Darby overcomes injuries for key win
The official logo on the sides of Hilliard Darby helmets has the overlapped letters “H” and “D,” but after 10 weeks of a painful season, a pair of crutches would be more like it.
The brackets won’t be revealed until Sunday, but Panthers might have nailed down the eighth and final playoff spot in their Division I region despite playing without eight starters Friday night in their final regular-season game.
Ian Coverstone returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, and tailback Canyon Uphouse and quarterback Jack Stultz ran for touchdowns in a 22-3 victory over Dublin Scioto before a sparse crowd at Scioto.
“I’m so proud of them because we faced a lot of adversity — we just kept fighting,’’ Panthers coach John Santagata said.
The injury list grew longer with Coverstone and Uphouse leaving the game because of injuries. Coverstone had an arm in a sling. Kicker Blake Sawicki was injured playing in a soccer game on Thursday and Jack Gearhiser took his place.
“I honestly have no idea about the (playoff computer) points,’’ running back Grant Hollinger said, “but we’re just overcoming the injuries. We just have heart. We have a group of guys that just play so hard. We gave it all we had.’’
According to Joe Eitel, whose website tracks playoff computer points, Darby (7-3) is in eighth place with 20.3500 points, with Reynoldsburg in ninth (18.6778) and Springfield in 10th (17.9500)
The Panthers received help when Kettering Fairmont emerged with a 7-3 victory over Springfield, which had been in eighth place.
“There are so many variables to determine whether we get in or not, but we think it’s a possibility that we’ll get in,’’ Santagata said.
Scioto took a 3-0 lead by driving 74 yards on 17 plays on the first possession of the game for a 24-yard field goal by Griffin. The Irish converted two fourth downs.
It took 11 seconds for momentum to swing when Coverstone found a seam in the blocking wedge near the 20-yard line and returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.
Darby made it 14-3 when Uphouse capped a 65-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run on a misdirection play through the left side of the line with 1:11 remaining in the second quarter.
Scioto (5-5) got into a deeper hole when Tommy Clark recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Stultz scored three plays later from 1 yard out. Creed Galko caught a two-point conversion pass.
“We got the win — we played Darby football — and that was the most important thing,’’ Stultz said. “That’s the thing about this team, no matter how many people we lose to injuries we’re not going to quit.’’
Completed 13 of 28 passes for 257 yards and five touchdowns in the win over Watkins Memorial. Completed 10 of 20 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to Granville.
Had eight receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Northland.
Had six receptions for 142 yards in a 24-7 win over Worthington Kilbourne.
Had eight receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown in a 35-31 win over Westerville Central.
Had three receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown in a 35-7 win over Delaware.