By Ben Stroup
While Hilliard Davidson ran up and down the field, Liberty couldn’t run much at all, failing to get anything going en route to a tough 26-0 OCC-Central Division setback Friday in Hilliard.
Ryan Royer rushed for 144 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the second putting his Wildcats up 19-0 with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.
Davidson (7-1, 5-0 OCC), which threw just one pass in the game — a 40-yard strike from quarterback Jack Kline to Nathan Rose — outgained Liberty (6-2, 3-2 OCC) 215-7 on the ground.
Backup QB Corbin Rapier got the start for the Patriots, completing 11 of his 22 passes for 143 yards and an interception. Ben Rinsma was his top target, finishing with four grabs for 75 yards.
Hayes 34, Mount Vernon 29
The Pacers ran wild Friday, outgaining the host Yellow Jackets 379-39 on the ground on the way to a 34-29 OCC-Capital Division win in Mount Vernon.
Quarterback Cullen Moore and Ethan Tucky combined for most of the damage. Moore finished with a season-high 211 rushing yards and three TDs while Tucky had another 98 yards in the win.
Hayes (4-4, 2-3 OCC) was on the offensive from the start, taking a 7-0 first-quarter lead when Moore found Derrick Buford for his lone passing score of the night — a 39-yard TD strike.
Moore powered in from a yard out to make it 14-3 early in the second, then scored on a 37-yard run to make it a 21-11 game before the break.
Sean Gliebe made it 28-17 with a one-yard TD run early in the fourth and Moore capped the Hayes scoring summary with a 36-yard TD run to put his team up 34-23 late.
Orange 27, Franklin Heights 20
No matter what the Falcons threw at them, the Pioneers had an answer on the way to a solid 27-20 OCC-Capital Division win Friday in Lewis Center.
After playing from behind all night long, Orange (2-6, 2-3 OCC) evened things at 20 when quarterback J.D. Dayhuff scrambled into the end zone from seven yards out early in the fourth.
After a stop on the defensive end, Tyler Lichter capped what proved to be the game-winning drive with a one-yard TD run, giving the Pioneers their first lead of the game at the 4:47 mark of the fourth.
Dayhuff completed six of his eight passes for 76 yards while Lichter finished with 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground.
River Valley 6, Buckeye Valley 3
On a night when scoring was at a premium, Bailey Cole’s 16-yard TD grab midway through the second proved to be more than enough as the Vikings knocked off the visiting Barons 6-3 in MOAC Red Division action Friday night.
Sam Scharff put Buckeye Valley on the board with a 21-yard field goal eight seconds before halftime, but the Barons struggled to move the ball the rest of the way.
BV (4-4, 3-2 MOAC) finished with just 93 yards of offense, 61 yards rushing and 32 more through the air, to offset what was a strong showing from the defense.
New Albany 29, Big Walnut 7
Evan Garcia scored a play after the Golden Eagle (2-6, 1-4 OCC) defense recovered a fumble at the two-yard line late in the fourth, but the offense didn’t manage much of anything else as New Albany cruised to a 29-7 OCC-Capital Division win Friday in Sunbury.
Brandon DeHass scored three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving, to lead the New Albany offense.
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Follow Ben Stroup on Twitter @delgazette_ben.
