Patriots double up Pioneers, 42-21

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Aidan Kenley ran for 188 yards and five touchdowns as the Olentangy Liberty football team capped the abbreviated regular season with a 42-21 OCC-Central Division win over host Olentangy Orange Friday night in Lewis Center.

Kenley was elusive all night, especially early. He ran for 69 yards on the first drive of the game, which he capped with a four-yard touchdown run at the 9:24 mark of the opening quarter to give the Patriots (5-1) a 7-0 lead.

Orange (3-3) evened things up when Josh Laisure hit Caden Konczak for a 61-yard TD with 47 seconds left in the first, but another pair of Kenley TD runs ballooned the lead to 21-7 by halftime.

The Pioneers got within a score when Laisure and Konczak hooked up again, this time from 18 yards out to make it 21-14 with 9:22 left in the third, but that’s as close as it would get.

Liberty QB Mitch Fields completed 10 of his 19 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown — a 15-yarder to Cam Barcus late in the third. Barcus finished with six grabs for 62 yards and the score.

Laisure and Konczak, meanwhile, were the Orange offense. Laisure completed 12 of his 21 tosses for 186 yards and two touchdowns while Konczak, who become the school’s all-time leading receiver, finished with 11 receptions for 174 yards and two TDs.

Both teams will be back in action as the OHSAA state playoffs get underway next week. The sixth-seeded Pioneers (Division I, Region 3) will host 11th-seeded Upper Arlington while the fourth-seeded Patriots (Division I, Region 2) will welcome 13th-seeded Miamisburg to Powell Friday night at 7 p.m.

Olentangy Berlin 28, Thomas Worthington 21

The host Cardinals made things interesting, evening things up by halftime with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, but the Bears regained control in the second half on the way to a league win Friday night.

Jacob Moeller, who threw touchdowns to Bennett Lawrence (60 yards) and Justin Rader (20 yards) to flip the 14-all tie into a 28-14 Berlin advantage by the early stages of the fourth quarter, completed 16 of his 26 passes for 301 yards and four touchdowns.

Nick Tiberio ran for 120 yards in the win while Ryan Horstman had three grabs for 112 yards and a touchdown for the Bears (3-3).

Isaac Settles led the Cardinals (1-5). He threw for 183 yards — 117 going to Camden Beatty — and ran for another 37 in the setback.

Berlin, the 11th seed, will return to action Friday night at 7 p.m. when it’s slated to host 22nd-seeded Whitehall-Yearling in the first round of the OHSAA state playoffs.

Dublin Scioto 15, Big Walnut 14

Caden Williams powered into the end zone from two yards out to give the Golden Eagles a 14-9 lead with 26 seconds left, but Amare Jenkins hit Xavier Lopes for a 36-yard scoring strike as time expired to give the Irish a thrilling league win Friday night in Dublin.

Big Walnut (3-3), which led 7-0 at halftime thanks to a 22-yard connection between Jagger Barnett and Grant Coulson just 58 seconds before the break, dominated on the defensive end in the early going. The Eagles only allowed 188 yards all game long. A.J. Leasure led the charge with six tackles while Christian Takatch and Ethan Clawson had sacks.

Scioto (5-1) used a 9-0 third quarter, which included a safety, to take a lead before the back-and-fourth finale in the finale seconds.

Barnett completed 11 of his 17 passes for 89 yards to go with a touchdown and an interception. Williams, meanwhile, had another big game, racking up 183 yards on 41 carries to go with his score.

Next up, ninth-seeded Big Walnut will host 24th-seeded Logan in the first round of the Division II, Region 7 playoffs Friday night at 7 p.m.

Canal Winchester 49, Delaware Hayes 28

Stephan Byrd had a big night, rushing for 164 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Indians past the Pacers Friday night in Canal Winchester.

Byrd scored each of the first two touchdowns of the game before Reese Musick hit Korbin Martino for a 50-yard score and Jake Francis ran for a five-yard TD to give Canal Winchester (2-4) a 28-0 lead with 10:32 left in the second quarter.

The Pacers (0-6) got their offense going from that point on, breaking the scoring seal with a 39-yard connection between QB Austin Dowell and Armon Weaver on the ensuing possession, but they never could slow down the Indians.

Ty Gillman, Logan Eubanks and Dowell all ran for second-half touchdowns for Hayes. Dowell completed seven of his 15 passes for 112 yards and the score while Gillman led the Pacers on the ground with 22 carries for 107 yards and his TD.

Hayes, which has opted out of the 2020 OHSAA state playoffs, will travel to Newark for a non-league showdown Friday night.

Liberty Union 48, Buckeye Valley 3

The Lions (5-1) scored 20-plus points in two different quarters and kept the Barons (3-3) out of the end zone all night long en route to a lopsided MSL-Ohio win Friday night in Baltimore.

Next up, 20th-seeded Buckeye Valley will turn its attention to the Division III, Region 11 playoffs. The Barons will travel to 13th-seeded Zanesville for a first-round matchup Friday night at 7 p.m.

Olentangy Liberty’s Aidan Kenley finds some running room during the first half of Friday’s OCC showdown against host Olentangy Orange.
https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2020/10/web1_kenley-1.jpegOlentangy Liberty’s Aidan Kenley finds some running room during the first half of Friday’s OCC showdown against host Olentangy Orange.
Kenley runs for 5 TDs in win

By Ben Stroup

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