Weirick’s long TD passes spark North’s win
PICKERINGTON — From a statistical standpoint, Pickerington North quarterback Jimmy Weirick was anything but stellar through the first 26 minutes of an Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division game on Thursday night against Gahanna.
But the 5-foot-11, 180pound senior always seems to find a way, whether it be with his right arm or nimble feet. On this night, he did it with the long ball.
Weirick passed for 315 yards and four touchdowns — three to Ty Wiley — and the Panthers pulled away to beat Gahanna 35-16.
With the Lions mostly opting to drop six defenders in coverage, use two linebackers as spies and rush just three, Weirick improvised and eventually found his favorite target. They connected on touchdown passes of 38, 24 and 27 yards. Chris Scott also had a 55-yard TD reception.
“They did some different things than we saw on film, but we adjusted and found some soft spots in their defense,” said Weirick, who started 7-of-20 passing but completed 8 of his last 11. “I was getting a ton of time to throw and my receivers ran their routes long enough to make plays.”
Wiley, who finished with seven catches for 187 yards, said he was stunned by Gahanna’s defensive plan.
“I really thought they’d double me and make our other guys try to beat them,” Wiley said. “We talked some at halftime and the coaches made the proper adjustments for us to succeed.”
Pickerington North (8-2, 4-1) already had clinched a spot in the Division I playoffs.
Gahanna (6-4, 2-3) will have to wait and see how other contenders fare on Friday.
Except for a spate of early penalties and sloppy play that helped give Gahanna a 13-7 lead, Panthers coach Nate Hillerich was thrilled with the outcome.
“We hit the big plays on offense, but we also kept a very talented group of athletes on the other side from making plays,” he said. “They have a really good quarterback and some ridiculously good receivers, and we shut them down. That’s a real testament to our guys.”
Gahanna quarterback Mike Lowery, who came in with 1,829 yards passing and 19 TDs, completed just 7 of 23 for 117 yards. His two ace receivers, Jerome Buckner and David Miller, both were shut out.
Tyler “Red” Potts returned a Lowery interception 22 yards for a touchdown and freshman defensive end Jack Sawyer made three sacks to pace North’s defense. Ben Johnson also had interception and two tackles for loss.
“I really think Tyler Potts may be the best corner in Ohio,” Hillerich said. “We basically put him out there on their best receiver and told him to do his thing.’’
Tailback Justus Harris rushed for 67 yards and a TD and Kobie Stillwell kicked three field goals for Gahanna, which entered the night sixth in its region.
“You’ve got to decide how you want to try to stop Jimmy,” Lions coach Bruce Ward said. “Do you try to corral him or put pressure on him? Sometimes, it’s name your poison. I thought we covered them OK, but sometimes it’s athletes covering athletes and they hit some big ones on us.”
Jack Foley rushed for 245 yards and two touchdowns as Ready (7-3) built a 21-7 lead by intermission on the way to a non-league triumph over Bexley (0-10) at Fortress Obetz. Foley rumbled in from 11 and 12 yards to make it 14-0 in the second quarter before Donovan Sanders added a 1-yard TD plunge for the Silver Knights. Austin Aiello threw two TD passes for Ready in the second half. The Lions got on the board with a 19-yard scoring strike from Anthony Welsh to Tyler Mitchell in the second quarter.
Upper Arlington has forfeited a 24-19 win over Central Crossing on Oct. 20 for use of an ineligible player, dropping its record to 4-5 and ending its chances of sharing the OCC Central Division championship. Also, Fisher Catholic forfeited wins over Millersport, Grove City Christian, Worthington Christian and Fairfield Christian, dropping its record to 0-9.