Alex Leonard found his groove against Jerome and connected with Ben Godwin for three touchdowns. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Kevin Bowyer)
Following an 0-3 start, the Patriots beat Dublin Jerome 21-7 on Friday for their second consecutive win as they prepare to begin action in the rugged OCC Central Division.
Dublin, OH – Losing 31 seniors and getting off to an 0-3 start might be enough to signal a down season for most programs, but most programs don’t have the pedigree of Olentangy Liberty.
After winning their first Division I state championship a year ago, an inexperienced Patriots team was limited to a combined 27 points while losing their first three games. They scored just 10 a week ago during their first win.
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On Friday at Dublin Jerome, Liberty gained some crucial momentum heading into action in what figures to be another strong Ohio Capital Conference Central Division schedule with a 21-7 victory that signaled they could be a formidable opponent the rest of the way.
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“We’ve just talked about staying together,” said third-year coach John Sansbury, whose team followed a 4-8 finish in 2023 by going 14-2 a season ago. “These guys aren’t used to it, but for Liberty football, unfortunately it’s not that uncommon for us to start out 1-2, 0-4, or 1-3 because we play such a tough schedule. It’s my job to focus on what’s important. It’s a long season, and we’ve just got to focus on getting better. It never goes as fast as you want, and I’ve got to remind myself, too. Even though we have a hard schedule, we expect to win every game.”
Jerome’s Tahj Forrest leaps through the Liberty defense for a gain.
Liberty takes a 2-3 record into its league opener next Friday at Dublin Coffman, which is the only other team in the division with a losing record.
A trio of big plays on offense and a physical defensive approach helped the Patriots post their second consecutive victory while dropping the Celtics to 3-2 overall.
Of Liberty’s eight plays that went for at least 10 yards, three resulted in long touchdown passes from junior quarterback Alex Leonard to senior wide receiver Ben Godwin.
Leonard served as the backup quarterback a year ago under his brother, 2025 graduate Andrew Leonard, who was a finalist for Mr. Football and now plays for Findlay.
He finished 12-for-20 passing for 179 yards, with Godwin totaling eight receptions for 149 yards.
“We saw a good matchup, saw a height advantage, and our offensive line played a great game,” Godwin said. “We have a quarterback who is able to drop a dime into the end zone. He knows where to find me.
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Jerome quarterback Rocco Lombardi was harassed by a stifling Liberty defense.
“We always know we’ve got to focus on the next week. Even after tonight, we’ve got to go to the film and have got to keep pushing and keep winning games like this. Our defense is filled with some wild dogs, and they know how to eat. They’re great and they play together as a team.”
Liberty took a 7-0 lead with 19 seconds left in the opening quarter when Godwin got open down field and Leonard hit him with a 35-yard strike.
Jerome moved inside the Liberty 25 twice during the first half but turned it over on downs to end one possession and missed a field goal to end the other.
With 6:24 left in the third quarter, the Patriots took a 14-0 lead when Leonard hit Godwin on the left side of the field for a 30-yard touchdown.
The Celtics drove to the Liberty 1 on the ensuing drive but had a false start on first-and-goal. Two other plays resulted in negative yardage, with Cooper Kauf getting a tackle for a 4-yard loss on one play and Hudson Dorsey adding a sack to force a turnover on downs.
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“We’ve got a lot of tough guys,” said senior linebacker Carter Kuhn, who is in his third season starting for the Patriots. “We’ve got some young guys, but they’re stepping up and playing well. Today showed that we’re a young team, we’re physical, and we’ve got a lot of guys across the board.
Grayson Davis grinds out some of his 130 rushing yards on the night.
“It’s awesome leading this team, just a dream coming up through school. We’re just focusing on fundamentals, tackling, reading, eye control, and we knew they had a couple guys out so we capitalized on that.”
Liberty made it 21-0 when Leonard hit Godwin for a 34-yard touchdown with 4:31 remaining. The Patriots had two other touchdowns called back for penalties earlier in that possession.
Junior running back Grayson Davis added 130 yards on 16 carries for the Patriots, who finished with 313 yards of offense and 243 yards in returns.
“All throughout the offseason (Ben and I have been) developing that connection,” Leonard said. “He was beating his corner and I had to give him a chance. We definitely played some tough teams to start the year. It builds us, and finally we started to click tonight. We’re ready to go.
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“It was definitely good to watch my brother who’s a great player. I still go to him now about film because he’s played all these teams. That’s helping a lot. I think he and I are very similar players with our scrambling style and being able to get out of the pocket.”
Elias Lockwood and Ben Rucker battle it out in the trenches.
The Celtics opened with three consecutive wins under new coach Mark Crabtree, who is a veteran of more than two decades of being a head coach in central Ohio including a 20-year run at Dublin Coffman.
During a 24-16 loss to Westerville Central on Sept. 12, senior quarterback Nolan Peoples went down with an injury and was replaced by sophomore Rocco Lombardi.
In his debut as the starter, Lombardi completed 12 of 20 passes for 131 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown to junior Jack Kacherski with 2:51 remaining for the Celtics’ only score.
Jerome opens OCC Cardinal action next Friday at home against Marysville.
“Trying to get into a little bit of a rhythm was a little bit of a challenge for us tonight,” Crabtree said. “There are some things we need to learn how to take care of. It’s not always schematics; it’s not always technique. It’s other matters that help you become a better player. Those are the things we need to address and do a better job at. I’ve been telling everybody I know what I see, and at times we’re doing OK, but we still have a long way to go in certain aspects. Some young kids are playing at the moment, and we may have young kids playing the rest of the year.”
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