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Westerville North shocks South, 14-10
by Dave Biddle, Assistant Editor
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The “undercard” turned into a thrilling heavyweight bout.
Westerville North upset rival Westerville South, 14-10, in the opening game of the Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge Friday at Columbus Crew Stadium.
The play of the game was a 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown by North’s Travis Campbell on the final play of the first half. It gave North a 14-10 lead and the Warriors defense held tough in the second half.
North knew it was the underdog and used that to its advantage.
“We’ve been beaten soundly the last couple years,” North head coach Chad Williams said. “And there was all the talk this year about, ‘We don’t stand a chance.’ I mean, we had kids in our own school saying, ‘You don’t stand a chance; you’re going to get beat.’ That’s how bad it was. We kind of closed our ranks this week and pulled together as a team and just tried to believe that we would win.
“These guys have watched film of some of the state championship teams and we’re trying to get there as far as our intensity and toughness. We had some drives tonight where we showed that toughness and intensity.”
Senior tailback Marlo Davis led North (2-1) with 22 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Junior quarterback Terry Tyree added 49 yards on 14 totes. Tyree was 0 of 1 through the air.
South (2-1) junior quarterback Rocco Pentello turned in a big evening. He was 11 of 19 passing for 150 yards and one interception. He also rushed 14 times for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Senior tailback Elijah Griffin also had a quality game for the Wildcats with 20 carries for 91 yards.
North was coming off a disappointing 26-11 week two loss against Columbus Mifflin. But Williams thinks that defeat helped his team against South.
“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “Everyone says, ‘What a demoralizing loss last week – how will you ever recover from that?’ But we felt we played pretty good defense last week. We turned the ball over five times and we learned a little bit about our offense.”
It’s a bit amazing that North could defeat a team like South without completing a pass.
“Our first couple games we were a little more pass-oriented,” Williams said in the understatement of the night.
As for the big touchdown return at the end of the first half, Williams could only smile.
“Yeah, that play we drew up right at the end of the half and it worked,” he said with a laugh.
Williams could not say enough about his defense. It kept the Warriors in the game.
“I think the thing that has been lacking from our program the last two years is that attention to detail and assignment football,” Williams said. “We talk about it 20 times a day about playing your assignments This group has really bought into that and it’s showing.
“We talked all week about what a great offense they are. And I still believe they are one of the top offenses in central Ohio. We knew that they were going to get their yards. We just wanted to limit the big plays.”
Campbell made big plays all evening, but none bigger than his fumble return for a score.
“I can’t even describe it,” Campbell said. “I thought it was going to get called back – I thought somebody clipped somebody. It was a perfect bounce. I usually get terrible bounces on fumbles.”
Campbell also broke up a Pentello pass in the endzone on South’s final offensive play of the night. The play came on a 4<SUP>th</SUP>-and-goal with just seconds left in the game.
“I knew they were going to throw it,” Campbell said. “They weren’t going to run the ball from the 7 and I was thinking in my mind, ‘Safety drills.’ That’s what we did all summer. The receiver came and I just saw Rocco turn and throw it and I just reached over just like we did in drills all summer.”
South head coach Rocky Pentello didn’t even know that Campbell’s touchdown was a fumble return.
“I thought it was a lateral,” Pentello said. “It was a fumble? That’s just great.”
South was surprised by North’s offensive game plan.
“Give them credit,” Pentello said. “They wanted to control the clock and shorten the game and that’s what they did. They went power on us and we haven’t seen that look from them. They usually spread it out. Tonight, they only threw it once and came right at us.
“I would like to see them go to that kind of a ball-controlled game down 10-7. But it worked out for them. Give them the credit.”
South began the game with an impressive 75-yard drive, capped by a 19-yard touchdown run by Pentello.
On the TD scamper, he faked a handoff to Griffin, then found a big hole off right tackle. With 6:30 left in the first half, the Wildcats were staked to a 7-0 lead.
But North responded with a long, clock-chewing drive of its own. The Warriors drove 67 yards, culminating with a 6-yard touchdown run by Davis.
With 11:11 remaining in the second quarter, the score was deadlocked a 7-7.
South fumbled away the ball on the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball to North at the Wildcats’ 25-yard-line.
However, the Warriors could not cash in. Following a three-and-out, John Wasmund’s 40-yard field goal attempt had plenty of leg, but missed wide.
On South’s next possession, North’s David August blocked a punt that was recovered by the Warriors at the South 45.
But, again, North could not capitalize on the opportunity. Its offense went three-and-out and had to punt the ball right back to the Wildcats.
South took the ball at its 20 with 3:42 remaining in the half.
Pentello promptly completed four straight passes (he had just one completion in the game prior to the drive) which eventually gave the Wildcats a first-and-goal at the 6. However, the drive stalled there and the Wildcats had to settle for a 19-yard Eric Gerhart field goal.
With 2.5 seconds left in the half, South led 10-7.
And it appeared as though that would be the halftime score. But as Lee Corso might say to Herbstreit: “Not so fast my friend.”
Gerhart squibbed the kickoff, which was returned by North’s Josh Feasel. Just as time expired in the half, Feasel was popped by South’s Brian Calland and fumbled. The ball was picked up by North’s Campbell who returned it for a 55-yard touchdown.
The improbable play gave North a 14-10 lead at the break.
The second have featured great defense and not much offensive production from both sides.
Pentello nearly led South on a winning drive – the Wildcats drove nearly the length of the field in the final three minutes, but came up empty inside the 10.
North now leads the all-time series 12-10 in what is arguably the biggest rivalry in central Ohio.
South 7 3 0 0 10
North 0 14 0 0 14
South-Pentello 19 run (Gerhart kick)
North-Davis 6 run (Wasmund kick)
South-Gerhart 19 field goal
North-Campbell 55 fumble return (Wasmund kick)
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... Hes accurate, throws hard, and is pretty scramble happy. Again, on the field he looks a lot shorter than 6 foot and im not sure how much taller he'll get.
