Late TD pass decisive in Lions’ win
Mike Lowery saw everything fall into place.
The Gahanna quarterback saw his second option, receiver Jerome Buckner, get open Friday night in the fourth quarter against Dublin Coffman, and that was too good to pass up.
Lowery connected with Buckner on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 1:31 remaining to give the visiting Lions a 34-32 victory in a seesaw affair at Coffman Stadium.
“I saw Buck get past their safety and I knew he would get it,” Lowery said. “My first option was David Miller for a first down, but when I saw Buck open I had to go there. He’s our speed man, and I knew he had it.”
Buckner expected to get the ball from Lowery when he broke away from his defender. Overall, he caught eight passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns. Lowery was 24-of-38 passing for 279 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
“It’s a play we talk about all the time,” Buckner said. “We were able to get down there and score after they came out and stopped us in the second half. We had to adjust, and we came out and picked things up.”
The Lions (4-1) led 28-17 midway through the third, but Coffman’s Cam Scott scored his fourth touchdown of the game with 4:47 left to give the Shamrocks a 32-28 advantage. Scott ran for 164 yards on 32 carries to lead Coffman (3-2).
“That’s a great football team, and they came out and stopped us in the third,” Gahanna coach Bruce Ward said. “We made the plays when we needed to, but we have to play smarter.”
Coffman led 3-0 on a 38-yard field goal from Jordan Drye in the first quarter, but the Lions scored three touchdowns in the second for a 21-10 lead at half. Justus Harris scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns, finishing with 102 yards rushing on 18 carries. Lowery also connected with Buckner on scores of 26 and 7 yards.
“They had some playmakers that we just had trouble covering,” Coffman coach Mark Crabtree said. “That’s the game in a nutshell right there.
“They did a good job on us (in the second quarter), and we came out and made some adjustments. We thought we could get things done in the running game and tweaked some things there, but they had the playmakers in the end.”
Miller caught 10 passes for 97 yards as Gahanna had 386 total yards.
Coffman had 342 total yards as quarterback Marcus Ernst was 12 of 21 passing for 145 yards and one interception. Alex Dluzynski was his primary target with three catches for 72 yards. Rushed for 369 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries in a 50-14 win over Rosecrans. Rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in a 42-0 win over Hamilton Township.
Rushed for 216 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries in a 55-23 win over Franklin Heights.
Rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries in a 42-0 win over Circleville. Rushed for 201 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries in a 76-40 win over Africentric.
Completed 24 of 38 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-32 win over Dublin Coffman.
Completed 13 of 25 passes for 258 and two touchdowns in a 49-13 win over Utica. Completed 19 of 25 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown in a 35-34 win over Indian Lake. Completed 11 of 28 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown in a 41-31 win over Westerville Central.
Completed 12 of 19 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns in a 21-14 win over Marysville.