It took some time for both teams to settle down on the new playing surface, but the Buckeye Valley football pulled away late to notch a 29-21 non-league win over visiting Mount Vernon Friday night.
The Yellow Jackets evened things at 21 with a 60-yard touchdown run by Jonny Askew with 2:57 left in the fourth quarter, but the Barons used the feet of quarterback Gabe Gregg to seal the deal and break in the new field turf with a win. Gregg powered into the end zone from a yard out with 1:12 left before tacking on the two-point conversion to smooth out the scoring summary.
It was a back-and-fourth affair from the start, with neither team able to open up much of a cushion. After the first four possessions ended in turnovers — BV threw two picks and Mount Vernon had a fumble and a turnover on downs — the Barons got on the board when Jake Smothers scored on a three-yard run with 28 seconds left in the first quarter.
Mount Vernon evened things up on a 12-yard Evan Owens run, but Buckeye Valley was able to take a 14-7 lead into the break thanks to another Smothers TD run, this time from 18 yards out with 50 seconds left in the half.
A two-yard score from Joel Hubbard knotted the score early in the third before Gregg scored on a 13-yard run to give BV a lead with 3:46 left in the game.
The Jackets were quick to answer, but so were the Barons, who improved to 2-1 thanks to a productive final drive.
Olentangy Berlin 17, Dublin Scioto 7
The Bears ran their record to a perfect 3-0 Friday, using a balanced offensive attack and solid defense to drop host Dublin Scioto.
Berlin, which led 17-0 after Spencer Conrad drilled a 28-yard field goal with 9:30 left in the second quarter, maintained the shutout until Scioto quarterback Amare Jenkins hit Tysen Boze for a nine-yard TD with 5:07 left in the game.
The Bears were balanced, passing for 161 yards and rushing for another 156 in the win. Dylan Reyes completed 11 of his 17 passes for 145 yards and a score while Nick Tiberio ran for 106 yards and a TD of his own.
The Berlin defense, meanwhile, allowed just 36 rushing yards and forced three turnovers.
Lancaster 34, Olentangy 15
The Braves scored 15 first-quarter points, but the Golden Gales ended the game with 21 unanswered over the course of the final three quarters to notch a non-league win Friday night in Lancaster.
Olentangy (0-3) answered a Luke Peden touchdown run with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Dubby Agudosi with 8:01 left in the opening quarter.
After Trace Van Gundy helped Lancaster regain the lead with a one-yard TD run, the Braves’ Ethan Grunkenmeyer hit Evan Rindlaub for a 60-yard touchdown. The ensuing two-point conversion was good, with Grunkenmeyer hitting Tommy Kipfer to make it a 15-13 game with 1:20 left in the first.
That’s as close as it would get, though. Lancaster outscored Olentangy 14-0 in the second quarter and 7-0 in the fourth to smooth out the scoring summary.
Grunkenmeyer completed 21 of his 31 passes for 239 yards and the score while Mike Parsio led Olentangy on the ground with 25 yards.
Peden, Van Gundy and Ajay Locke all had rushing touchdowns for the Gales (1-2).
Delaware Hayes 17, Westland 6
The Pacers controlled things from start to finish, handing the visiting Cougars their first loss of the young season Friday night in Delaware.
Elijah Burton scored on a 55-yard run and Connor Dutton powered in from a yard out to account for the Hayes touchdowns.
Also: Toledo Central Catholic 28, Olentangy Orange 0; Big Walnut 42, Beechcroft 0.
