SUNBURY — Led by a workhorse performance from sophomore running back Nolan Buirley and an opportunistic defense, Big Walnut wore down Delaware Hayes en route to a comfortable 41-21 win on Friday.

Buirley wracked up 30 carries for 145 yards and a touchdown, and the Golden Eagles’ defense forced two critical turnovers that directly led to 14 points to help run their winning streak to three games while handing Hayes its first loss of the season.

Hayes running back Favour Akih led the Pacers with 150 rushing yards and two touchdowns while also adding a receiving touchdown in the loss.

Big Walnut (3-1) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a 28-yard field goal by Jake Neff, and then its defense turned in the first big play of the evening.

On the ensuing drive, Hayes quarterback Caleb Rowe’s pass bounced off a receiver’s hands and was intercepted by Big Walnut’s Jax Lawrence at the Hayes 25. Lawrence avoided a tackle and raced up the home sideline, returning the interception for a pick-six and a 10-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

Already in an early hole, disaster nearly struck for Hayes when a wayward snap on a punt attempt sailed over punter Garrett Brown’s head. Brown retrieved the loose ball near midfield and managed to get a short punt off before being hit. Big Walnut was flagged for roughing the punter, however, giving Hayes a new set of downs deep in Big Walnut territory.

Akih made the fortuitous penalty hurt one play later, knifing his way to the end zone from 20 yards out for his first touchdown to get Hayes on the board and cut the deficit to 10-7 late in the first quarter.

Neff added his second field goal of the night with 4:31 left in the half to increase the Big Walnut’s lead to 13-7, and the Golden Eagles weren’t done adding to their advantage just before halftime.

After forcing a Hayes three-and-out on the ensuing possession, Big Walnut took over at its own 20 with just under three minutes to play and promptly drove 80 yards in a little over a minute to up the lead.

Sophomore quarterback Eli Stumpf’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Aidan West capped the six-play drive and sent Big Walnut into the locker room up 20-7.

Stumpf finished with 166 yards and two touchdown passes while completing 12 of his 17 attempts on the night.

Hayes (3-1) was held to just 101 yards of offense in the first half, and the final two quarters didn’t prove to be much more fruitful as the Big Walnut defense continued to stifle Rowe and the Pacers.

A glimmer of life was provided by the Hayes offense on its first drive of the second half after the Pacers defense forced a stop on the opening possession of the third quarter.

Set up with great field position at midfield, Hayes went 50 yards in nine plays to cut the Big Walnut lead to 20-14. Rowe found Akih on a short pass while being taken to the ground, and Akih did the rest, busting into the end zone from 28 yards out to cap the drive.

The touchdown pass was the lone score of the night for Rowe, who finished with 97 passing yards while completing 11 of his 19 attempts.

Any momentum seized by the touchdown was shortlived, however, as Big Walnut answered in a hurry to effectively put the game away.

A 7-yard rush from Buirley and an 18-yard completion from Stumpf to Owen Pollock had the Golden Eagles on the move to begin the next drive. Six plays later, Buirley finished the drive with a 35-yard touchdown on a screen pass to put his team back ahead by two scores at 27-14 late in the third quarter.

With the game growing late, deja vu struck for the Pacers as another Rowe pass clanked off a receiver’s hands and into the waiting arms of Neff near midfield, turning the ball back over to Big Walnut.

Looking to deliver the knockout blow, the Golden Eagles rode Buirley to the end zone, feeding him the ball eight times on the drive. The final carry saw Buirley bust into the end zone from the Hayes 4 to extend the lead to 34-14 and push the game out of reach.

Following the game, Big Walnut head coach Curtis Crager said his team’s performance fit their plan to win, but the performance wasn’t without plenty of areas to clean up in the weeks to come.

“We have much respect for Coach (Ryan) Montgomery and Delaware Hayes, and their defensive line gave us fits,” Crager said. “But that’s our goal, to establish the run and control the ball, keep our defense off the field. There were a lot of good things but a lot of things to continue to work on.”

Crager added of his message to the team after the win, “Enjoy the win but we have to get back to work tomorrow. We have a very good Westerville South coming up, so for us to get to where we want to be, we have to clean up those mistakes.”

Hayes head coach Ryan Montgomery lamented his team’s mistakes and felt the final score wasn’t indicative of how hard his team fought in the loss.

“I thought our preparation through the week was good,” Montgomery said. “We had some kids battling some illness this week. We had one of our starters go out on Wednesday, so we had to replace him. But the kids battled hard. They’re always ready and prepared. They fight to the end.”

While the loss certainly stings, Montgomery said he reminded his team that everything they hope to achieve is still out in front of them.

“One game in the league when you have seven more to go, it’s a long way from over,” he said. “There’s a lot of football left, and we just have to get ready to go tomorrow. How we handle adversity will say a lot about our team, and I think our seniors will do a really good job with that.”

Hayes will look to get back on track next week when it hosts Westerville North (2-2), while Big Walnut will travel to Westerville South (3-1) in hopes of extending its winning streak.