The Delaware Hayes football team didn’t take long to get first-year head coach Ryan Montgomery a win, jumping out to a 28-0 lead before holding off host Buckeye Valley for a 28-14 non-league win in Friday night’s season opener.
The Baron defense did some good things early, forcing a three-and-out on the Pacers’ first possession, but Hayes found its form during the second series — a drive capped by a four-yard touchdown pass from Jake Lowman to Wyatt Kirtland with 5:17 left in the first quarter.
Cooper Goble added the point-after attempt to make it a 7-0 game.
The drive was just what the Pacers needed, but it didn’t start that way as a high snap sailed over Lowman’s head and nearly turned into a safety. The junior tracked it down in the back of the end zone, though, and was able to throw it away to keep the drive alive.
A screen pass to Sawyer Sand later in the series put the ball on the doorstep before Lowman found Kirtland to break the scoring seal.
Hayes went on to score two more first-half touchdowns to take a 21-0 lead into the locker room.
After the Pacers’ Andon Wheeler recovered a fumble at the BV 21-yard line, Josh Russell punched it in from three yards out on the first play of the second quarter to make it a 14-0 game.
After Hayes forced a turnover on downs later in the half, Lowman called his own number after a nice march to the red zone, plowing in from three yards out to balloon the lead to 21-0 with 4:32 left in the half.
Hayes made it 28-0 with a two-yard TD run from Sand midway through the third quarter, but the Barons (0-1) found a little something on offense down the stretch, scoring a couple touchdowns in the fourth quarter to smooth out the scoring summary.
The first came courtesy of the special teams as Tanner Domyanich recovered a muffed punt attempt in the end zone with 6:52 left in the game.
The PAT failed, but BV wasn’t done.
After Ripley Sznati recovered a fumble to give the BV offense the ball, backup quarterback Nathan Huss hit Garrett Carey for a nice gain into Hayes territory. A strong run from Garrett Slater moved the ball to the three-yard line before another powerful run got him into the end zone.
The ensuing two-point conversion — a pass from Nathan Huss to Matt Hall — was successful, but, with just 45.6 seconds left, it was too little, too late.
Olentangy Orange 22, Hilliard Darby 21
J.J. Calip, a transfer from Worthington Kilbourne, made an immediate impact for the Pioneers, scoring on a six-yard run in the final minute before adding the two-point conversion with another strong run to lift his new team to a thrilling season-opening win over the visiting Panthers Friday night in Lewis Center.
Quarterback Michael Clouse and company had a nice night, too. He completed 13 of his 19 passes for 237 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Calip was his top target, hauling in eight grabs, but Kobe Sharpe lifted the lid off the defense, finishing with 114 yards on just two receptions — one a 73-yarder for a touchdown.
Hilliard Bradley 31, Olentangy Berlin 28
Mason Ziegler had 149 yards rushing and Harrison Brewster ran for another 132, but it wasn’t enough as the visiting Jaguars got a touchdown connection from Bradyn Fleharty to Preston Wolfe in the final seconds to escape with a season-opening win Friday night in Delaware.
Also: Westerville South 30, Olentangy 7; Pickerington Central 35, Olentangy Liberty 0.
