MC Walker takes down Pickerington Central’s Ayden Hammond during the turnover-laden 39-7 rout of Pickerington Central in a DI regional final. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Kevin Bowyer)
Spurred by a dominating defensive performance and the dual threat of quarterback Levi Davis and running back Lucas Fickel, the Pioneers are headed to a state semifinal against Lakewood St. Edward.
Columbus, OH – 
Last fall, Olentangy Orange’s season ended with a second-round playoff loss while Olentangy Liberty celebrated winning the Division I, Region 3 championship and ultimately the state title two weeks later.
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It’s looked like the Pioneers’ turn to continue the district’s reign atop central Ohio all season, and they were more than ready to continue on that path Friday in the Region 3 final at Historic Crew Stadium.
With a convincing 39-7 victory over perennial central Ohio power Pickerington Central, Orange is 13-0 and headed to its first state semifinal.
Prior to this season, the Pioneers had earned just three playoff victories in program history—a number that’s now doubled.
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Orange (13-0) will meet Lakewood St. Edward (11-2) in a state semifinal next Friday.
“It’s special,” senior defensive back and wide receiver Treyton Schroeder said. “We worked hard for this all week and all season. I’m speechless. We lost some key pieces (from last season), but we brought a lot back. We had high expectations, and we wanted to exceed those expectations.
“(The state semifinal) will be a nice experience, and I’m looking forward to it. (St. Edward is) a powerhouse, but we’ll do everything we need to be ready.”
The last time the programs met was in the second round of the 2019 playoffs, with Central winning 44-0 on its way to capturing its second state championship in three seasons.
Throughout much of the first half of this rematch, the game didn’t resemble the blowout it would turn out to be.
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Central drove to the Orange 4 on the game’s opening drive, but a 17-yard loss on a bad snap forced fourth-and-goal from the Pioneers 21 and the Tigers missed a 38-yard field goal to end the threat.
The Pioneers drove 80 yards in 14 plays on their first possession, with senior quarterback Levi Davis running in from 6 yards to give his team a 7-0 lead.
The Tigers drove to the Orange 24 on their second drive but again stalled, with KD Smith’s reception near the goal line from senior quarterback Rocco Williams—a Middle Tennessee State commit—being called out of bounds on fourth-and-19 from the 34.
Instead of taking a sack, Orange quarterback Levi Davis was intercepted by Chris Smith and returned for Pickerington Central’s only touchdown of the night.
On Orange’s next drive, Davis was pressured and attempted to throw it away on third-and-12 at his own 32 but instead threw it directly into the arms of Chris Smith, who ran it back 20 yards for a pick-6 to tie it at 7 with 5:38 left in the first half.
“I feel like the team a year ago would have let that snowball and let that affect us, but this team is so resilient,” Davis said. “(The interception return) wasn’t too much of a thought. They knew I had to get it back and that I would get it back. It’s all from support of the team. I’m just so excited to see what we’re going to do in the future.”
On the Pioneers’ possession after Central’s defensive score, they needed just six plays to retake the lead, with Davis hitting senior wide receiver MC Walker on a slip-screen for a 34-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 with 2:43 left in the first half.
Central moved to the Orange 20 on the ensuing drive but then had back-to-back false starts. After Williams was pressured by senior linebacker Kameron Robinson on one incompletion and by senior defensive lineman Xavier Baker and junior linebacker Brennan Kessler on another incompletion, the Tigers were faced with fourth-and-12 from the Pioneers’ 30 with 9 seconds left.
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Williams attempted to throw deep but was intercepted by Orange sophomore defensive back Colby Luling, who returned it 70 yards before being tackled at the Central 10 on the final play of the first half.
The Pioneer defense allowed only 55 yards rushing against the Tigers, like this stop by Jaxon Miller and Aden Scott.
“It was really a team effort,” said Luling, who had one interception earlier in the season as well. “We came out with a lot of enthusiasm. Some people on the internet were saying we have a no-name defense, and I feel like we used that against them. I felt like that was the best we’ve played all season, and I can’t wait for the final four.”
On the third play of the second half, Davis sprinted 54 yards for a touchdown to give the Pioneers a 20-7 lead.
Central was forced to a three-and-out on each of its first two third-quarter drives and had its third possession of the second half end on an interception by Schroeder that was then returned 46 yards to set up a touchdown.
The Pioneers limited the Tigers to 55 yards rushing and Williams to 10 of 24 passing for 84 yards.
This was Central’s first appearance in a regional final since 2021.
Lucas Fickel gets into the secondary for some extra yards.
“We didn’t tackle well,” Tigers coach Jeff Lomonico said. “It’s hard to simulate that good of an athlete (that Orange has in Davis). I thought we had a good week, but it was just small missed assignments, and they make you pay for it.
“We had opportunities and we were loose with the ball. Sometimes it’s not our night. I’m not making excuses because they’re a great team. I was hoping we’d play better but they’re a great team and this is their year. I thought we had a great season. Our kids played hard and we’re still pretty young.”
Orange took a 26-7 lead when Davis hooked up with senior tight end Luke Reidelbach for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 5:59 remaining in the third quarter.
While Davis finished with 94 yards and two touchdowns rushing on nine carries and threw for 124 yards with two scores, senior running back Lucas Fickel scored on a 15-yard run with 11 seconds to go in the third quarter and on a 74-yard touchdown dash with 8:03 remaining.
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Fickel finished with 175 yards on 23 carries.
“Going in, we have a plan, and we’ve got to take some punches and figure out what we want,” coach Wes Schroeder said. “We had a really good week of practice. Our kids were ready to go. Our kids are resilient. We came out with more energy and effort to right that wrong (after Central’s touchdown).”
Orange executed a defensive clinic, swarming to the ball to advance to the state semifinal.
It marks the fourth time Wes Schroeder has celebrated a regional title as a coach. He was an assistant at Liberty during the Patriots’ state semifinal runs in both 2016 and ’17 and was head coach in 2021 when Granville won a Division III regional title.
“It feels good,” coach Schroeder said. “There’s a lot of work left. Nobody’s easy at this point. … We told our kids that if we could survive the OCC Central, we’ll have a shot against anybody in Columbus. We felt we were pretty battle-tested. They wanted this one.”
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