Hayes’ Favour Akih (2) breaks a tackle during the first half of Friday’s OCC showdown against visiting Westerville North.
Ben Stroup | The Gazette
The Delaware Hayes football team got plenty of offensive production, especially in the first half, but Westerville North got even more en route to a 42-30 OCC-Capital Division win Friday night in Delaware.
The Pacers were never out of things, but had to play from behind all night long.
Hayes (3-2, 0-2) made a big play on defense on North’s (3-2, 2-0) first drive as Owen Willis recovered a fumble on a fourth-and-one play from the 13, but found more harder to come by as the game wore on.
After a Pacer three-and-out gave the ball back to the Warriors with great field position near midfield, they found some rhythm. A 10-yard run by quarterback Ronald Jackson moved the ball inside the Pacer 30 and, on the very next play, he scored on a keeper up the middle to break the scoring seal.
John Link put through the extra point to make it a 7-0 game with 3:36 left in the first.
Hayes found some rhythm of its own on its next drive. Quarterback Caleb Rowe, who had one of his best game’s through the air to date — completing 18 of his 29 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns — hooked up with Garrett Brown for a couple nice gains to move the chains and, after a 13-yard run from Favour Akih pushed the ball to the North 30, Rowe set up a first down in the red zone after a nice gain of his own, then scored on a four-yard keeper on the second play of the second quarter.
Chaz Sakala added the PAT to even things at seven.
It was then, with 11:11 left in the second, the game officially became a shootout.
The Warriors promptly answered the Pacers’ TD with a 75-yard scoring strike from Jackson to Kayden Childress on a third-and-five from their own 25 for a 14-7 lead at the 9:47 mark of the second.
After taking over at his own 20, Rowe found Gavin Shears for 14 yards and a first down. A few plays later, though — on third and 11 — he was picked off by Jonathan Stevens trying to squeeze a tight throw into Brown over the middle.
One the first play of the ensuing drive, the Warriors scored again, this time getting a 45-yard TD reception from Micah Young to balloon the lead to 21-7 with 8:48 left in the half.
Hayes answered with a big play of its own, making it a one-score game when Akih scored on a stellar run from 59 yards out. The Problem for the Pacers, though: they couldn’t stop the Warriors when they needed to.
Bilal Tucker made a big tackle for loss to set up a second-and-19 play, but, two plays later, Stevens scored on a 60-yard run to make it 28-14 with 5:10 left in the second. Stevens finished with a game-best 159 yards on the ground.
Hayes got within a score just before halftime — Rowe found Brown for a 28-yard TD on third and 13 t0 make it a 28-21 spread with 1:21 left in the quarter — but couldn’t get closer the rest of the way.
The Pacers got the ball out of the break, but a sack by Alex Witherow on a fourth-and-one play from midfield set North up at the Pacer 40. A few plays later, Jackson scampered in from 32-yards out to make it a 35-21 game with 8:35 left in the third.
Hayes had an answer, but it turned out to be its final one of the night. Rowe hit Gavin Shears to move the chains on a second-and-17 play, picked up another first with his feet and found Caleb Christian for a first down inside the Warrior five-yard line before connecting with Brown for a touchdown to make it 35-28 with 3:02 left in the third.
Jackson and the Warriors had an answer of their own, though, all but sealing the deal with an 83-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive. The TD came on a third-and-12 with 10:04 left in the game.
Hayes got two points closer when an errant snap sailed through the back of the end zone on a punt later in the fourth, but the North defense held from there to smooth out the scoring summary.
Big Walnut 31, Westerville South 28
Nolan Buirley returned a kickoff 93 yards to give the Golden Eagles a third-quarter cushion they parlayed into a thrilling OCC-Capital Division win over the host Wildcats Friday night in Westerville.
Jake Neff hit a 22-yard field goal to balloon the lead to 31-21 before South battled back late.
After a two-yard touchdown run from Evan Andrews tightened things up, the Wildcats (3-2, 1-1) , looking for the go-ahead touchdown, were picked off in the end zone in the final minute to cement the outcome.
Buirley finished with 32 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown to go with his huge play on special teams. BW (4-1, 2-0) quarterback Eli Stumpf had a nice night, too, completing nine of his 12 passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns — one to Owen Pollock and the other to Buirley.
Eli Helton and Neff had the Eagles’ interceptions.
Olentangy Orange 35, Olentangy Berlin 7
The Pioneers ran for more than 200 yards and quarterback Levi Davis had 150 yards with three touchdowns through the air on the way to a statement win over the visiting Bears Friday night in Lewis Center.
Berlin (3-2) answered an 11-yard touchdown run by Davis with a 35-yard TD connection between QB Aiden Eviston and Bryce Rode to even things, 7-7, by the end of the first quarter, but Orange (4-1) scored 28 unanswered points over the course of the final two quarters to seal the deal.
Cohen Weaver led the Pioneers on the ground with 90 yards and a touchdown. Davis was right behind him, though, finishing with 89 yards to go with his score.
Eviston completed 11 of his 22 passes for 88 yards and the touchdown, but also threw a trio of interceptions.
The Orange defense forced five turnovers on the night, including three interceptions by Treyton Schroeder and another by Will Musgrove.
Buckeye Valley 28, Hamilton Township 7
The Baron defense wreaked havoc all night en route to a non-league win over the host Rangers Friday night in Columbus.
Simon Schall, Eli Messick and Hayden Mays all had interceptions while Cam Grout anchored the defense with a game-best 11 tackles, two for losses, and a sack.
Buckeye Valley (3-2) handled its business on the offensive side of the ball, too. Nathan Huss had a trio of touchdown passes — all three to Le’Den Jones — while Malakhi Ross and Sincere Godsey combined for more than 100 yards on the ground, with Godsey chipping in a fourth-quarter touchdown to cement the win.
Olentangy Liberty 42, Dublin Jerome 14
The Patriots used a dominant 21-0 second half to turn a 21-14 halftime lead into a convincing non-league win Friday night in Powell.
Jake Struck made it a two-score game with a 27-yard touchdown run in the third before all but sealing the deal with another TD, this time from 11 yards out, later in the quarter.
Liberty (4-1) used a 35-yard strike from Andrew Leonard to Christian Moulton in the fourth to smooth out the scoring summary.
Leonard completed 14 of his 16 passes for 202 yards and a couple touchdowns while Grayson Davis and Struck finished with 78 and 76 yards rushing, respectively.
Olentangy 33, Westerville Central 0
The Braves, already up 3-0 heading into the second, outscored the host Warhawks 28-0 in the middle two quarters to run away with a non-league win Friday night in Westerville.
A three-yard TD run from CJ Sanna made it 10-0 before Olentangy (4-1) QB Luke Chilicki found Jackson Mangham for a 29-yard touchdown pass and catch to make it a three-score game at the break.
The Braves’ Max Rhodes and Andrew Wilber had touchdown runs in the third to account for the final margin.
