Once he broke through the first line of the Viking defense, Christian Amann torched the Academy secondary, scoring three times on the night. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Backed by a 220-yard, 3-touchdown performance from junior running back Christian Amann, the Pioneers cruised past the Vikings to improve to 2-0.
Gahanna, OH – Figuring out the right buttons to push is something Brett Glass has often appeared to do effortlessly since his return as Jonathan Alder’s coach a year ago.
After guiding the Pioneers to a regional final and consecutive undefeated regular seasons during the final two seasons of a seven-year tenure as their coach from 2014-20, he served as Dublin Jerome’s coach for four seasons before coming back home to Jonathan Alder last fall.
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The Pioneers went 10-2 a season ago—doubling their win total from 2024—and are off to another convincing start this season.
While going back to coach at his alma mater has looked like a great choice almost from the onset, the decisions Glass has made on the field since that time have built on that return.
The latest correct call appears to be the insertion of junior Christian Amann as the No. 1 running back, although Glass says things haven’t been so obvious because of the talented group of players he has at that position.
On Friday at Columbus Academy, Amann ran for a career-high 220 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries to lead the Pioneers to a 36-12 victory.
While the Vikings dropped to 1-1, Jonathan Alder is off to a 2-0 start after opening last season by winning its first seven games.
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“I don’t know what Christian rushed for tonight, but it was a lot,” Glass said. “He played on kickoff team (last fall), but (did) not (play) a whole lot. He’s off to a good start this year. We’ve had a competition, and we still have an ongoing competition, but tonight he kind of had the hot hand. Last week we split carries a little bit, but this week he got off to a good start and we kind of rode him.”
Sophomore quarterback Drew Hughes enjoyed good protection from his O-line, allowing him to sit in the pocket and find his receivers.
After Academy lost to the Pioneers 14-12 last season on its way to a 9-3 finish, this year’s rematch had the makings of another tight contest early on.
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As Jonathan Alder often did during its turnaround season last fall, a shuffle pass to Trey Bentley gave it an early boost.
If it wasn’t enough to have one quick and agile back hurting you, Trey Bentley got his carries, adding to the Vikings’ defensive struggles on the night.
Bentley, who finished with 117 receptions a year ago, received a shuffle pass from sophomore first-year starting quarterback Drew Hughes and sprinted 57 yards for a touchdown with 7 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first quarter.
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The Vikings, however, responded with a 79-yard touchdown drive on the ensuing possession that was capped by a 3-yard scoring run by senior quarterback Michael Tishkoff. They kept the possession alive when punter Benji Gusty hooked up with Price Chapman for an 8-yard fake punt reception on fourth-and-3 from the Academy 40. The Pioneers were whistled for a personal foul at the end of the play as well, and Tishkoff connected with tight end Mitch Zumberge for a 22-yard reception to move the team inside the 20.
Trey Bentley elevates and disrupts a pass intended for Academy’s Charlie Pizzotti.
Jonathan Alder led 7-6 after Academy missed the extra point, and it scored again four plays later on another shuffle pass from Hughes to Bentley—this time from 20 yards.
“Our offensive line really did a great job,” Glass said. “Obviously we’ve got really good skilled playmakers out there at wide receiver, and we’ve got to continue to get them the ball and be balanced on offense. But all in all, it was a good performance against a good football team. We can’t turn the ball over, we can always tackle better, and we have to execute better on offense, but for our first road trip, it was a really good effort from our guys.”
Another denial, this time self-inflicted. Michael Tishkoff hits receiver Charlie Pizzotti in the corner of the end zone late in the second half for an apparent TD, but the completion was waived off due to an offensive holding call.
The Vikings moved to the Jonathan Alder 33 on the next possession, but senior defensive lineman Luke Tubbs sacked Tishkoff for a 10-yard loss on fourth-and-5 to end the threat.
Amann got things going again with 4:37 left in the second quarter when he ran for 21 yards to set up an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive that he capped with a 6-yard run with 1:44 to go.
Academy’s Parker Vanhedian (54) looks to clear a path after Michael Tischkoff hands the ball off to Truman Kohler.
“We have some really good receivers, and that opens up so much up the middle,” Amann said. “You could just see pre-snap, their guys spread over our receivers, and it was all choreographed for long runs. This year, I’ve honestly had a chip on my shoulder. I had something prove. Being a backup for two years straight can be really demoralizing, so it feels good to see your work pay off.
“Our team is doing amazing right now. We have a lot of energy. All our guys really want this, and we all care about this program.”
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Academy senior defensive lineman and team captain Reinaldo Perez recovered a fumble at the Jonathan Alder 43 three plays into the second half, but his team could not take advantage.
After the Vikings’ ensuing drive stalled at the Pioneers’ 24, Amann ran 24 yards on the first play and for 35 yards on the fifth play of the possession to set up his 3-yard touchdown run to make it 28-6 with 6:24 to go in the third period.
Amann then ran for a 72-yard touchdown with 4:35 left in the third, and the game went into a running clock at 36-6 after Hughes connected with Ben McCain for a two-point conversion pass.
That drive was set up when Pioneers’ sophomore Parker Bates intercepted a pass from Tishkoff in the end zone.
“When the pocket closed, I saw the quarterback rolling,” Bates said. “After about three seconds of him rolling, his eyes got fixed on the corner of the end zone and the side I was playing on, so I figured I might as well go over there if he keeps looking over there, and the ball was thrown right to me.
Mitch Zumberge pulls in a pass but is immediately met by Alder defensive back Caleb Wiltshire.
“We have to just keep doing the same thing as every week—be fast, be physical, and play together. If we do those things, we’ll win football games. We’re always around each other and it’s been a friendship that’s been built over time.”
Tishkoff connected with Terrence O’Donnell for a 20-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 5:50 remaining to cap the scoring for the Vikings, who will attempt to rebound next Friday at Heath.
“They have a lot of experienced guys everything,” said Academy coach Robin Miller, who is tied for the program record in career wins with 83 in 12 seasons heading the program. “They’ve got a really good team, and they might win 10 games. We shot ourselves in the foot a few times, and sometimes it’s just as little as one missed block or one guy out of position, but that’s football. You need 11 guys doing their jobs and working together for the whole thing to work.
“(I was encouraged by our) fight, the battle, and the kids never quit seniors to freshmen and everything in between. They fought their tails off and I was really proud of that.”
The Pioneers travel next Friday to Bloom-Carroll.
“Our running back Christian Amann went nuts,” Bentley said. “I’m proud of him. He played (junior varsity) last year and he worked hard and caused us to get going. I love where we’re at. I feel good going into week 3, and we’ve got to beat Bloom and keep it going.”