By ryan buck

rbuck@vindy.com

new middletown

The Springfield High football team has a tradition where, after home wins, the upperclassmen lead their teammates, classmates and fans in the Tiger fight song as they climb their orange-drenched rock to raise a flag symbolic of victory.

It has been almost two years since coach Sean Guerriero was able to watch his team celebrate such an occasion, for the Tigers were winless at Tiger Stadium in 2012.

The wait ended Friday night when Springfield (1-1) downed Youngstown Christian 53-12.

“It’s a tradition we’ve had here for a long, long time,” said Guerriero. “Last year was rough for us and I talked about that with the team. Everyone I talked to, they reminded me that we didn’t win a game last year at home, so right now, we did have a little bit of focus on that.”

Springfield senior quarterback Hunter Snyder ran for four touchdowns including a 51-yard sprint that gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead with 3:10 left in the first quarter. After that, they never looked back as they avenged one of last year’s defeats going away.

“We took last year’s game into consideration,” said Snyder, who finished with 112 rushing yards on 10 carries. “They pretty much embarrassed us last year [a 40-3 loss] so our goal this year was to come out and take it to ’em.”

Snyder and running backs Ryan Kohler (17 carries for 100 yards) and Chris Wells (seven carries for 63 yards and a touchdown) dominated the first half.

The 51-yard run defined the Tigers’ evening. After letting Kohler weave his way for a first down on a crucial third-and-short, Snyder faked a hand-off to him and watched his offensive line go to work.

“It just worked out perfectly,” Snyder said. “The line made all their blocks, Chris Wells sealed off the edge and it was off to the races after that. Everyone had perfect blocks on that one.”

As the offense churned out yardage and controlled the clock, it was Springfield’s defense that took away any big play opportunities from the Eagles’ biggest offensive threats in Darien Townsend and Tymere Dubose.

Youngstown Christian (0-2) was held without a first down until the final minutes of the first half.

Townsend’s 25-yard catch and run and electric 91-yard kickoff return (against the Tigers’ second string) were all that the Eagles could produce.

“What we stressed with our defense is, ‘We have to get to the football,’ because they can always break one on any given play,” Guerriero said. “We stressed it all week and it really paid off tonight with the way we prepared.”

Springfield held the Eagles to 128 yards of total offense.