The Kicking Mules’ Joey Oehlers rushes for a TD against Wyandotte. QB Joey Wiemer ran for 164 yards for Temperance Bedford.
Temperance Bedford just might want to begin keeping track of its yards after contact.
Quarterback Joey Wiemer ran the veer option offense to perfection, gaining 164 yards on 18 carries. The vast majority of those yards came after he was hit once, twice or even three times.
“I get forward momentum because those holes are so big I’m running downhill,” Wiemer said. “We run a lot in our offense. I love it. I grew up running it. Running the ball and following big guys, it’s just fun.”
Bedford had loads of fun Friday night, opening the Division 2 state playoffs with a resounding, 43-21 victory over Wyandotte.
Wyandotte (7-3) lost to Bedford (8-2, No. 8) in the 2010 state playoffs and was done in that night by quarterback Jared Kujawa. This time it was another Bedford quarterback who ended the Bears season.
“He’s good, we knew that going in; it’s not like it’s a secret,” said Wyandotte coach Ron Adams. “He’s an athletic kid, tall — 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. He can run, he can throw. He made enough plays for them to win tonight. The problem is we were not very good on offense, especially early.”
Helping make Wyandotte’s offense ineffective was a hard-hitting Bedford defense that made things easy for the Bedford offense. Until midway through the third quarter, the worst field position Bedford had when beginning a drive was its 40-yard line.
“Special teams really helped us out,” Wiemer said. “Defense was a big part of it, too, forcing punts back deep in their territory.”
Wiemer was able to take that good field position and run with it — literally.
On Bedford’s first possession of the game, Wiemer faked an inside handoff, rolled right and then cut back up field on his way to a 28-yard touchdown run.
Two possessions later, Wiemer carried the ball five times and scored on a nine-yard run for a 15-0 lead.
“We get great pushes, especially our running backs,” Wiemer said. “The big persona of a running back is run the ball and make great moves. But we are incredible blockers.”
Following a quick Wyandotte three-and-out, Wiemer converted a fourth-and-two play with a 12-yard run before Joey Oehlers took an inside handoff and bolted 19 yards for a 22-0 halftime lead.
Bedford’s Jared Nanney caught the second-half kickoff at his 14-yard line, and the first time he was touched he was standing in Wyandotte’s end zone.
Adam Groat came off the bench for Wyandotte and threw three touchdown passes to make the final score more respectable, but by then Bedford’s offensive line and Wiemer, who will sign with the University of Cincinnati for baseball, had done their damage.
Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1