Sam Uhlenhake struts into the endzone to increase the Braves’ margin to 21-10 against some scrappy Celts. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Gapen)
After losing its season opener, Olentangy has reeled off eight straight wins and now will face Olentangy Berlin for the OCC Cardinal title after escaping upset-minded Dublin Jerome 42-34.
Lewis Center, OH – Throughout most of what has ballooned into an eight-game winning streak, Olentangy has leaned on a big-play defense which has posted four shutouts to put it in position to battle for the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division championship.
Upset-minded Dublin Jerome produced 476 yards of offense on Friday, but the host Braves forced four turnovers and responded with 411 yards on offense while holding off a late rally to win 42-34.
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The win improves Olentangy’s record to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the league and sets it on a collision course for Cardinal Friday at Olentangy Berlin (7-2, 4-0).
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“Throughout the season, our defense has been balling out, so it’s good to know this week that we passed it all over the place,” Braves junior quarterback Luke Chilicki said. “We had a lot of connections and big passes. I was happy with our performance. I think we’ve progressed really well. At the start of the season, we were kind of timid and scared of playing, but as the season has gone on, we’re getting better, and our offensive line has been stepping up 100 percent.”
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Luke Chilicki threw for 4 TD’s in a back and forth game against Dublin Jerome setting up a battle with Berlin in Week 10.
Chilicki connected on nine of his first 10 pass attempts and wound up 13-for-21 passing for 254 yards and four touchdowns, with two touchdowns apiece going to senior wide receivers Sam Uhlenhake and Jackson Wiley.
“Our defense was a bend-but-don’t-beak (unit), and they hit some big plays,” coach Wade Bartholomew said. “(Jerome) quarterback (Nolan Peoples) is really good. My quarterback played extremely well, and we were able to do a little bit of both (running and passing) to control the game. In the second half, he had to kind of take over, and he’s grown up a lot, which is great. I’m proud of our kids.”
Jerome, which dropped to 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the OCC-Cardinal but has lost four games total by two touchdowns or less, fell behind 7-0 when Chilicki hit Uhlenhake for a 45-yard touchdown to conclude the game’s opening drive. The Celtics marched to the Olentangy 20 on the ensuing drive but fumbled it away, with Daniel Stephens falling on it.
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The Braves then made it 14-0 on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Chilicki to Wiley late in the first quarter, but Peoples connected with sophomore wide receiver Jack Kacherski for an 11-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.
A 33-yard TD pass from Chilicki to Uhlenhake gave the Braves a 21-10 advantage, and Olentangy led 21-13 at halftime.
Olentangy’s Jet Cornelius breaks up a pass intended for Marty Giannantonio.
On the second play of the third quarter, Olentangy junior Liam Ferguson forced a fumble that was picked up by senior teammate Cooper Tracy at the Jerome 17, setting up a 3-yard touchdown run by junior running back Andrew Wilber with 8:50 to go in the third quarter.
“We had to be accountable and selfless, and be aggressive,” said Tracy, who later added an interception. “We showed what we could do.”
Olentangy junior Kaden Gebhardt intercepted a pass from Peoples to end Jerome’s next possession, and Chilicki connected with Wiley for a 21-yard touchdown on the next play to make it 35-13 midway through the third quarter.
“There were some positives, but defensively we didn’t get enough stops, and when you turn the ball over four times, you’re not going to win against good teams,” said Jerome coach Brett Glass, whose team has clinched a playoff berth in Division I, Region 2 but likely will open the postseason on the road.
“I’m proud of my kids fight. We were down a lot and just kept plugging away. There were a couple games where we’ve been outmatched and didn’t play very well and got beat, and last week it was some other mistakes, but we’ve just got to get better and get more stops. We’ve gotten a lot better and we’ve got young kids, so we’re going to continue to get better.”
Joey Slates looks for some running room around the edge.
Peoples, who threw touchdowns of 31 yards to Matty Giannantonio and 20 yards to Kacherski in the third quarter, finished 26-for-43 passing for 391 yards. Giannantonio had six catches for 124 yards and junior running back Joey Slates added 50 yards rushing on 15 carries for the Celtics.
Uhlenhake had four catches for 102 yards and Wiley – son of former Ohio State and NFL running back Michael Wiley – had seven receptions for 123 yards for the Braves, who will try to snap a three-game losing streak against Berlin.
“When you get the schedule at the beginning of the year, that’s one you circle,” Bartholomew said. “We’ve kept it in our minds the whole season, but we knew we had to get to this point to make it even bigger than it normally is. Any Olentangy rivalry game is a big game, but now that it’s for the league title, it just adds a little bit of juice to it.”
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