Dual-threat quarterback Levi Davis rolls out looking for an open receiver during the Pioneers’ 43-14 defeat of Berlin to advance. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Scott Reed)
Levi Davis passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 87 yards and two more scores as top-seeded Olentangy Orange shook off a slow start to put away Olentangy Berlin.
Lewis Center, OH – Olentangy Orange senior quarterback Levi Davis usually is content to make routine plays to distribute the ball to his talented group of running backs and wide receivers.
However, with his offense struggling to penetrate a tough Olentangy Berlin defense Friday in a Division I, Region 3 quarterfinal at Orange, Davis understood that he needed to improvise and go off script at some point to give the Pioneers a boost, after they found themselves clinging to a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter.
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Fortunately for Orange, the 6-foot, 185-pound Ohio University recruit rose to the challenge when his team needed him the most, scrambling for two sensational touchdown runs in the final 13 minutes of the game and throwing two deep scoring passes to spark the top-seeded Pioneers to a 43-14 victory over the eighth-seeded Bears.
Orange, which set a program record for most wins in one season by improving to 11-0 overall, will host Olentangy Liberty (8-4) in a Region 3 semifinal on Nov. 14.
The Pioneers defeated Liberty 26-14 on Oct. 24 to win the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division title with a 5-0 league mark.
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“Coach (Wes) Schroeder and his staff have taught me that I should approach playing quarterback like a point guard first, getting everyone in our offense involved, and to be Superman when the time is right,” Davis. “There were a couple of times when we had a broken play and I needed to use my legs, or when the opportunity was there for a big throw, and when I saw those opportunities, I just made something happen.”
Davis may not be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive nor able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but his combination of speed, strength, athleticism and precision passing ultimately was too much for the Bears’ defense to contend with over four quarters.
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Three plays after MC Walker returned a kickoff 80 yards to Berlin’s 13-yard-line, Davis scrambled seven yards for a touchdown to put Orange up 23-6 with 4 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
MC Walker gets a return for 80 yards to the Berlin 13 to energize the Orange in the third quarter.
A Berlin defender tripped Davis up at the 4, but he managed to stumble forward, before diving through the air and stretching the ball over the goal line with his fingertips.
“Oh yeah, the dive,” Davis said, as a huge smile broke out across his face. “He got my ankle and I felt myself falling, so I just used my balance to maintain my momentum and dove as far as I could.”
On a fourth-and-1 play early in the fourth quarter, Davis couldn’t find an open receiver, so he took matters in his own hands, by spinning away from the grasp of two defenders in the backfield and scrambling for a 17-yard touchdown run to give Orange a 37-6 advantage and effectively ice the game.
“Davis is a very explosive player, but the word I use for him is slippery,” said Berlin coach Mark Nori, whose squad had a six-game winning streak snapped to finish 6-6 overall. “I don’t know how he does it, but he spins and slips his way out of tackles. Our kids were in the right position to make tackles, but just couldn’t bring him down.”
Not only did Davis rush for 87 yards on 15 carries, he also completed 10 of 13 passing for 255 yards and two scores.
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With Orange holding just a 6-0 lead late in the second quarter, Davis rainbowed the ball over the outstretched hand of a leaping defender and into the arms of wide receiver Jake Luling as his crossed the goal line for a 33-yard touchdown reception to make it 13-0.
Field goals of 29, 41 and 43 yards by Tyler Gibson also helped the Pioneers build a 16-0 halftime advantage.
Tyler Gibson nails one of this three field goals in the first half to help give Orange a 16-0 advantage at the break.
“Levi is the leader of our team, and he threw the ball and ran it extremely well for us again tonight,” said Orange coach Wes Schroeder, whose squad is 3-3 in the all-time series against Berlin, after defeating the Bears three consecutive times, including 31-7 in a regular-season matchup on Sept. 19.
In the third quarter, Davis also lofted the ball 30 yards downfield to Treyton Schroeder, who outsprinted the Bears’ secondary to the end zone for a 98-yard scoring reception.
“I’ve been working on throwing moon-balls in practice, and that was another one,” Davis said. “Trey and I have been playing together since we were 10, so we have great chemistry. I knew if I put the ball out there for him, he would go get it.”
Treyton added: “That was a go-route and they were in man coverage. Levi threw a great ball that dropped right into my basket, and I just ran like crazy after I had it.”
Luling also had a game-high five catches for 63 yards, and running back Lucas Fickel rushed for 168 yards on 15 carries, including a 48-yard scoring run that extended Orange’s lead to 43-14 with 6:52 remaining.
“Berlin has one of the best defenses we’ve seen,” said Wes Schroeder, Treyton’s uncle. “We had to settle for field goals early, but eventually our guys started making big plays. It’s hard to continue to drop people in coverage against us, because our quarterback is so athletic.”
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Berlin quarterback Colton Less was 9-for-22 passing for 159 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions, and rushed for 41 yards on 14 carries.
Less gave the Bears a glimmer of hope for a comeback when he scrambled to the line of scrimmage and zipped a pass to running back AJ Clark, who raced untouched down the right sideline for a 57-yard touchdown reception, which pulled Berlin within 16-6 with 6:07 left in the third quarter.
“Our mantra all season was to keep fighting, and our kids fought hard the entire game,” Nori said. “We were within two scores at halftime, and we opened the second half with a great drive to cut their lead to 10. But my hat’s off to Orange because they have explosive guys all over the field, and they were able to make big plays in all phases of the game.”
Treyton Schroeder intercepts a pass at the Orange 3-yard line to thwart a Berlin drive.
Running back Owen Miller also scored on a 2-yard run for Berlin in the fourth quarter, but Orange’s defense limited the Bears to just 61 rushing yards on 23 carries and 220 yards of offense overall.
“We did a good job of getting 11 to the ball and tackling,” coach Schroeder said.
Treyton Schroeder, who also starts at cornerback, intercepted a pass by Less at Orange’s 3 to spoil Berlin’s only serious scoring threat of the first half.
“They were running a seam route and I got over top of it and made a play on the ball,” said Treyton, who is the nephew of coach Schroeder. “Our defense had great preparation throughout the week and we executed.”
Cornerback Zane Konczak also quelled a Berlin scoring threat midway through the third quarter, by making a diving interception inches in front of Orange’s goal line.
“I baited their quarterback all day,” said Konczak, who has six interceptions this season. “They were running a double-go and I stayed heavy over my receiver and broke on the ball when he threw it.”
Linebackers Aden Scott and Brennan Kesler both had sacks for Orange, and Konczak tackled Less for a nine-yard loss on a fake punt attempt in the fourth quarter.
“I could see (Less) running for it, so I just had to go make the tackle,” Konczak said. “We have the best offense in Ohio, by far, but we take pride in the way we play defense and special teams here, too.”
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