Badin beats Fenwick for fourth straight victory

Lem Grayson ran for two touchdowns in the first half to set the tone. Colt Emerson then threw a touchdown pass to James Brink late in the second quarter to give Badin a 21-0 halftime lead.

The game was delayed because a Badin bus broke down on the way to the game. There was thought of moving the game to Saturday, but they pushed the start from 7 p.m. to 8 and then 8:15.

“I talked with them on the bus about dealing with the adversity, the late start and all those things,” Badin coach Nick Yordy said. “They came out here, and I think it’s the first time this year where we really kind of executed in all three phases. We’re starting to take some baby steps and get a little bit better.”

The Rams stretched the lead to 35-0 on touchdown runs by Brink and Rocco Milazzo before Fenwick got on the board with a 79-yard touchdown by Jackson Kauffman in the final minutes.

Grayson’s two touchdown runs give him seven in six games. He ran for 17 touchdowns last season.

“He’s pretty special,” Yordy said. “He worked really hard this offseason. He’s gotten faster. He’s gotten stronger. He’s the one guy back on offense. We talked about that earlier in the week. I think the guys kind of look to him to be a leader. When he gets rolling, it makes everybody else calm down a little bit and go out there and start executing.”

Badin (4-2) opened the season with losses to Hamilton and Columbus St. Francis DeSales and has since beaten Edgewood, Bishop Ready, Hughes and now Fenwick.

“We just stayed the course,” Yordy said. “Coming out of the gate, you play two really good football teams, but they didn’t cower. They stayed with it. Their perseverance is a testament to them. We battle. We simplified some things and made things as easy as possible. And maybe it’s starting to click.”

Fenwick (2-4) alternated wins and losses through the first five weeks and has now lost two games in a row for the first time this season.

Badin had won five straight games in the series with Fenwick. It beat Fenwick 28-3 in 2023 and 14-6 in 2022. The 2021 game was canceled. Badin won 42-6 in 2020 and 34-6 in 2019. Fenwick’s last victory came in 2018: 21-9 in Week 4 at Fenwick.

In Week 7, Badin plays at home against Dayton Carroll, while Fenwick plays a home game against Chaminade Julienne.