MIAMISBURG — The chant from Miamisburg High School’s student section started with two minutes, 11 seconds left in the game: “Undefeated!”

Hey, when your program hasn’t had a winning season since 2003 and has averaged about three wins per season over that span, the excitement is understandable.

Playing in a steady downpour the first half, Miamisburg’s running attack fared better than Bellbrook’s spread passing attack in the Vikings’ surprising 13-0 win Friday, Aug. 28, at Harmon Field.

“We were praying for rain, and it came to us,” said Miamisburg third-year coach Zack Cline. “They’ve got that wide-open attack and they’re going to win a lot of football games this year. But when that rain came, we were pretty excited because it negated some of their athletic ability.”

Bellbrook struggled often with bad snaps and fumbles, the worst coming midway through the first quarter. Driving toward the game’s first score, the Golden Eagles lost a fumble on the Vikings’ 4-yard line.

The out-of-sync Eagles never recovered.

Miamisburg, meanwhile, turned a shanked punt into a 7-0 lead with 2:43 left in the first half. Working with a short field, Vikings quarterback Jake Sears capped a five-play drive with a 7-yard scamper around the right side.

The Vikings all but put the game away to start the third quarter. A 15-play, 78-yard drive ended with Sears’ 4-yard run with 5:13 left for the final score.

Running back Cody Hamblin, who unofficially rushed for 140 yards on 24 carries, picked up 44 of the yards during that decisive series.

“These kids have worked very hard and all their hard work in the offseason paid off,” Cline said.

Unofficially, Bellbrook finished with 54 yards rushing and completed just 4-of-18 passes for 58 yards.

“The defense played with passion and aggression,” Cline said of a unit that recovered two fumbles and intercepted one pass. “That’s what we preach to them, and they did a great job.”