Fumble or incomplete pass? Johnny DiBlasio’s arm appears to clearly come forward with the ball under his control but the play was ruled a fumble, creating a brutal momentum shift late in the first half. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
A controversial call in the final minute of the first half led to two TDs in a game-changing sequence and Olentangy Liberty dominated in all phases the rest of the way for a key OCC Central win.
Powell, OH – The conversation for bragging rights as the top Division I team in central Ohio has gone like an Olympic ping pong match.
In the preseason, Gahanna and Pickerington North were regarded as the teams to beat. Along the course of more than two months, Grove City, Groveport, Westland, Olentangy Orange, Olentangy, Olentangy Berlin, Upper Arlington and Pickerington Central all have made convincing cases at one time or another for the mythical but largely meaningless title. Entering Week 9, four area teams were 7-1 and eight sat at 6-2.
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Two of those two-loss teams certainly in the conversation, Olentangy Liberty and Hilliard Davidson, met in a key Ohio Capital Conference Central Division game Friday with hopes of staying alive for in the conference race and for playoff positioning. Liberty entered the night second behind rival Orange in Region 3 and Davidson fifth in Region 2.
Veteran central Ohio columnist Steve Blackledge writes the OCC and sports at large for Press Pros.
Anyone who watched Liberty whip visiting Davidson 32-7 on Senior Night would agree that the senior-laded Patriots – rock solid in all three phases – have as good a chance of anybody to reach the final four for the fourth time.
“We’re closing with two playoff-type games, and we feel like it’s important for us to go in with some momentum and confidence,” Liberty second-year coach John Sansbury said. “We feel really good about the way we played tonight, but we’ve got another big one next week (at Orange) with a lot riding on the outcome.”
On paper, this had all the makings of a tight battle between two physical teams. It turned dramatically in a span of just 52 seconds.
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Trailing 7-0 with 59 seconds left in the first half, Davidson was trying to get on the board. Quarterback Johnny DiBlasio, under heavy pressure, threw the ball away. It was obvious to anyone not wearing a black-and-white striped shirt that DiBlasio’s arm was going forward, but, alas, the officials gathered for a short conference and ruled it a fumble at the Wildcats 35.
Zach Cunningham dislodges the ball from Paul Knapke on a return, leading to a second Liberty score in a span of 52 seconds.
It took four plays for Liberty quarterback Andrew Leonard to connect with Christian Moulton on an 18-yard touchdown pass. The extra point snap skipped but holder Tyler Thornton alertly picked up the ball and dove at the pylon for a two-point conversion.
Davidson then fumbled the ensuing kickoff return and Braxton Winks recovered.
Two plays later, Leonard hit Moulton again on a 14-yard score with seven seconds left and Liberty took a 22-0 lead to the locker room.
“That sequence obviously was the difference in the game,” Sansbury said. “To see the momentum swing like that so quickly was just amazing. I’m still trying to figure out what happened.”
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Liberty (7-2, 3-1) continued the siege after halftime, dominating the line of scrimmage on a long drive before settling for a 27-yard field goal by Sean Hendricks. Leonard hit Jonah Lloyd on a 34-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter to make it 32-0, inducing a rolling clock. His first TD toss went to Swiss army knife Jake Struck.
Jake Struck escapes what appears to have been a sure tackle, gobbling up some extra yardage against Davidson.
Davidson (6-3, 2-2) mustered little until Keevin Gibbon scored from four yards out on a fourth down play in the final minute of the game.
Leonard completed 14 of 23 passes for 167 yards and four TDs to pace the balanced Patriots. The third-year starting senior has 23 TDs (12 to Moulton) and just three interceptions and also has run for three scores.
“It felt good to win our last home game and to dominate like that against a really good opponent,” Leonard said. “We were able to turn their mistakes into our advantage. It was a tight first half, but we finally started clicking and our defense and special teams really stepped up.”
While Davidson did pick up 224 total yards, four turnovers sealed its doom. Blitzing all night long, Liberty recorded 11 plays of minus-yardage.
“From watching films, we knew they were very physical and we had to beat them in the trenches,” Patriots senior linebacker Austin Stamp said. “Our first priority was to stop the run with an emphasis on swarming to the ball and being fundamentally sound. The momentum swing before halftime was huge. This was a statement win for us.”
Stamp has been the anchor of Liberty’s defense, entering the game with team highs of 60 tackles (7.5 for loss) and seven sacks. Lincoln Gardner, Luke Mulder and Cameron Cole also had big games.
Dayne Schmidt slips the attempted tackle by Antonio Kish, but help was waiting as a very stingy Liberty defense caused 4 turnovers to shut down Davidson’s offense.
Liberty owns quality wins over Olentangy, defending state champion Cleveland Glenville and Gahanna with its lone defeats coming to Olentangy Berlin (22-21) and Upper Arlington (31-28).
“Those tight games just made us better,” Stamp said.
After fumbling the opening kickoff out of bounds at the 2, it was an uphill struggle much of the night for Davidson, which came in scoring 36 points per game and averaging 6.9 yards per carry on the ground.
“That fumble down there at the end of the first half was huge,” Davidson coach Jeremey Scally said. “That was just a bad, bad sequence. They’re obviously very good, but we did not execute fundamental basic stuff you need to win big games, and turning the ball over so many times just killed us.”
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