Grayson Davis grinds out some of 150 total yards on the night as Olentangy Liberty blanked Olentangy 17-0 to advance to a regional semifinal. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
The Patriots’ 17-0 win over Olentangy avenges a regular-season loss and moves them into a regional semifinal matchup with top-seeded and undefeated Olentangy Orange next Friday.
Lewis Center, OH – Grayson Davis calls it playing with “integrity.”
Among the leaders as fifth-seeded Olentangy Liberty won 17-0 on Friday at sister school and fourth-seeded Olentangy, the junior running back says it “wasn’t even a doubt” that his team would bounce back after getting off to an 0-3 start.
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That’s, after all, what teams like the Patriots – the defending Division I state champions – are expected to do.
“Since week one, we’ve kept getting better,” Davis said. “We’re a team that when something bad happens, we keep going. That’s integrity. We’re going to play for our team, and it was great to get that win tonight. Now it’s on to next week. This one’s over.”
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The Patriots lost 26-6 to Olentangy in their Aug. 22 opener and can only hope for the same situation to occur next week when they must travel to top-seeded and undefeated Olentangy Orange—a team which beat Liberty 26-14 on Oct. 24 to clinch the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division.
But first things first: Liberty’s defense was in top form against the Braves, forcing eight negative yardage plays and producing one of the team’s two touchdowns to help set up the Orange rematch.
“We focused on our energy level, and that led us to giving up zero points,” senior linebacker Hunter Dorsey said. “We dial up blitzes that destroy offensive lines. With our blitzing pressure, they can’t really do much.
“Week one, we were a much different football team. We found out how to build a brotherhood and really just got close with each other. That’s what’s led us to be a better team.”
At first glance, it appeared that Olentangy’s Jet Cornelius had a drive-stopping interception early, but his foot landed just across the line.
Liberty, which improved to 8-4 while the Braves finished 8-3, marched to the Olentangy 7 on the opening drive before stalling and settling for a 27-yard field goal by Carson O’Morrow.
The Braves moved deep inside Liberty territory on their second possession, but on third-and-goal from the 7, Dorsey sacked senior quarterback Luke Chilicki for a 5-yard loss. A missed field goal ended the opportunity.
Liberty took a 10-0 lead with 2:56 to go in the first half when junior quarterback Alex Leonard hooked up with senior wide receiver Ben Godwin for a 7-yard touchdown. Also during that possession, Davis ran for 14 yards and had two receptions for 29 yards.
The Patriots came up with their biggest defensive play with 6:08 left in the third quarter. The Braves had it fourth-and-7 from the Patriots 33 when a shotgun snap went over Chilicki’s head and was picked up by junior Ben Rucker for a 43-yard scoop-and-score for the game’s final touchdown.
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“You’ve obviously got to get off the ball, and out of the corner of my eye, I see my teammate Max Zigo punch the ball so I had to get past the blocker, scoop it, and have tunnel division,” Rucker said. “You don’t want to let anything be a distraction because you’ve got to secure the touchdown.
“Our first game (this season) we felt really divided, but throughout the season, we really focused on being one unit with one main goal, which is do the best for the team. We’re acting as a whole unit.”
Olentangy finally got some pressure on Alex Leonard on this play, but most of the night, Leonard masterfully managed both the field position and the clock.
On Olentangy’s next possession, Chilicki was stopped for a 5-yard sack by senior linebacker Carter Kuhn and Zigo, a 4-yard sack by senior Brody Chapman, and a 6-yard sack by Zigo to force fourth-and-40 from the Braves’ 24.
“(Our defense was) incredible,” coach John Sansbury said. “To give up zero plus getting a score, if we do that we’re going to be OK most games. Our defense has been great all year. Chris Sansbury, he’s our defensive coordinator and he’s my brother, and all the coaches have great leadership. They play hard, they’re relentless, and they buy into all these things the coaches teach about being wild dogs, hunting, and all that. Obviously our defense was special tonight.
“We lost 31 seniors last year and had three coaches we had to replace as well, so figuring out who we are and who we want to be took us a few weeks, but all of our seniors are leaders. If it wasn’t for their leadership, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
Liberty took over at its 19 with 9:12 remaining and never gave the ball back to the Braves, with Davis running for 45 yards on eight carries on the drive.
Davis finished with more than 150 all-purpose yards.
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“Grayson’s a stud, a great player and an even better kid, and he’s a junior which I like because I get him for another year,” Sansbury said. “He’s a big, strong kid, and we can put him at receiver as well. He’s truly been a selfless guy. When he goes, we go.”
Olentangy managed a few big-gainers early such as this pass completion to Jackson Mangham, but the Liberty defense buckled down to deal the shutout.
Olentangy lost all three of its games to inter-district programs and was looking to avenge a 42-14 regular-season loss to Orange, but it ran into a defense that wouldn’t budge.
“It’s been a ride,” said Braves senior defensive back Kaden Gebhardt, who has committed to play for Clemson where he’ll likely start out as a free safety. “We all worked hard, but it just didn’t end up the way we wanted it to. Their defense played a hell of a game. I thought our defense played well and we held them to no scores in the second half, but we just couldn’t execute on offense.”
Top-seeded Orange, meanwhile, heads into its rematch with the Patriots coming off a 43-14 win over eighth-seeded Olentangy Berlin on Friday and with an 11-0 record.
The 26 points the Pioneers scored against Liberty was their lowest output in any game this season.
“We’d like to have week 10 back, but we have an opportunity,” Sansbury said. “We feel good about the Liberty Patriots right now for sure. We have all their films. We’ve just got to do things better than we did the last time and we’ve got to clean things up. We’ll give it our best shot.
“We play really good defense, really solid on special teams, and offensively we keep moving the ball, chasing first downs. We’ve got a big offensive line, our quarterback can run and throws a good deep ball. We want to control the clock. We’re excited.”
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