HAMILTON — Gracen Goldsmith doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. The Hamilton High School senior running back has been on a mission lately.
“I’m trying to be as consistent as I can,” Goldsmith said. “If I do my job, I know everybody is going to do their job.”
Goldsmith rushed for 203 yards and four touchdowns, and the Big Blue rolled past the Middletown Middies 42-7 in the Butler Bowl on Friday night at Virgil Schwarm Stadium.
Goldsmith has had three monster performances in a row, including a career night last week against Fairfield — 244 rushing yards and tying the school record with five touchdowns.
“He’s a stud,” Hamilton coach Arvie Crouch said of Goldsmith, who leads the Greater Miami Conference with 1,082 rushing yards. “It’s just a shame that he hasn’t been offered (by colleges) yet with the season that he’s had. Hopefully he will.
“Just like I said before, we’re in the best public league I think in the country, or one of them. And this dude is tearing it up against good teams, good defenses. It’s a shame he hasn’t gotten an offer yet.”
Hamilton (6-2, 5-2 GMC) upped its winning streak to eight games against Middletown (4-3, 3-4 GMC), which last came out victorious in the series on Sept. 26, 2014, in a 24-3 contest.
“It’s huge. Just keep it going — stay consistent,” Goldsmith said of coming out on top in the rivalry showdown. “We’re setting ourselves up to a high standard. We’re going up from here. We’re not going down.
“Everything is personal. Everybody is chit chattering and all of that. So, we just come out here and play football. No words said. We just go out there and do what we do and have fun.”
Middletown still leads the series 36-35-3. The Middies have lost four straight after starting the season with four wins.
Hamilton’s defense has been stellar this season, and it didn’t take long for Middletown to find that out Friday.
“There was a tempo going. We knew the vibe from that,” Hamilton senior defensive end Trey Verdon said. “It was ecstatic. Our whole team was intact. We came into this knowing how rivalries go. They’re normally close. We had to change that.”
Wyman Carr Jr. picked off Middletown quarterback Jastin Bourne’s pass and returned it 40 yards for a score on the third play from scrimmage to give Hamilton a 7-0 lead.
“That was a routine play that we hit a lot,” Middletown coach Kali Jones said, noting that Bourne stepped in for injured starting quarterback Jeremiah Landers. “He just sailed it. It could be nerves.”
Goldsmith scored two touchdowns — one from a yard out and another from 56 yards out — to increase the Big Blue advantage to 21-0 in the second quarter.
Demetrian James found the end zone on a 2-yard plunge to put Middletown on the board.
Goldsmith scored from a yard out and Antonio Mathis connected with Elijah Jones on a 24-yard TD pass to give Hamilton a 35-7 halftime lead.
Goldsmith enforced the running clock on his 79-yard touchdown jaunt that gave Hamilton a 42-7 lead with 7:45 left in the third quarter.
“That was fun,” Crouch said. “I really thought we could physically overwhelm them. I’m not saying that to be disrespectful, but we’re humming right now. We’re pretty strong. Our guys are doing their job.
“I didn’t think it would be like that in the first half. We had some breaks and made some plays. It was an offensive clinic in that first half. Coaches did an outstanding job of putting our kids in successful situations. Some dudes made plays.”
Hamilton won the turnover battle — Carr’s interception and fumble recoveries by Mason Holbrook and Andre Bailey — and outgained Middletown 358-204 in yardage.
“With our group, they struggle with that kind of adversity,” Jones said. “We get off schedule, it’s like a barrier that we try to get over. I keep telling them that we’re going to keep having these opportunities, and we’ve got to get it.”
Hamilton travels to Colerain next Friday, while Middletown hosts Princeton.
