Turner Lachey looks for an open receiver. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Lee Woolery)
Lehman Catholic’s quick wideouts and running backs gashed the Riverside defense for the Cavs’ first playoff win since 2018. QB Turner Lachey threw four TDs and over 300 yards, greatly aided by Evan O’Leary’s shifty moves on screen passes.
Degraff, Ohio –Lehman Catholic’s prayers were answered on All Saints Day as it finally snapped a six-years-long playoff victory drought. The Cavaliers’ speedy playmakers proved too much to cover for the Riverside’s defense. Five different players scored their first five TDs for Lehman as they bounded out to a lead and coasted in the second half to a 46-13 win, the Cavs’ first since 2018.
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“It means a lot, this is a big game for us to get a win in the playoffs and get to play another week,” Lehman Coach Dwane Rowley said. “And obviously with the rivalry, it’s a huge win for the program.”
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Lehman Catholic (9-2) earned the right to play in next week’s second round, on the road against 4th-seeded Ansonia, which won 46-8 against Twin Valley South.
Four weeks ago Riverside (4-7) played Lehman to a two-score loss. But the field was still muddied by the storm system of Hurricane Helene, and the conditions slowed down Lehman’s fast backs and wideouts. There was no such advantage on the flawless turf at Sidney Memorial Stadium, and the speedsters sprinted past would-be tacklers with ease.
The Cavs used screen passes to wide receiver Evan O’Leary, wheel routes to RB Da’Ron Pride, and downfield passing to CJ Olding and Dillon Schmiesing to blow by the Riverside defense. And when all else failed and 3rd & long broke down, QB Turner Lachey would tuck it and move the sticks by himself.
Lehman defense held Riverside in checkformost of the game.
“The screens are a scheme we focus on,” Rowley said. “We just play the numbers game … and get the ball in one of our playmakers’ hands.”
The Pirate defense was like a small-town police department trying to patrol Chicago by itself. While you arrest one guy, five others are committing crimes across town. Or when Riverside played tight to guard the screens to O’Leary, Olding was running deep behind the safeties.
O’Leary hit double-digit receptions and Lachey threw for over 300 yards and four scores.
It didn’t help the Pirates’ cause that Lehman got to dictate the terms of the game from the get-go. Riverside fumbled the opening kickoff, and Lachey scrambled around on 4th & 7 before pinpointing Schmiesing for the inaugural score.
From that point on, the Pirates were sailing into the wind.
“They basically quit right after that,” Lachey said. “We had so much momentum on our side. I almost knew the game was over right there.”
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Both offenses sputtered – consecutive turnovers on downs for the Pirates interlaced with a batted-ball interception hauled in by a Riverside lineman.
Lehman jumpstarted its offense by sticking with what worked until Riverside made them stop: the screen pass to O’Leary, and Riverside never managed to force them to a different scheme..Two plays in a row went to the slippery wideout to put the Cavs in plus territory.
Evan O’Leary fights tackles on the way to the a long touchdown.
From the 35-yard line, Pride took the reins, finding a seam around the left end and getting great blocks from wide receivers that allowed him just enough of an angle to score.
On their next drive – two chunk screen completions to O’Leary, two 3rd/4th down conversions by Lachey on the ground, and Olding found a soft spot in a zone for a catch, whirled past a defender, and powered through another to score a 25-yard TD. A botched PAT made it 20-0 midway through the second quarter.
Riverside’s Gunner Carpenter returned the volley, running 43 yards untouched to get on the scoreboard. But the celebration was short-lived.
O’Leary made another acrobatic play, dodging tackles down to the 7-yard line, and Lachey kept the ball and followed his blockers to the painted turf to make it 26-7 at the half after a failed two-point conversion.
The second half was much of the same but in slow motion. Penalties and abundant incomplete passes made the third quarter last longer than an NFL quarter, TV timeouts and all.
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But it was largely a spin-off of the first half. A failed onside kick gave Lehman great starting field position to start the third quarter, and the Cavaliers dialed up yet another screen to O’Leary.
He caught it, juked a defender, sprinted to the 5-yard line, then plowed through three Pirates at once for a touchdown, becoming the fifth Cavalier to score.
Da’Ron Pride scores on this screen pass.
“I hit the weights pretty hard this summer, and I’m a pretty big guy for how fast I am,” O’Leary said. “Nobody can tackle me. On that play I saw an opening and hit it as hard as I could, I was already thinking touchdown.”
Riverside scored once more, a touchdown pass from Gavin Orsborne to Landon Purtee that sure looked like it hit the ground from up in the press box. But after starting the drive in plus territory after a surprising attempt by Lehman to convert 4th & 12 from its own 30, ending it with a merciful six points felt just.
Lehman added insult to injury in the rivalry, bombing a deep TD to Olding in triple coverage to go ahead 38-13 (Missed PAT), and again Pride carried it in from the 7 for the final score of 46-13.
Lehman went for a two-point conversion after the final touchdown, and Rowley cited the trifecta of missed PAT kicks as the reasoning.
The Pirates tried to regain some honor on the scoreboard, using timeouts in the waning moments to try to eke out a final TD, but the Cavs made a tackle on the one-yard line as time expired.
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“This team deserves a playoff win,” O’Leary said. “We’ve been working hard for this since day one.” He certainly worked hard for the last five yards of his touchdown.
It wasn’t pretty. The second half was painfully slow and chippy. Four flags flew for unnecessary roughness in the third quarter. Nobody would call it a thrilling watch. And yet, those in attendance can be counted among the fortunate.
Elsewhere in area tonight fans watched Minster score 75 points, Anna cracked 60, Coldwater win 58-0, and Marion Local win 68-0 against 2-8 Fort Recovery, apparently the only team left in Region 28 healthy and willing to face the Flyers.
They can say giving more kids a playoff experience is good for them, but 75-14 ain’t good for anybody involved.
But Lehman-Riverside, a 5-12 matchup, at least had some semblance of competitiveness. Was it close? No. But it wasn’t a blowout before the opening kickoff. It was a compelling argument for why 12 teams per region would be more reasonable than 16. The Pirates were outmatched, but at least they had a reason to show up. The same can’t be said for many 13-16 seeds across the state.
But that’s in the past now, and the games should improve drastically next week. Lehman travels to Ansonia (10-1) for a 4 versus 5 seed matchup. And for what it’s worth, the Tigers’ lone loss came back in week 1 at the hands of … Riverside. Small world.
CJ Olding stretches for the endzone.
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