Whether it’s high school, college or the pros, 21-point leads are usually safe in football.
That wasn’t the case Aug. 29 at Canal Winchester, where the home team overcame that deficit and edged Hilliard Davidson 23-21. Here are our takeaways from that Week 2 game along with Upper Arlington’s 16-10 win at Olentangy Berlin and Hilliard Darby’s 21-7 victory over visiting Hilliard Bradley.
Canal Winchester rallies to stun Hilliard Davidson
Canal Winchester came alive on both sides of the ball and earned a win that seemed improbable when it was trailing 21-0 in the second quarter.
Canal (2-0) took the lead for good when Isaiah Kemper tackled Dayne Schmidt in the end zone for a 1-yard loss and a safety with 3:42 remaining.
Dre Jackson’s 1-yard run from the wildcat on fourth-and-goal with 58 seconds left in the third quarter tied the game at 21. The scoring drive went 95 yards in 12 plays and included a 61-yard connection between quarterback Quinton McGhee and Jackson.
“We were making a lot of mistakes in the first half, but we came out and put together our schemes and overpowered them,” Jackson said.
Canal’s offense started to get its rhythm just before halftime. Jamari Snow’s 8-yard touchdown run capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive to make it 21-7 with 52.7 seconds left in the second quarter.
Snow, who powered the ground game with 107 yards on 32 carries, scored from 5 yards on the opening drive of the second half, cutting Davidson’s lead to 21-14.
“We simplified things (at halftime) and told them to go out and keep swinging,” Canal coach Rob Page said. “We talked all week that when you play really good opponents, you have to keep swinging, because they’re going to throw shots. You just have to believe, and you have to keep at it.”
McGhee finished 14-of-27 passing for 183 yards, and Jackson caught five passes for 107 yards.
“Our guys are so resilient and tough,” Page said. “Every team has issues, but the adversity they overcame tonight, I couldn’t be more proud.”
Hilliard Davidson gets stuck ‘in neutral’
Davidson coach Jeremey Scally said he saw warning signs earlier in the week.
“We got up tonight, and what did we do? We put it in neutral,” Scally said. “What we do on Tuesday shows up on Friday. My job is to get them to understand that.”
The Wildcats (1-1) controlled the first half, building a three-touchdown lead with 6:39 left in the second quarter on a 7-yard run by Schmidt, who finished with 84 yards on 15 carries.
Marcus Thiaw scored on a 1-yard run and quarterback Josh DiBlasio connected with Schmidt on an 11-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.
DiBlasio completed 7 of 16 passes for 84 yards.
But after racking up 159 total yards before halftime, the Wildcats mustered just 15 the rest of the way, and no second-half drives went more than 8 yards.
“A critical sequence in the game was them scoring right before the half to make it 21-7,” Scally said. “Why is that critical? Because they were getting the ball to start the second half.”
–Scott Gerfen
Defense leads way for Upper Arlington in close win
Senior linebacker Andrew Petzinger’s interception of Berlin quarterback Tyce Dent as time expired will be the play that stands out from UA’s win, but that was simply the exclamation point on another strong night for that side of the ball.
In a reload after first-team all-state defensive lineman Cal Thrush graduated to Michigan State, UA (2-0) held Berlin (0-2) to just 17 yards in the first half and saw the Bears get into or close to the end zone only twice. Both came after trick plays, a fake punt in the third quarter and an onside kick in the final minute.
“I was ready for a screen or something coming out of the backfield, so I just kept back, watched (Dent’s) eyes and he threw right above me,” Petzinger said. “We don’t have a lot of guys with a lot of varsity experience, so we’ve had to grow up in a hurry. It’s tough to replace a guy like (Thrush), but we do our jobs and good things tend to happen.”
Berlin did not run a play over midfield until the final few minutes of the third quarter.
UA, which forced four three-and-outs, gave up only six points in a Week 1 win over Whitehouse Anthony Wayne.
“We played a great first half defensively, but we gave up a couple big plays in the second half and that gave them some momentum,” coach Justin Buttermore said. “We’re playing extremely hard and we’re playing faster. We just have to play smarter.”
Oakley, Wolpert enjoy big nights for maturing Upper Arlington offense
UA got field goals of 27, 36 and 35 yards from junior Edward Oakley, a four-star recruit already drawing national attention. The 35-yarder put UA ahead 16-7 with 8:52 to go.
Senior running back Jaden Chindavong provided UA’s only touchdown, a 3-yard run with 2:40 left in the first quarter.
Senior receiver Trent Wolpert has picked up where he left off after a big junior season, catching eight passes for 134 yards. His longest catch of the night, 38 yards, set up Chindavong’s touchdown.
“(Wolpert) is a total stud, clearly my No. 1 go-to (receiver),” said senior quarterback Luke Backes, who completed 15 of 25 passes for 178 yards. “He’s a product of the work he has put in.”
Buttermore rued that UA was a play or two away from making it a blowout before halftime. Six of the Golden Bears’ seven penalties were of the 5-yard variety on offense – five false starts and an ineligible man downfield.
“We had opportunities to close the door at the end of the first half,” Buttermore said. “We just couldn’t do it, but to their credit, they found a way to get back in the game and give themselves a chance.”
Stout defense gives Olentangy Berlin a chance
Two sacks from senior linebacker Liam Doneyhue and a handful of other timely tackles led Berlin’s defense, which kept the Bears in the game until the offense got untracked.
Senior defensive back Grant Gibson blocked an Oakley field goal try from 39 yards late in the third, and three plays later Dylan Amos ran 31 yards on a fake punt to UA’s 47.
Four plays after that, Dent found senior receiver Colton Less from 3 yards to make it 13-7.
Ayden Alonso’s 23-yard field goal got Berlin within 16-10 with 58 seconds left, and the Bears started their next drive at UA’s 47 after a successful onside kick. They drove to the 16 in six plays before Petzinger intercepted Dent on fourth-and-8.
“(The) defense definitely kept us in the game, no question about it,” Berlin coach Mark Nori said. “We had some unfortunate bounces, but special teams showed up in the second half. We just needed to complete it in the end.
(The defense is) resilient. We do some different stuff on defense, but the kids understand what is asked of them. They understand the expectations.”
–Dave Purpura
Burchfield earns first win at Hilliard Darby
By beating crosstown rival Bradley, Darby matched last season’s win total and earned coach Brad Burchfield’s first victory with the program.
It also was Burchfield’s first home win at Darby and his 200th career victory after earning 168 wins in 17 seasons at Hartley and 31 wins in five seasons at Centerburg.
“I’m sure proud with how our kids played,” Burchfield said. “They put in a great week. We needed good things to happen for our program and for our team.”
Darby (1-1) was paced by its ground game, which rushed for 259 yards. Kohen Kornegay ran for 136 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries, and Braylon Griffith added 84 yards.
The Panthers’ defense allowed just 183 yards and had a key fourth-down stop in the third quarter, leading to the team’s final score.
Logan Krooner helped stop Bradley’s Rashaud Truss on fourth-and-1 from the Jaguars’ 36-yard line.
“We have a bunch of guys who just fly to the ball,” Krooner said. “Burchfield has really helped us improvise and come up with a scheme that really helps us.”
Dylan Santagata and Cedric Holman had interceptions for Darby.
The special teams also shined. Scott VanVranken recovered a squib kick to begin the second half, leading to the go-ahead score, and the Panthers also got a first down on a fake punt late in the game.
Hilliard Bradley fails to overcome mistakes
Bradley coach Mike LoParo was frustrated by the mistakes his team made in dropping to 1-1.
“The amount of mistakes we made was unbelievable, from the special teams blunders to missed alignments to missed assignments to wrong formations,” LoParo said. “ … You learn from your mistakes, you look at the film and you move on.”
Trailing 14-7 in the third quarter and driving for the potential tying score, a Declan O’Neil pass was intercepted by Holman in the end zone.
Truss rushed for 74 yards on nine carries, and O’Neil completed 4 of 12 passes for 73 yards with two interceptions.
–Frank DiRenna
High school sports reporters Frank DiRenna and Dave Purpura can be reached at sports@dispatch.com and at @DispatchPreps on X.
