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Takeaways from Central Ohio's Week 7 high school games

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Takeaways from Central Ohio's Week 7 high school games

Dave Purpura, Frank DiRenna and Scott Gerfen
| Columbus Shipping

The 2024 high school football regular season continued with some great games on Friday night.

We covered Grandview Heights at Worthington Christian, Olentangy Liberty at Upper Arlington (5-1, 1-0) and Westerville North at Westland.

Here are our takeaways from these games:

Upper Arlington shocks Olentangy Liberty with late comeback

Host Upper Arlington pushed aside any heartache caused by overtime losses to Liberty the past two years and turned the tables on the Patriots by scoring the final 15 points, a comeback capped by Alek Diller's 1-yard touchdown -The race was crowned with 58 seconds to go.

Tristan DePhillips added the two-point conversion run for the final score of 31-28.

UA (6-1, 2-0 OCC-Central) quarterback Kyle Cox threw a 15-yard touchdown to Trent Wolpert with 3:50 left to make it 28-23 and after the Golden Bears got within two minutes a turnover on downs. Cox, left, hit Wolpert with a 35-yard pass for the first score at the Liberty 1.

Diller scored on the next play.

“I got the ball in the outside zone and just knew I had to go in,” Diller said. “They held me for a little bit and then the line moved forward, the guys pushed me forward and I got in.”

UA, which had a double-digit lead in the second half against Liberty last year, has won six straight games since its opening loss to defending Division IV champion Cleveland Glenville.

“We talked about finishing all week,” coach Justin Buttermore said. “Our children have shown tremendous toughness. They were brave. We had every chance to believe the game was over and kept working. We got within a point late on and gave ourselves a chance.”

UA defense paves way for late surge

Liberty built a 28-16 lead with two drives of 10 and two more of 14 with 10:06 left, but the final three possessions ended in a three-and-out, a turnover on downs and the end of the game .

The turnover on downs kept the door open for UA.

With two minutes left, Liberty led 28-23 and took the lead on fourth-and-2 at the UA 45. Jake Struck, a lacrosse standout from Ohio State who plays both running back and wide receiver for the Patriots and completed multiple runs for the Wildcat. On Friday night, he was hit a half-yard short of first down by linebackers Jason Milo and James Wilcox as well as the Defensive backs Jake Braun and Noah Gehlert stuffed.

“I kept expecting it to go straight to my stomach,” Wilcox said. “He tried to go straight through our line but we didn’t allow it. We talked about being part of something bigger than ourselves. We had to finish.”

Liberty got to UA's 42 in the final seconds, but a sack ended the game.

However, the defense couldn't quite save its best game until the end.

Zach Corna's interception return for a touchdown immediately followed a 33-yard field goal by Edward Oakley early in the third, bringing UA within 21-16.

Olentangy Liberty suffers another narrow loss

Friday's loss was the second time Liberty blew a late lead this season.

In their other loss, 22-21 at Olentangy Berlin in Week 4, the Patriots led for most of it.

“They made plays and we didn’t,” coach John Sansbury said. “We had a good feeling when we tried in the fourth half. In hindsight, it wasn't the right decision, but I can live with it because we were aggressive and felt like we could get two yards with our line and our running back.

“It hurts, of course, but they made all kinds of plays to finish it. We didn’t respond adequately.”

Andrew Leonard threw for 187 yards and three touchdowns, all to Christian Moulton, and ran for another 103 yards on 18 carries. Moulton, who caught his first touchdown from 35 yards on the game's fourth play, finished the game with 11 catches for 106 yards.

The loss also likely rocks the Division I, Region 3 computer rankings. Liberty led the region entering Friday and UA was fourth.

—Dave Purpura

Ohlinger gives Grandview the edge over Worthington Christian

When Henry Ohlinger sat down with his offensive linemen to talk about Grandview Height's convincing 49-21 win at Worthington Christian, he wasn't ready to take the credit – despite his six touchdowns.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior finished with 334 yards rushing on 32 carries, scoring runs of 8, 39, 20, 2, 20 and 48 yards, keeping the Bobcats undefeated at 7-0.

“We had great O-line blocking for me and tight end and great lead blockers,” Ohlinger said. “They just made it easy for me to make it to the end zone, so kudos to them.”

Grandview, which like Worthington Christian (3-4) plays an independent schedule, scored on its first three possessions to lead 21-0 at halftime and increased the score to 28-0 after Ohlinger led an eight-play, 53-yard drive Yards with a score capped a two-yard touchdown run to start the third quarter.

“My receivers aren't really happy with me right now, but sometimes you just have to sit on your horses,” said coach Jason Peters, whose team completed one pass for 21 yards. “What can I say to Henry?” He ran so hard tonight. The O-line gave him little holes and he made things happen tonight.”

The Bobcats entered Friday ranked first in the Division IV, Region 23 computer standings. They finished 7-4 last season and lost to Newcomerstown in a first-round playoff game.

“It feels great to be 7-0 after last season,” lineman Kody Mason said. “Staying undefeated is the goal.”

Corbin's long kickoff returns lead to Warrior touchdowns

Jacob Corbin's speed shined for Worthington Christian's special teams.

The senior returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 35-14. His long return to the Grandview 31-yard line in the third quarter set up a six-play drive that Luke Hermiz capped with a 2-yard touchdown run.

He was also the leading receiver with five catches for 36 yards for quarterback Thomas Hartings, who completed 13 of 22 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Penalties cost the Bobcats nothing

Perhaps the only mistakes Peters could point to were his team's penalties, which saw the Bobcats rejected nine times for 87 yards.

While these mistakes weren't costly for Grandview, Peters noted they could be even worse in the long run.

“We have to clean this up,” he said. “These are things that can hurt you or cost you the game in tighter ball games.”

−Scott Gerfen

Westland achieves victory over Westerville North with a strong performance

Westland used a solid ground attack and timely defense to defeat Westerville North 34-21 on Friday.

The Cougars secured their first winning season since 2006, improving to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the OCC Capital. Westland is tied for first place in the league with Big Walnut.

Westland led 24-21 at halftime and outscored the Warriors 10-0 in the second half to secure the win. The Cougars never trailed in the game.

Senior quarterback Levi Estep led the win by unofficially rushing for 186 yards on 17 carries and scoring on runs of 17 and 15 yards.

“We call him Tim Tebow,” Westland coach Trent Williamson said of Estep. “It’s Tim Tebow Jr. He’s doing his thing. The players love him, they rally around him. They love the way he plays. He is a leader for us. He’s the man.”

Another highlight for Westland on offense was Jordan Mathews' 44-yard halfback option touchdown pass to Emoni Smith with 7:40 left in the first half.

The Westland defense shut down North in the second half

The Cougars' defense kept North in check in the second half, stopping three scoring threats.

Germere Sanchez's interception in the end zone ended a threat late in the third quarter, his team led 31-21 and North lost the ball on downs on two more occasions.

“Any time you can control the line of scrimmage and win in the trenches, that’s huge,” Williamson said. “It showed our resilience. Previous Westland teams would have collapsed if it was close and these guys just kept fighting. I told them at the beginning of the week that there would be a dog fight, and there was. We’re ahead.”

North coach disappointed with mistakes

North coach Stanley Jackson Sr. was quick to point out that his team's mistakes were a reason for the loss.

“We average three turnovers per game,” Jackson said. “We were able to overcome that in the last few weeks, but it caught up with us. I still think we are the better team, but we turn the ball over too often. That’s a problem for us.”

With his team within striking distance, the Warriors penetrated Westland territory three times in the second half but came away empty-handed.

“They are self-inflicted wounds, no question about it,” Jackson said. “We’re our own worst enemy and it’s frustrating because we’re supposed to be competing for a conference championship and now we’re letting it slip.”

North (4-3, 3-1) scored on big plays as Jonathan Stevens broke free for a 78-yard touchdown and Ronald Jackson connected with Micah Young for a 42-yard touchdown in the first quarter, leading Young to a 95th -yard touchdown scored. Yard kickoff return in the second quarter.

−Frank DiRenna

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