bianco and Joshua Saxon. The Beavers hope to continue their undefeated ways since the entire 2008 season on next Wednesday.

Wednesday, September 16th saw the 8th grade Beavercreek hosting cross-town rival, the Kettering Firebirds, and coming away with a 19 to 14 victory. With Kettering being the only team the Beavers did not beat last year when they played to a tie, it was a game of importance to the Beavercreek squad. Last year, Airius Moore set a school rushing record with a fine 269-yard day. Fairmont came into the game to stop him this year, but it was not going to happen as Airius set a new school record with 332 yards rushing on 25 carries. Luke Harp and Mike Berry chipped in an additional 31 yards in a non-balanced offense that dared the Firebirds to stop it. The defense was strong. It bent, but would not break in holding the Firebirds to 2 late game touchdowns. Leading the defense were Alex Harter and Justin Eby who combined for 5 sacks and 9 tackles. A couple of smash tackles were provided by Daniel Combs and Austin Cull. Tyler Reasoner and Austin Johnson seemed to get their hands on any passes that came there way and Alec Stein had 2 good long pass break ups. All in all, the Beavers continued in there gang tackling style and while giving up some reasonable yardage in the air, yielded only 41 yards rushing on 17 attempts. The Beavers travel to Springboro the week of the 24th to face the Panthers.

On a rain soaked night the Beavercreek middle school 8th grade B team head south to play the Centerville Elks and returned home with a 0 - 0 tie. Outstanding Beavers included Darin Soat and Mikey Grimes both with 6 tackles including a sack and Daniel Combs rushing 11 times and averaging better than 10 yards per carry. Other spotlight players Joshua Saxon, Alex Harter, and Michael Bianco playing his first game at quarterback and doing a terrific job of leading the Beavers to 174 yards of total offense. The defense yielded 154 yards in a game that saw both teams marching up and down the field.

 

On Wednesday, 09/23, the battling Beavers headed south of town to take on the Springboro Panthers, and after a hard fought battle from both sides, came away with a 7 - 7 tie. The game could have gone either way, but key fumble recoveries by Austin Johnson and Tanner Smallwood, and an interception by Daniel Combs helped the Beavers when the Panthers were knocking on the door. The offense was led by Airius Moore on the ground and David Tipton through the air connecting to Airius, Michael Carroll, and a big strike to Chris Little to open the Beaver offense. With this tie, the 8th grade middle school team remains unbeaten over the last 2 years. Other Beavers in on the defensive battle included Justin Eby with a strip, Austin Cull with a smash hit on a punt return, Tyler Reasoner with a blocked punt and multiple tackles, and Bertrand Neyhouse, Alex Harter, and Darren Paschal with multiple tackles.

The 8th grade Beavers visited the Fairborn Sky Hawks on the last day of September and came away with a resounding 47 - 6 victory. The first play of the game set the tone when Fairborn fumbled on the first play of the game and the fumble was recovered by David Tipton. Play number 2 saw screen pass from Mike Berry to Airius Moore to go 27 yards for the first of the Creek\\'s 7 scores. With the Beavers back on defense, play 3 of the set saw the first of 2 interceptions by Dan Combs. 4 minutes later, Mike Berry put touchdown number 2 on the board with a quarterback keeper. Luke Harp kept up his reliable kicking with the after point, and it was 14 - 0. After an exchange of downs, early in the second quarter, Airius Moore broke free for a 50 yard rumble and it was 21 - 0 Beavers. The half closed with one more rumble for Airius with a 20 yard scamper to close the half at 28 - 0. Midway through the 3rd quarter, with fresh players on the offense, it was Dan Combs breaking away for a 12-yard touchdown. On the next play, Michael Carroll picked off a pass and was off to the races to make it 40 - 0. After a second pick by Dan Combs, it was Kevin Grimes taking the ball 10 yards into the end zone for the last Creek score. Fairborn still had fight left and came right back on the next possession with a 46 yard scoring strike that produced the final 47 - 6 score. The final totals showed 509 yards for the Beavers versus 77 for the Sky Hawks. The entire Creek defense was tough all day, but players of mention include Adam Zumwalde, Austin Cull, Austin Johnson, and Josh Greenspan. The Battling Beavers host Lebanon on October 7th hoping to maintain their undefeated status.

October 7th saw the 8th grade Lebanon Warriors visit Beavercreek and be beaten 27 - 8 in a classic football game. Lebanon started with the ball and went 3 and out, punting on 4th down. The next set of downs saw the Beavers mount a 64 yard, 5 play touchdown series that concluded with Airius Moore scoring from the 5 yard line. Leading 7 - 0, the Warriors next possession consumed 5 minutes, 11 plays, a touchdown, and a 2 point conversion and the Beavercreek team was behind 8 to 7. The Beavers took the ball back to start the second quarter and marched it down the field behind Airius and Mike Berry\\'s steady leadership at the helm. When that series was completed, the Beavers were back on top 14 - 8. Towards the end of the half, on 4th and long with 45 seconds remaining, Lebanon tried a fake punt and it was squashed by Tyler Reasoner and Michael Carroll. 35 seconds on the clock from the 30 saw Airius run around the left side for the touchdown and a 21 - 8 lead. The second half saw a lot more defense from the Beavers. The Beavers started with the ball, drove a little bit, and the series ended with a punt. The Warriors took over and were slowly driving the ball down the field for the next 5 minutes. Just before the end of the 3rd quarter, Justin Eby found a Warrior running back on the loose and applied a smash tackle that jarred the ball loose to be recovered by Austin Cull. 2 plays later and it was Airius again on a 46 yard romp to pull the score to 27 - 8. The rest of the game highlights for the Beavercreek team included a joint interception by Dan Combs and Justin Eby and an end zone interception by Eby to end the game. Additional big plays in the game involved big hits by Austin Johnson, a game changing sack by Michael Bianco, and great blocking by the entire offensive line that includes Alex Anders, Josh Wing, Nick Minnich, Daniel Meister, and Joey Hinojosa.

October 8th saw the Beavercreek Beavers beat the Wayne Warriors at home 21 - 14. On a rain soaked field with rain pouring the entire game, the Beavers and Warriors faced off in what was mostly an all ground game. The Beavers were led on the ground by Kevin Grimes and Daniel Combs both running for nearly 100 yards each. Combs with 2 touchdowns and David Tipton with a score accounted for 18 of the Beavers points while Tristan McIntire pounded in for a 2 point conversion and the steady toe of Luke Harp split the uprights for the final point. Outstanding defense was played by J.P. Palumbo with 4 tackles and Da\\'mennick Henry with an open field tackle of a Warrior that looked like he was off to the races. The Beavers travel to Springboro on the 10th to take on the Panthers.

October 14th saw the undefeated Beavercreek Beavers visit Centerville and come away with 20 - 6 victory. Most of the first half saw the ball being moved down the field where the defenses held as the ball would approach the 20 yards line. It went that way until with 6 seconds on the clock, Airius Moore broke loose on a short screen pass and scored from 67 yards out as the half came to a close. The extra point was blocked. The second half saw the Elks start with the ball and get down to the 20. With 4th and 4, big Tyler Reasoner blitzed for a 5 yard loss and the ball was back in the hands of the Beavers. 2 plays later it was Beavercreek 13 - 0 after Airius broke free for 64 more yards and his second score of the day. Luke Harp booted through the extra point. Back on defense, Austin Johnson and Tyler again broke through the line for a loss of 11 and then Justin Eby ran the quarterback down for another loss of 8. After the Centerville punt, and a short gain, the Elks intercepted and quickly put 6 points on the board to close out the third quarter. The next 7 minutes saw the Beavers grind out 65 yards with Airius again going in from the 5. Luke Harp added the extra point and Centerville had the ball, 14 points back with 53 seconds to play. Alex Harter stopped the run and Justin Eby put the icing on the cake with a 12 yard loss as the clock ran out. Michael Berry had another leadership game guiding the Beavers and gaining 27 yards on a couple of keepers. Six tackles from Daniel Combs and tenacity on every play from Adam Zumwalde helped the Beavers to limit the Elks to 124 yards of offense. The offense put up 325 yards on the day. The Beavers complete their season on October 21st by hosting cross county rival Xenia in a game that should decide the middle school GWOC champion.