Marysville gets victory in ‘a heavyweight fight’
Editor’s note: Each week, we will highlight some of the top games from Friday night’s high school football matchups. For recaps of all the games, go to Dispatch.com.
Marysville was focused on the “next play,” and that play ended up making the difference.
Erryl Will recovered a fumbled exchange by Hilliard Darby, securing the host Monarchs’ 21-14 overtime win to open Occ-cardinal Division play on Friday.
“We’ve said, ‘Next play,’ all week because we knew it was going to be a 48minute game,” Marysville coach Brent Johnson said. “I have so much respect for (Darby). They’re well-coached and a class act and they play hard. When it went into overtime, I told our guys, ‘Next play,’ and our kids are buying into that.”
Colton Powers scored the only touchdown in overtime on a 2-yard run as the Monarchs improved to 5-0.
“That was a heavyweight fight between two really good programs right now,” Johnson said. “Our defense has played so well this year and when we needed them they showed up. Our offense scored when they had to.”
Darby has lost two consecutive games to fall to 4-2.
With his team trailing 14-0, Darby quarterback Blake Horvath scored two touchdowns in the third quarter after being held to 19 yards rushing in the first half.
He finished with 130 yards on 24 carries, and James Hakes added 60 yards on 14 carries.
Jakob Williams recovered a muffed punt after Darby went three-and-out on its first possession of the second half, and the Panthers turned the game from there.
Griffin Johnson ran for two touchdowns in the first half to stake the Monarchs to a 14-0 lead. He ended up with 115 yards on 15 carries, and Gabe Powers added 76 yards on 10 carries and two catches for 33 yards.
Darby fumbled three times, losing two, and Marysville had four fumbles with two lost.
—Michael Rich
Olentangy Berlin 28, Olentangy 21 Berlin sophomore quarterback Harrison Brewster’s 70-yard touchdown run with 3:34 left decided an Occ-cardinal Division matchup with visiting Olentangy, which two plays earlier had tied the score at 21 on Mike Parsio’s 1-yard run.
The Bears’ defense helped close out the victory — which moved Berlin to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the Occ-cardinal — by stopping Olentangy (2-4, 0-1) on fourth-and-9 at the Braves’ 45-yard line with 2:08 left.
Brewster rushed for 143 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries and completed five of six passes for 60 yards.
Olentangy quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer completed 24 of 37 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns in leading time-consuming scoring drives.
—Scott Gerfen