High School Football: Badin Rams Vs. Ross Rams

It was a long, trying offseason for Badin High School’s football team. It was even worse for Davon Starks.

He missed most of last year with a heart issue, but his play Friday night loudly announced that he is definitely back.

Starks totaled three touchdowns and 112 offensive yards as the Rams, coming off a 2-8 campaign, opened the 2017 season by thrashing Ross 36-6 in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown at Hamilton’s Virgil Schwarm Stadium.

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“To be back healthy so far, I’m trying to make up for last year,” Starks said. “So I’m not slowing down anytime soon.”

A versatile runner and receiver in Badin’s offense, the junior ran 11 times for 76 yards and two scores. He also caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Flaig.

Lavassa Martin added 125 yards and two TDs on 10 carries as the host Rams kicked off the Nick Yordy era in grand style before a big crowd, storming to a 36-0 halftime lead that prompted a running clock after the break.

“It’s pretty neat,” said Yordy, a 1997 Badin graduate in his first head coaching job. “I’m still kind of numb a little bit … it might sink in tomorrow. My family made a lot of sacrifices to make this happen, so it’s very special.”

Ross began the night with a 61-yard kickoff return by Ryan Price. It was one of the few highlights in a terrible first half for the visitors.

Jackson Mills recovered three RHS fumbles in a span of just under seven minutes. All three led to Badin touchdowns.

“I just never quit moving,” said Mills, a junior end. “We’re pretty good up front. We’ve been prepping for weeks too, which helps. It feels amazing to win like this. I think this is the biggest crowd we’ve ever had, which makes it even better.”

Ross got outgained 247-36 in first-half yardage. The visitors avoided the shutout when Jacob Brewer scored on a 29-yard run in the third period.

“I’m happy for the kids. They were pretty locked in all week,” Yordy said. “Our guys up front did a great job offensively and defensively, our backs ran hard, and we put points on the board when we got in the red zone.”

Kenyon Commins, making his head coaching debut for Ross, was less than thrilled with his squad’s three turnovers and numerous penalties.

“First of all, hats off to Coach Yordy and his staff,” Commins said. “Obviously they prepared very well, and their kids played extremely hard. That’s one thing you know you’re going to get when you play Badin.

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“For us, it was just undisciplined football. We’ve got to be mentally tougher, and there’s nobody to blame but me. It all starts at the top. We’ve got to make some changes and hopefully have a lot of growth from Week 1 to Week 2.”

Brewer (six carries, 42 yards) and quarterback Dylan Zimmerman (18 carries, 47 yards) were the top runners in Ross’ new triple-option offense. Zimmerman was 2-of-2 for 8 yards through the air.

Badin only threw two passes as well. Flaig was 1-of-2, and his completion to Starks opened the scoring with 4:49 left in the first stanza. Starks got behind the Ross defense in the middle of the field and caught the Flaig aerial in stride.

“They came out and told me the night before we were going to run that play and see what we can get,” Starks said. “Apparently it’s an old play too … just bringing a little bit of that old fire back into it.”

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Ethan Krug chipped in a 32-yard field goal and three extra points for Badin.

Commins said during the week that Game 1 wasn’t going to make or break his team’s season. He repeated that notion after the contest.

“It’s a 10-week season for a reason,” Commins said. “The funny thing is my brother’s first game as a head coach at Mt. Healthy, we played Roger Bacon, a (Greater Catholic League) school. We got the ever-living snot kicked out of us, and we went 9-1. Now I’m not saying we’re going to go 9-1, but I’m saying the opportunity is there. Now it’s whether the kids want to take advantage of it.”

Friday’s game marked the renewal of the Badin-Ross football rivalry — the schools’ last meeting came in 2010. Badin improved to 13-0 in the series.