Bears roll to 1st playoff win

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Jacob Moeller threw four touchdown passes and Nick Tiberio and Harrison Brewster found the end zone on the ground as the 11th-seeded Olentangy Berlin football team rolled past 22nd-seeded Whitehall-Yearling 47-7 in the first round of the Division II, Region 7 playoffs Friday night in Delaware.

The win — the first ever playoff victory for the Bears — was never in doubt. Berlin (4-3) raced out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and never looked back.

Moeller threw an interception on the first play of the game, but was rock-solid the rest of the way. He completed 12 of his 19 passes for 159 yards and the four scores, all of which came in the first half.

He hit Bennett Lawrence for a 26-yard TD to break the scoring seal with 3:51 left in the first quarter and found Justin Rader, who got his team the ball back with an interception on the previous Whitehall (1-6) drive, for a seven-yard score to double Berlin’s lead less than a minute later.

Tiberio made it 21-0 with a four-yard run with 7:37 left in the second quarter and Moeller found Aidan Loeffler from 14 yards out to make it a 28-0 game with 6:34 left in the half.

Rams quarterback Elijah Hughes scored from a yard out to get his team on the board with 3:39 to play until the break, but Moeller collected his fourth and final TD — a 17-yarder to Ryan Horstman — with 39 seconds left in the half.

Brewster, the backup QB, made it 40-0 with his rushing touchdown in the third before Loeffler sealed the deal with a pick six with 3:42 left.

Next up, Berlin will travel to sixth-seeded Wooster for Friday’s second-round showdown. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Big Walnut 62, Logan 0

The ninth-seeded Golden Eagles scored 35 second-quarter points to break things open on the way to a lopsided win over 24th-seeded Logan in the first round of the Division II, Region 7 playoffs Friday night in Sunbury.

Already up 13-0 after one, Big Walnut found the end zone five more times before taking a 48-0 lead into halftime. Jagger Barnett found Grant Coulson for a 19-yard score to start the second-quarter surge less than two minutes into the period.

Barnett also hooked up with Coulson for a 30-yard TD, found Cam Gladden for a 29-yard score and ran into the end zone from five yards out later in the quarter. The defense accounted for the Eagles’ other score as Gordon Rond recovered a fumble in the end zone.

Backup quarterback Jake Nier hit Dom Salazar for a 23-yard score early in the third and Jordy Barrera plowed into the end zone from a yard out to make it a 62-0 game with 2:29 left in the third.

Barnett completed 11 of his 18 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns while Caden Williams ran for 111 yards and two first-quarter scores.

Big Walnut (4-3) advances to take on eighth-seeded Dublin Scioto — a team it lost to 15-14 on the final play of the game in last week’s regular-season finale — in Friday’s second round. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night in Dublin.

Delaware Hayes 17, Newark 7

Marshall Klingel stopped the Wildcats’ Jake Sherman on a fourth-and-goal form the one-yard line and Austin Dowell and Braeden Rhodes hooked up for a 12-yard touchdown to cap a 99-yard drive on the ensuing series to lift the Pacers to a 17-7 non-league win Friday night in Newark.

The TD broke a 7-7 tie with 10:38 left in the fourth quarter. Jared McKeen added a 41-yard field goal with 1:01 to go to smooth out the scoring summary.

The game was tight most of the way through as both teams scored on their opening drives before the defenses pitched shutouts in the middle two quarters. Newark (0-7) got on the board when Sherman hit Garrett Ramsey for a 43-yard scoring strike early in the first before Hayes (1-6) answered with a nine-yard TD run by Dowell.

Dowell completed nine of his 14 passes for 77 yards to go with a touchdown and an interception. Ty Gillman led the Pacers on the ground with 149 yards on 27 carries while Nick Wildman had three receptions for 28 yards in the win.

Sherman completed seven of his 24 passes for 96 yards, most of which went to Ramsey, who finished with three grabs for 71 yards.

Next up, Hayes will host Mount Vernon Friday night in Delaware.

Zanesville 30, Buckeye Valley 8

The 20th-seeded Barons limited the hosts to just three first-half points, but the 13th-seeded Blue Devils found their form over the course of the final two quarters en route to a win in the first round of the Division III, Region 11 playoffs Friday night in Zanesville.

Zanesville (3-4) finished with 505 yards of total offense in the win. BV (3-4), meanwhile, managed just 132. The Barons’ lone score was the last of the game as Anthony Hughes found Alex Contreras for a two-yard TD with just over two minutes to play. Hughes plowed into the end zone on the ensuing two-point conversion before the Blue Devils ran out the clock on the next series.

Four different Zanesville players scored rushing touchdowns in the second half — Tristan Banks, Brody Goldsmith, Jordan Martin and quarterback Isaac Mayle. Mayle was also solid through the air, completing 21 of 23 passes for 214 yards.

Hughes completed eight of his 20 throws for 134 yards and a touchdown, but the ground game never got going as BV finished in negative territory rushing.

Upper Arlington 17, Olentangy Orange 10

The sixth-seeded Pioneers scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t complete the comeback as the visiting and 11th-seeded Golden Bears hung on to pull the upset in the first round of the Division I, Region 3 playoffs Friday night in Lewis Center.

Orange (3-4) moved the ball well, but couldn’t get anything to show for it until Josh Laisure hit Julian DiSabato for a 20-yard touchdown to make it a 17-7 game with 8:27 left.

The Pioneers added a 26-yard field goal by Jack Behre with 12 seconds left, but ran out of time after failing to recover the ensuing onside kick.

James Hayek completed 11 of his 20 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown — a 19-yarder to Dominic Chiavaroli to make it a 17-0 game with 2:13 left in the second quarter — to lead Upper Arlington (3-4).

Carson Gresock was also solid, closing with 89 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Laisure completed 19 of his 28 throws for 244 yards and the touchdown. He also rushed for 67 yards in the setback. Caden Konczak was the Pioneers’ leading receiver, finishing with eight receptions for 87 yards, both game highs.

Olentangy Berlin’s Ryan Horstman (12) fights for extra yardage against Whitehall’s Taron Biles-Walker during Friday’s playoff game in Delaware.
https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2020/10/web1_OB12WY17-1.jpegOlentangy Berlin’s Ryan Horstman (12) fights for extra yardage against Whitehall’s Taron Biles-Walker during Friday’s playoff game in Delaware. Ben Stroup | The Gazette
Golden Eagles advance with blowout win

By Ben Stroup

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