Wayne runs over Centerville to grab share of GWOC title
HUBER HEIGHTS — When Wayne offensive line coach Cole Newsome saw the rain start Friday, it made him happy. What better way to win a share of the conference championship.
“Fellas, this is football weather — this is an O line’s dream,” he told his group. “When it’s raining like this, you’ve got to rely on the run heavy and just dominate up front.”
And that’s what tackles Aamil Wagner and Josh Padilla, center Evan Tengesdahl and guards MJ Norvell Jr. and Brock Penrod did for quarterback Bryan Kinley and running back Jordan Ward.
Kinley and Ward scored three touchdowns each and the Warriors rushed for 456 yards to bury Centerville 42-21 and win a share of the Greater Western Ohio Conference crown for the first time since 2016.
“First I want to give honor to God and then to our coaches and players,” Wayne coach Roosevelt Mukes said after winning his first GWOC title. “I’m just proud of all those guys … I appreciate them. This isn’t about me. This is about Wayne High School, the football program and the tradition that’s here that all of these guys believe in.”
The Warriors (8-2, 6-1) share the title with Springfield, which defeated Northmont 47-0 Friday. Not until Springfield was upset last week by Miamisburg did Wayne or Centerville (7-3, 5-2) expect to have the chance to share the title.
“It pumped our whole entire team up,” Padilla said. “It raised our intensity in practice to a top-notch level.”
Both Wayne and Centerville will host Division I, Region 2 playoff games
Friday. The OHSAA will announce the pairings today, but according to projections on joeeitel.com it appears Wayne will be the No. 3 seed and host Dublin Coffman (3-7). Centerville will likely be the No. 5 seed and host Springboro (5-4). The Elks defeated the Panthers 45-26 this season.
Kinley scored on an 80-yard run and totaled 214 of his 221 yards in the first half as the Warriors built a 28-14 lead.
“We’ve got probably the best running game in the state, so we just showcased that tonight,” Kinley said.
Ward rushed 12 times in the second half to finish with 184 yards on 18 carries and scored on runs of 58 and 48 yards.
“They’ve got a lot of weapons and block well and they run hard,” Centerville coach Brent Ullery said. “They played well tonight.”
Included in the team effort were tight end Elijah Brown and the wide receivers. The
line kept the chains moving, but it was the receivers blocking downfield that helped Kinley, who also had runs of 29, 32 and 34 yards, and Ward break big plays.
“The credit tonight goes to the wide receivers,” Newsome said. “They didn’t get the ball thrown at them much, and they blocked their tail off. All those long touchdowns were set up by those receivers blocking. That’s who I’m most proud of tonight.”
The Warriors ran the ball 41 times for an average of 11.1 yards a carry. Kinley completed two passes in three attempts for minus-3 yards.
“It’s great being able to do what we’re supposed to be doing and just running the ball every single play is just great,” Padilla said.
The line is as celebrated as any in the state and averages 268 pounds. Wagner, a senior, is a top-150 four-star recruit with many offers, including Ohio State, Penn
State, Notre Dame and Kentucky. Padilla is a four-star junior with Ohio State and Penn State offers among others. Tengesdahl is a three-star junior whose offers include Cincinnati and West Virginia.
“We’ve got the best O line in the state,” Kinley said. “They’re going to make that block and make it easy for you. Just make the right read and just go.”
Centerville traded scores early until a fumble changed the momentum and led to Wayne taking a 28-14 halftime lead. Chase Harrison threw touchdown passes of 15 and 5 yards to Cam Smith and totaled 136 passing yards. Emable Wakilongo rushed 33 times for 191 yards and scored in the final minute.
“We didn’t finish very well tonight — three trips to the red zone and no points,” Ullery said. “We got the ball to start the half and didn’t score, and we didn’t help ourselves at all in the second half.”