Jack McCoy scores one of his four touchdowns on the night. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Watterson’s dominant defense limited DeSales to 106 total yards and just four first downs while Jack McCoy scored four touchdowns in the 71st installation of this fierce neighborhood rivalry dating to 1963.
Columbus, OH – After capturing a Division III state championship in 2010, the tradition-rich Watterson football program stunningly and inexplicably hit the wall. The Eagles proceeded to go 47-63 over the next 11 seasons, by far the most infamous era in the 59-year history of the school.
Coach Brian Kennedy, a proud 1992 graduate of Watterson who took the reins in 2017, suffered his share of bruises while rebuilding a once proud program.
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In 2022 – on the heels of a 5-6 campaign – the flip switched once again.
“It’s my kids and my coaching staff … it sure as heck ain’t me,” said Kennedy, who – let’s face it – has at least helped bring the Eagles back to glory.
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“Looking back, I’ve got to hand it to that group of seniors we had in 2022, who simply said, ‘We’re not going to let this happen anymore,” and raised the standard not only with the success they had on the field but with the leadership and resolve they showed. We knew at that time we had a really talented group of freshman and sophomores coming up and they took the ball and ran with it when it was their turn.”
Since then, Watterson has gone 48-4 with (in chronological order) a regional runner-up, a state runner-up and a state title. After a 42-7 shellacking of arch-rival DeSales Friday at Alumni Stadium, the Eagles are setting their sites on another 16-0 season, capped by a repeat state title on the first weekend of December in Canton.
Caden Mangini romps into the secondary for some of his 123 yards on 11 carries during Watterson’s 42-7 beatdown of the Stallions.
“Last year was our best team in Watterson history and we’re trying to replicate that,” senior running back Jack McCoy said. “Beating DeSales two years in a row is sweet. It’s just part of the process, though. We do what we’re good at and we trust the process.”
Defensive lineman Jack Schuler, however, insisted that 2024 is in the rear-view mirror.
“While a lot of us are back from that team, it’s a new team and a new year,” he said. “That team raised the bar, for sure, and, of course, we want to be even better than team. But to achieve that, it takes a daily focus on improvement and cleaning up our mistakes.”
Top-ranked in the latest state poll Watterson (6-0) was far from perfect in its second straight rout of DeSales (4-2). Hampered by two critical turnovers, the Eagles – despite a huge disparity in yardage – led only 14-7 at halftime.
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“We’ve put ourselves in difficult positions a few times already this year,” Kennedy said. “We got behind (15-0) against Big Walnut in the opener and did it again the following week against Middletown (Delaware) before winning. It’s never panic time with this group. They’ve been through this before on our deep playoff runs the past three years. We were a little sloppy tonight, but the defense bailed us out.”
The Eagles defense held Michigan-bound Jonathan Brown in check, holding DeSales to 34 yards on 2` attempts.
This matchup presented a perfect storm. Watterson’s strength is its relentless defensive front, and DeSales’ Achilles heel is an inexperienced offensive line that has struggled to protect talented quarterback RJ Day or produce any semblance of a rushing game. Furthermore, the Stallions’ star tailback, Michigan-bound Jonathan Brown, has been badly hampered by a foot injury and is nowhere near his usual standard.
Schuler (two sacks), Michael Boyle (14 tackles, three for loss) and defensive back Nate Henderson (two interceptions, one fumble recovery) led the charge for the Eagles, who limited DeSales to just 106 total yards and four first downs. All three are juniors.
Day, son of Ohio State coach Ryan Day, already has over 4,000 passing yards and 14 FBS offers as a junior, but he was harassed constantly, often running for his life and throwing off his back foot into trouble.
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The Stallions’ only score – a beautiful 6-yard fade pass from Day to Dax Middleton midway through the first quarter – was the direct result of a Watterson fumble.
Anthony Adornetto falls on a loose ball after Nate Henderson coughs up a punt return.
“We focused on our film study and tried to find and exploit their weak spots,” Schuler said. “We feel like we’ve got the best defensive line in the state and we want to put our offense in a position where they can dominate as well.”
Watterson’s offense, engineered by first-team All-Ohio senior quarterback Drew Belllisari, proved to be both balanced and potent.
Bellisari, whose father Greg is a former Ohio State linebacker and his uncle Steve was a Buckeyes quarterback (both are Watterson assistants), completed 14 of 22 passes for 168 yards with TDs to cousin Carter Bellisari (six catches, 63 yards) and Joe Hayes (three catches for 77 yards).
The run game was even more devastating with McCoy gaining 136 yards on 21 carries and Caden Mangini chipping in 123 yards on just 11 attempts. McCoy scored on TD runs of 3, 4, 4 and 5 yards. Paving the way was Iowa State-bound 6-foot-7, 285-pound tackle Pete Iglitis.
Eli Egan saw plenty of minutes on the field handling kickoff duties and converting all six extra points.
An 18-play, 92-yard drive that chewed up over eight minutes, gave Watterson a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter and the Eagles rolled after halftime.
With the win, Watterson took a 40-30-1 lead in the series, which includes seven playoff matchups. Since the schools are located just 2.8 miles apart and both programs have left indelible marks on the state level, this easily qualifies as the fiercest and most competitive rivalry in central Ohio. Watterson owns three state titles and four runner-ups in 10 final four appearances. DeSales also has three titles with six runner-ups in 12 final four appearances.
Watterson won the 2024 meeting 44-7.
“Obviously, they’re a really good team,” said 19th-year Stallions coach Ryan Wiggins said, who has played or coached in more than 30 Watterson-DeSales games.
Josh Elgin bobbles the pass but quickly gathers it in for a 27-yard gain deep into Watterson territory.
“We got a couple chances due to their turnovers, but their front was able to overwhelm ours and that was the glaring difference in the game. When you look at their teams from the past three or four years, they just don’t have a lot of weaknesses. They’ve got a lot of talented kids on both sides of the ball.”
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