Among the many lessonsJay Sharrett has taught the members of the Pickerington Central football program is moments of celebrationneed to be savored for as long as possible.
As the Tigers were walking off the field following their 27-7 victory over Pickerington North on Nov. 12 in a Division I, Region 3 semifinal at White Field in Newark, their 19th-year coachwas told their next opponent would be undefeated Upper Arlington.
“Well, thanks, I enjoyed thisfortwo minutes,” Sharrett said, sarcastically.
The Tigers will play for theregional championship for the sixth consecutive season, but here’s a fun fact: The last central Ohio team to defeat themin the postseason was UA.
The Golden Bears have gone through two coaching changesand had three seasons of not making the playoffs since they upsetseventh-seededCentral 27-17as theNo. 10 seedin the first round of the Region 2 playoffs in 2015, when the top16 teams in a 37-team region qualified for the postseason.
The other central Ohio programs still playingare Marysville in Division I, Region 2;Granville in Division III, Region 11;Bloom-Carroll in Division IV, Region 15;Harvest Prep in Division V, Region 19;West Jefferson in Division VI, Region 23; and Newark Catholic in Division VII, Region 27.
The regional finals are Nov. 19 for Divisions I-IV and Nov. 20 for Divisions V-VII.
Here are fivethings we learned fromthe regional semifinals:
1.Upper Arlington hasdominated regardless of the opponent or stage.
Of the teams theBears have beaten on their way to a 13-0 record, onlyfourwon one playoff game and onlytwofinished with a winning record.
That being said, UA’s ability to quickly pull away from opponentscan’t be overlooked.
In the top-seeded Bears’ 41-10 win over fourth-seeded and previously unbeaten New Albany in a regional semifinal Nov. 12, they scored four touchdowns in the second quarterto post their 12th consecutive win of at least 19 points.
Seemingly everyone knows about senior running back Carson Gresock, but UA also has shown it can beat teams in other ways.Against New Albany, senior quarterback Simon Monnin threw for 169 yards and five touchdowns.
2.Pickerington Central’s defense remains second to none in its pursuit of another title.
Thesecond-seededTigers might be about to face their biggest challenge in UA, but they look ready defensively.
Central dominated North, avenging a13-10 overtime loss Sept. 10 and improving to 12-1 while limiting the Panthers to one pass completion for 0 yards and60 yards of total offense.
The Tigers’ defense gets it done with C.J. Doggette, Tyler Gillison and Dakari Frazier leading what might bethe best front sevenin the state, along witha secondary that includes five-star recruit and recent Ohio State commit Sonny Styles.
The biggest question mark for Central is what might happen if itfalls behind early, similarly to what took place in last year’s state championship game– a 44-3 loss toCincinnati St. Xavier. The Tigers havethrown for just eight touchdowns thisseason.
3.Marysville’s special season continues to move forward mostly unabated.
Since beating Hilliard Darby 21-14 in overtime Sept. 24, theMonarchshave defeated their last seven opponents by at least 22 points and are 12-0 for the first time since reaching a state semifinal in 2000.
Marysville, thetop seedin Region 2,beat up on fourth-seeded Toledo Whitmer 49-14 on Nov. 12 as senior Gabe Powers, an Ohio State commit as a linebacker, rushed for 135 yards and two touchdownsand his junior brother, Colton Powers, ran for206 yards and three scores. The Monarchsfinished with 430 yards rushing.
Their next challenge is second-seeded Springfield, last year’s Region 2 champion. The Wildcats are11-1and have posted sixshutouts, includinga 13-0 win over sixth-seeded Findlay in a regional semifinal Nov. 12.
4.Harvest Prephas hit its stride after a challenging regular season.
The second-seeded Warriors were in control from the outset in a 41-0 victory over sixth-seeded Columbus Academy in a Region 19semifinalNov. 13, with senior running back Jaylen Jennings looking like he was in midseason form after missing half of the regular season with injury.
Harvest Prep, which is 9-2, will be looking for its third regional championship – the first two came in Division VII – when it takes onfifth-seededWheelersburg, which is 10-3.
The Warriors will do so with all of their weapons in order: In addition toJennings,who rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings,Harvest Prepis far from one-dimensional thanks to the passing of junior quarterback Aidan Rogers.
The next team Harvest Prep faces is a hot one, though, as the Pirates upset top-seeded and defending regional champion Ironton 17-14 on Nov. 13.
5.Central Ohio’s other playoff teams all have reasons to beoptimistic.
Bloom-Carroll in Region 15 and Newark Catholic in Region 27 are defending regional champions that might be even better this fall, with thetop-seededBulldogs taking a 13-0 record into their regional final againstsecond-seededSt. Clairsville (12-1)and the top-seeded Green Wave at 12-1 as it prepares to faceNo. 3Shadyside (12-1).
InRegion 23, third-seeded West Jefferson easily got past second-seeded Proctorville Fairland 33-8 on Nov. 13 to improveto 12-1 and will face top-seeded Beverly Fort Frye, which is 11-1 and the defending regional champion.
Top-seeded Granville continues to find a way in Region 11, getting by fourth-seeded London 15-14 on Nov. 12 to improve to 12-0. The Blue Aces’ next challenge is sixth-seeded Mount Orab Western Brown, which is 11-2and averages 50.1 pointsas junior quarterback Drew Novak has 52 touchdown passes.
julrey@thisweeknews.com
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