Luke Backes scrambles and finds some open space during a 31-14 win over the Jaguars. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Gapen)
Luke Backes, a nephew of 2oo0 Ohio Mr. Football Jeff Backes, threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another as the Golden Bears ran their record to 6-0.
Upper Arlington, OH – Luke Backes has always admired his uncle, Jeff, for what he accomplished while playing running back and defensive back at Upper Arlington a quarter of a century ago.
Jeff, a 2001 UA graduate, was named Ohio’s Mr. Football in 2000 when he led the Golden Bears to a 15-0 record and their only OHSAA state championship; and he still owns UA’s single-season records for rushing yards (3,346), scoring (266 points) and touchdowns (44). He went on to excel as a defensive back at Northwestern, then returned to central Ohio to become an orthopedic surgeon.
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“I’ve heard about it my whole life, and (Jeff’s) always letting us know what he did,” Luke, said with a chuckle.
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But after the senior quarterback threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to lead UA to a 31-14 victory over Hilliard Bradley on Friday at Marv Moorehead Memorial Stadium, it was Jeff who showed admiration for his nephew, as he ran onto the field to give Luke a hug and say “you’re the man, you’re the man” in a playful manner.
“We’re definitely a football family and we all support each other,” said Luke, whose squad improved to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division. “My dad (Carl, a 1997 UA graduate) was a wide receiver and defensive back here, before playing at Harvard, and my brother (Oliver) is one of my wide receivers.
“My uncle set a lot of records here before he played at Northwestern, and that’s been a big drive for me. But I’ve always said that I could care less about stats and scoring, because all I care about is winning, and I feel like this team can potentially go as far as his did.”
UA’s Grady McLafferty wraps up Bradley’s Rashaud Truss.
Backes turned in his sixth-consecutive winning effort as a starting quarterback on Friday, completing 12 of 20 passes for 101 yards, and rushing for 50 yards on just 10 carries.
“The No. 1 trait you want out of your quarterback is to be a good decision-maker, and Luke has continued to make good decisions to help us win games,” said UA coach Justin Buttermore, who has led the Golden Bears to a 53-16 record and 11 playoff wins in his first six seasons thus far, including a Division I Region 3 title in 2021 and a Region 3 runner-up finish in 2023. “Backes is a big name around here, so I’m sure he grew up with high expectations. He’s a good athlete, who is doing a really good job playing quarterback for us right now.”
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Nick Ardelea and the Bears defense harassed the Bradley offense all night long.
Backes threw his first touchdown pass to give the Golden Bears a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter, when he scrambled and lofted the ball to running back Drew Theado, who was open at the goal line for an 8-yard reception.
“Their quarterback gave us problems,” said Bradley coach Mike LoParo, whose squad dropped to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the OCC Central. “He scrambles so well that it’s hard to get a hand on him, and he runs the ball well and throws well on the run, so we had to burn a spy on him.”
On UA’s third drive, Backes zipped the ball to wide receiver Trent Wolpert, who raced to the left, cut back right and then weaved his way past two defensive backs for a 22-yard touchdown reception to make it 17-0 early in the second quarter.
“I knew they were blitzing, so I dumped it off to Trent and he made a great play,” Backes said.
Backes also hurt Bradley’s defense with his legs, as he scrambled for a 23-yard run on UA’s fourth drive, which eventually set up an 11-yard touchdown run by Theado, which put the Golden Bears ahead 24-0 at halftime.
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And on UA’s first possession of the second half, Backes fooled the Jaguars with a beautiful fake handoff to Theado up the middle, before spinning to his left and sprinting into the end zone untouched from 3 yards out, to put the Golden Bears ahead 31-6 with 4 minutes, 9 seconds left in the third quarter.
Jake Braun goes for a punt block but arrives just a tad late.
“We knew they were blitzing off the edge, so we faked it up the middle, and our running back did a great job of selling it, and all I had to do was run it in,” Backes said.
Theado finished with 82 rushing yards on 18 carries and two catches for 16 yards, while Wolpert had five catches for 48 yards, slot back Jaden Chindavong rushed for 69 yards on just four attempts, and place kicker Edward Oakley made a 39-yard field goal in the first quarter and was 4-for-4 on extra-point conversions.
“We did everything we wanted to do in the first half,” Buttermore said. “Our linemen did a good job, and we ran the ball well. Theado ran hard and when he’s hit, he always falls forward.”
Upper Arlington’s defense, which gave up only 23 points in the Golden Bears’ first five games, was excellent once again, led by linemen Cooper McGinty and Niki Sheehan, linebackers James Janowicz and Andrew Petzinger, and backs Nick Ardelea, Jake Braun, Charlie Hunt and Nolan Miller.
Trent Wolpert gets a chunk of his 48 receiving yards on five catches.
“We are all doing our parts to play good team defense,” McGinty said. “Andrew is a great leader and he played great. Charlie is our backup quarterback, but he’s stepped up to play defense this year, and his interception was huge for us.”
Janowicz intercepted a pass by quarterback Owen Risner to end Bradley’s best scoring threat of the first half, and Hunt had an interception late in the game.
“We didn’t tackle well in the second half, but I was really happy with the way we defended in the first half, and our kids played extremely hard overall,” Buttermore said.
UA’s Spencer McClellan tracks down Bradley’s Daniel Shaffer.
Bradley was ravaged by injuries as starting quarterback Declan O’Neil (thumb injury), right tackle Paul Spangler and lone snapper Layne Fausnaugh couldn’t play.
Making his first varsity start at quarterback, Risner was 6-for-11 passing for 91 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown pass to Tre Pauleus, which cut the Jaguars’ deficit to 31-14 with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.
Risner also rushed for 13 yards on six carries, including a 3-yard scoring run midway through the third quarter; and running back Rashaud Truss finished with a game-best 98 rushing yards on 15 carries.
“We lost all three of those guys in practice during the week, and Owen had just returned to practice after missing all but three days due to a concussion,” LoParo said. “But I’m proud of our kids because they fought hard, especially in the second half.”
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