Northmor uses ground game, 1 bomb to beat Freddies 28-14
The Freddies jumped to an early advantage, but sixth-seeded Northmor responded to take a 7-6 first-quarter lead and never looked back, defeating 11th-seeded Fredericktown 28-14 in Division VI, Region 23 action.
Ben Mast completed a 23-yard TD pass to Xavier Mullins, less than five minutes in, to give the Freddies a 6-0 lead, but a determined Golden Knights defense and three Max Lower scores followed by a Marcus Cortez bomb-and-run of 74 yards to Andrew Armrose, put the Knights too far ahead for a successful comeback. Lower scored twice in the first half and once in the third quarter, and the Cortez-Armrose connection in the third put the score at 28-7, before Teegan Ruhl fired a 9-yard TD strike to Trevor Jobes to make it 28-14 with 7:37 left.
Northmor controlled the ball and outgained the Freddies 383 to 194, running off 58 plays to 50 for Fredericktown. The Golden Knights won the battle on the ground, 303 yards to 121, with 51 carries to 31 by Fredericktown.
In the air, Mast was 6-for-15 for 60 yards for Fredericktown, and Cortez was 2-for-7 for 80 yards, including the bomb, for Northmor. On the ground, Lower gained 205 yards on 32 attempts for the Golden Knights, and Ruhl carried 12 times for 56 yards for the Freddies.
Northmor takes on No.3-seed West Jefferson on Saturday.
Nelsonville-York’s big plays take down Trojans 42-9
Centerburg controlled the football, but No. 8 Nelsonville-York made the big plays and dominated the first round Division VI, Region 23 game versus No. 9 Centerburg, winning 42-9.
In total yards, the Buckeyes only outgained the Trojans 284-277, but they did it on only 38 snaps, compared with 69 plays from scrimmage to Centerburg. N-Y picked up 247 yards on the ground on only 33 carries to 121 yards on 36 attempts by the Trojans, and the air game saw only five passes (four completions for 37 yards) by the Buckeyes, while Centerburg took to the air 33 times, completing only 13 for 156 yards. Time of possession favored the Trojans, 27:33 to 20:44, but two costly turnovers helped the Buckeyes command the game.
Nelsonville-York took the lead 4 1/2 minutes in on a 60-yard TD run by Hudson Stalder, and two minutes later, made it 14-0 on an interception return by Mahki Williams. After a scoreless second, the Buckeyes made it 28-0 on a 16-yard Stalder run and a blocked punt recovered for a score. The Trojans got on the board with 4:36 left in the third on a 9-yard pass from Jack Gregory to Evan Merklin, but that was all the offense could muster. The Trojans picked up a 2-point safety midway through the fourth quarter on a blocked punt, but at that point the score was 42-9 and defenses held the rest of the game
Gregory was 13 of 33 for 156 yards passing, with one touchdown and two interceptions, Merklin caught five passes for 76 yards and a TD, and Tyler Johnson ran for 126 yards on 26 carries to lead Centerburg. The defense was led by Tristan Hankinson with three solo tackles and six assists, Jarred Rings with two solos and six assists and Tanner Holt with a solo and seven assists
No shootout this time as Newark Christian tops Danville 34-16
Danville was seeded 16th and took on No. 1-seed Newark Catholic in Division VII, Region 27 playoff action. When the two schools hooked up in 2012, the Green Wave won a shootout, 48-46. This time, the outcome was rarely in doubt. The Green Wave stopped the Blue Devils’ ground game, holding rushers to 69 yards on 30 carries, and less than two minutes into the game, Cole Carter pitched a 25-yard strike to Anthony Dry for a 7-0 lead. On the next possession, a turnover by Danville on an interception was followed by a 74-yard touchdown run from Mason Hackett to make it 14-0 Newark.
With the halftime score 27-0 in favor of Newark, the Devils came out fighting in the second half and scored midway through the third on a 26-yard pass from Max Payne to Kaiden Colopy. A 2-point conversion made it 27-8, but another score by Newark put the game out of reach.
The never-say-die Blue Devils did patch together a 19-play drive in the fourth, culminating with a 3-yard score by Payne to finish the scoring at 34-16.
Payne completed 19 of 25 passes for 153 yards with one TD and two interceptions, and the running game was stifled with Payne held to 25 yards on 14 carries and Deion Parker to 39 on 12 carries. Colopy caught eight passes for 64 yards and a TD, and Bryer Boeshart hauled down five passes for 45 yards.
East Knox cruises to dominating 41-13 rout of Eastern
No. 4 seed East Knox is 10-2, with a five-game winning streak, and heads into the second round of the Division VII, Region 27 playoffs after knocking off No. 13-seed Reedsville Eastern, 41-13.
The Bulldogs raced to a 20-0 first quarter lead, were up 34-0 at the half and took a 41-0 advantage into the fourth quarter, before settling for the 41-13 final score.
East Knox started the romp on a 16-yard scamper and dive by Shane Knepp about four minutes after the kickoff. Knepp scored again from the other side of the ball on the next possession. The senior intercepted a Brady Yonker pass and made it a pick-six, running 65 yards to the end zone. Just before the end of the first quarter, EK made it 20-0 on a Cole Delaughder run from the 10, after he put the Bulldogs into the red zone with a 35-yard sprint.
A long drive of 95 yards, paid off on a 27-yard pass from Peyton Lester to Delaughder and a 30-yard pass from Lester to Knepp following a mishandled punt snap, made it 34-0 at halftime.
A running clock in the second half limited the damage, and after A 6-yard score by Delaughder made it 41-0, EK played its subs and Eastern hit the end zone twice to make it 41-13.
East Knox finished with 315 total yards Saturday to Eastern’s 232. The Bulldogs gained 184 rushing and 131 through the air.
Lester was 10-for-15 for 131 yards and two touchdowns to direct the offense. Delaughder gained 103 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns, and Knepp caught four passes for 58 yards and three TDs.
East Knox will face the Trimble Tomcats in the second round on Saturday.
