Warriors’ rally comes up short against No. 1 seed

HILLIARD — Trailing 28-7 on the road against a No. 1 seed, Wayne coach Jay Minton knew his team wouldn’t pack it in.

The Warriors’ wild comeback attempt fell short as Hilliard Davidson won 28-21 on Friday night in a Division I, Region 3 quarterfinal.

The game played out more like a matchup of two longtime powerhouse programs than a typical No. 1 vs. No. 8 first-round contest — because that’s exactly what it was.

While Wayne has played in four Division I state championship games since 1999, Hilliard Davidson claimed big-school crowns in 2006 and ’09.

“You know when you’re in the playoffs in the state of Ohio, you better be ready to play teams like this,” Minton said. “Sometimes you’re gonna be successful, sometimes you’re not.”

Minton called the Wildcats’ ground-oriented offense “a machine” and said their film looked just like it did in three previous matchups between the programs — Wayne victories at Welcome Stadium in 2010 and 2015 and a Davidson win in 2013.

They lived up to the hype, rumbling for 378 yards (194 from tailback Jordan Hicks) and controlling the ball for most of the first three quarters.

Senior quarterback Rashad McKee led Wayne to a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including an 18-yarder to Justin Harris with 12 seconds left, but Davidson was able to run out the clock after the Warriors recovered an onside kick before it went the necessary 10 yards.

McKee finished 17-for-21 passing for 287 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 77 yards.

Devin Nelson ran for 118 yards and a touchdown while also catching a 30-yard score in the fourth quarter.

In between the TD catches by Nelson and Harris, Wayne had another drive that ended on downs at the Davidson 10-yard line when Steven Victoria was ruled out of bounds trying to haul in a reverse pass from Cameron Fancher.

Wayne struck first on a 9-yard touchdown run by Nelson with 5:34 left in the first quarter. That capped a 90-yard touchdown drive by the Warriors that came after they recovered a fumble deep in their territory.

The Wildcats responded with a 65-yard scoring drive capped by a Hicks 20-yard run.

After intercepting McKee on the next drive, the Wildcats again fed Hicks extensively en route to the go-ahead score, an 8-yard touchdown run by Hicks.

The Wildcats dominated the third quarter, extending the lead to 28-7.