The Big Walnut football team started fast and handled its business late to stay perfect with a 28-20 OCC-Capital Division win over visiting Dublin Scioto on Senior Night Friday in Sunbury.
The opening few minutes couldn’t have gone much better for the Golden Eagles (9-0, 6-0), who led 7-0 less than a minute into the game when Dom Salazar jumped a route on the first Irish (6-3, 4-2) possession and returned the interception to the house for a touchdown.
Scioto then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, setting Big Walnut up with a short field.
The second turnover didn’t result in points, but the damage was done as the teams went back-and-fourth the rest of the way.
The Irish evened things up when Amare Jenkins hit Lesley Andoh for a 75-yard touchdown, but BW regained the lead when Nate Severs scored from 10 yards out with 4:04 left in the first quarter.
Jenkins found Andoh in the end zone again, this time from six yards out, but Big Walnut was able to block the extra point and take a 14-13 lead into halftime.
Severs’ second score of the game — a 55-yard run — made it 21-13 with 4:34 in the third before Garrett Stover scored from seven yards out to balloon the lead to 28-13 and all but end Scioto’s comeback bid.
Canal Winchester 20, Delaware Hayes 17
The Pacers (2-7, 0-6) battled from start to finish, taking a 17-14 lead when Sawyer Sand scampered for a 40-yard score with about 11 minutes to go, but the visiting Indians (6-3, 4-2) picked up a blocked punt and returned it for a touchdown with five minutes left to escape with a league win Friday night in Delaware.
After Canal took a 7-0 lead with a 68-yard pass, Austin Dowell hit Elijah Burton for a six-yard scoring strike to even things up.
Cooper Goble connected on a 37-yard field goal to give Hayes a 10-7 lead before Reece Musick hit Travis Hines for their second TD connection of the night to make it a 14-10 game at the break.
Olentangy Orange 29, Hilliard Bradley 27
The visiting Jaguars scored to take a lead in the fourth, but the Pioneers stormed back down the stretch to close out their first win of the season Friday night in Lewis Center.
Jake Werling’s 18-yard touchdown run made it a 27-26 game midway through the fourth and Jake Behre completed the comeback with a 20-yard field goal in the final minutes.
Werling did it through the air and on the ground, completing 10 of his 18 passes for 145 yards and rushing for another 206 yards and three scores for Orange (1-8, 1-3).
Tayshaun Mayfield led the Jaguars (4-5, 2-2) with 133 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Dublin Jerome 27, Olentangy 24
The Braves got going in the second half after managing just two Hayden Olcott field goals through the first two and half quarters, but it wasn’t enough as the host Celtics escaped with a win thanks to a Hail Mary as time expired Friday night in Dublin.
Malik Wade scored on the ground and, after a successful two-point conversion evened things at 14 with 2:31 left in the third, Olcott kicked his third field goal of the night to put Olentangy (3-6, 1-3) up 17-14 early in the fourth.
Another Wade touchdown run ballooned the lead to 24-14 before Jerome’s (6-3, 2-2) Preston Everhart scored from 16 yards out and Zack Tschirthart hit David Aldoph for a 34-yard TD as time expired to account for the final margin.
Marysville 34, Olentangy Berlin 6
Colton Powers ran for a pair of touchdowns and Griffin Johnson finished with 129 yards of total offense as the host Monarchs rolled past the Bears 34-6 Friday night in Marysville to stay atop the Cardinal Division with one game to go.
Berlin (7-2, 3-1), perfect in league play before the night, hung in early. Marysville (8-0, 4-0), though, used three touchdowns in the second quarter to turn what was a scoreless tie after one into a 21-0 halftime lead.
The Bears got a bit closer when Harrison Brewster found Connor Gavin for a 60-yard touchdown with 9:13 left in the third, but Powers scored from three yards out early in the fourth before quarterback Brady Seger hooked up with Johnson for a 61-yard scoring strike to smooth out the scoring summary.
Brewster completed 10 of his 15 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown for Berlin while Gavin finished with a team-best 117 yards receiving to go with his touchdown.
Hilliard Davidson 23, Olentangy Liberty 20
Patriot quarterback Ryan Grohe connected with Chase Brecht for three second-half touchdowns — scores which flipped a 17-0 deficit into a 20-17 lead — but the host Wildcats used a pair of late Aiden Ighnat field goals, the second as time expired, to escape with 23-20 OCC-Central Division win Friday night in Hilliard.
Grohe completed 24 of his 31 passes for 285 yards and the three scores to lead Liberty (4-5, 1-3) while Brecht ran for 87 yards in addition to hauling in nine receptions for 154 yards.
Leo Nixon led the Wildcats (7-2, 3-1) with 139 yards on the ground.
Whitehall-Yearling 34, Buckeye Valley 33
The Barons started well on the road, jumping out to a 21-0 lead by the early stages of the second quarter, but the host Rams dominated down the stretch to rally for an MSL-Ohio win Friday night in Whitehall.
Alex Contreras scored twice in the first quarter, the first via a 12-yard run and then thanks to a 22-yard catch, to put BV (5-4, 2-3) up 14-0.
The Barons made it 21-0 when Gabe Gregg powered into the end zone from a yard out with 9:50 left in the second quarter, but the Rams (5-3, 3-1) outscored them 34-12 the rest of the way.
Kevin Jackson made it a one-score game with two third quarter touchdown runs, the first a 64-yard sprint, before Melvin Scott completed the comeback with a 12-yard TD run with 4:32 to play in the game.
Contreras finished with three touchdowns in the setback, two through the air and one on the ground, while Gregg had two rushing scores.
