Jackson Mangham gets some air and hauls down a deep pass from Luke Chilicki during an opening night beatdown of the Patriots in Powell. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Led by Division I commits CJ Sanna (Ohio State), Kaden Gebhardt (Clemson) and Daniel Stephens (Navy) and supported by big-play demon Ryan Wiesner, Olentangy’s defense put the shackles on a graduation-depleted Liberty in a statement game for the Braves.
Powell, OH – It’s a long, long high school football season – 16 games for the fortunate ones – full of peaks and valleys that won’t end until the snow flies and the wind howls at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton in early December.
That said, one must be careful not to put too much stock in the outcome of a season-opening non-conference game on a sweaty August evening.
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Even so, players, coaches and fans who watched visiting Olentangy beat down defending state champion Olentangy Liberty 26-6 Friday left the mostly-stunned stadium with the gamut of reactions (and perhaps overreactions) to ponder going forward.
Was this a breakthrough performance for Olentangy, which snapped a six-game losing streak to Liberty?
Veteran central Ohio columnist Steve Blackledge writes the OCC and sports at large for Press Pros.
“Whoever you asked in our locker room, we all knew we were going to kick butt this year,” Braves senior running back Andrew Wilber said. “After coming in here and beating the state champions in their house, we think we can beat anybody. This is our year.”
Liberty blanked Olentangy 28-0 in the 2024 opener, launching a historic 14-2 season capped by a gauntlet of impressive playoff wins over Upper Arlington, Pickerington North, Lakewood St. Edward and, ultimately, Cincinnati Moeller (28-14) in the title game. Even though the Patriots graduated 30 seniors, including all but nine starters, expectations remained high.
All three of Olentangy’s defeats in 2024 came to intradistrict rivals – Liberty, Orange and Berlin.
“We always prepare for what’s in front of us and don’t out too much emphasis on the outcome of one game, but without saying so everybody in our program knew this (game) would be a big moment for us,” Olentangy coach Wade Bartholomew said. “I’m sure there was a little revenge in our guys’ minds, too, given what happened last year but we’re taking this as step one in our goals.”
Clemson-bound Kaden Gebhardt chases down Liberty’s Grayson Davis.
Olentangy undoubtedly boasts one of the finest defenses around, anchored by three senior major college commits: First-team All-Ohio linebacker CJ Sanna (Ohio State), first-team All-Ohio defensive back Kaden Gebhardt (Clemson) and nose tackle Daniel Stephens (Navy), a second-team All-Ohioan who some believe is the most dominant, impactful defensive player in central Ohio.
That unit delivered in a big way, limiting a depleted Liberty offense to 90 total yards and just four first downs.
“We’ve always been a defensive-minded team,” Braves senior linebacker Ryan Wiesner said. “We came out with aggression and really set the tone in the first two series.”
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Wiesner played a big role in the quick start.
Early in the second quarter, he intercepted Liberty quarterback Alex Leonard an his 22-yard return set up Olentangy’s first score, a 2-yard run by Wilber. Later in the quarter, Wiesner blocked a Liberty punt deep in Patriots territory. Wilber scored from a yard out three plays later to make it 17-0.
Andrew Wilber hauled the mail for the Braves most of the night, but a big hit by Luke Mulder delayed the delivery on this play.
“Ryan rolled his ankle in our first scrimmage and this is the first time we’ve actually seen him play,” Bartholomew said. “He was a defensive end last year and when we asked him to move to linebacker, he said, ‘Yes, sir … anything to help the team.’
“In the first few series, we flipped the field position and put ourselves in a good position to pin them down with our defensive front. Our whole focus is on what we’re seeing on the other side up front. If we think we can get pressure up there with three, it makes us that much more dangerous.”
Olentangy’s offense also showed marked improvement over 2024 with second-year quarterback Luke Chilicki at the helm. The starting first baseman on Olentangy’s state championship baseball team in June, Chilicki completed 14 of 25 passes for 202 yards, including deep shots in the first half to Mike Alexander (44 yards) and 6-foot-9 tight end Jackson Mangham (36 yards).
“We ask a lot from Luke in our spread attack, and he’s made some real strides,” Bartholomew said.
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Wilber did the dirty work, rushing for 80 yards on 19 carries with three TDs. He also made four receptions for 53 yards.
“Right from the start, we thought we could pound it right at them, and the offensive line made all of that possible,” Wilber said.
Luke Chilicki rolls to his left during a first half that ended with a 24-0 Braves advantage.
Despite the rough going, it might be folly to write this off as a rebuilding season for Liberty. Over the past two decades, the Patriots garnered a reputation for starting slow and finishing strong when Steve Hale was head coach and his successor, John Sansbury, was long-time assistant.
“What did I take from tonight? We’ve got to get a lot better,” Sansbury deadpanned. “Give Olentangy all the credit in the world. That’s probably the best defense we’ll see all year. But we made two big special teams mistakes that contributed to us beating ourselves. I think it’s a much closer game without those two early mistakes.
“It was a tough first game for us throwing a young quarterback (Leonard and Mason Miller) in there against a defense of that caliber. But we’re not going to give up. I think we’ve got a lot of good football players on this team and with continued hard work, I believe we’ll come around.”
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