Treyton Schroeder intercepts an Alex Leonard pass late in the game, thwarting a potential Liberty go-ahead scoring drive. The Pioneers will face Pickerington Central in a regional final next week. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Top-seeded, undefeated Olentangy Orange needed back-to-back huge defensive plays to thwart a fourth-quarter comeback bid by intra-district rival Olentangy Liberty and set up a much-anticipated regional title matchup with second-seeded Pickerington Central.
Lewis Center, OH – For a good chunk of a Division I, Region 3 semifinal Friday night, Olentangy Orange’s defense looked surprisingly vulnerable against an Olentangy Liberty offense scoring just 16.9 points per game.
One could blame it on the dynamics of playing a fierce intra-district rival for the second time in three weeks. One could credit the opponent for crafting a well-designed game plan and executing it. Or, well, Orange second-year coach Wes Schroeder could simply chalk it up as something his team needs to address in the upcoming week.
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Whatever the case, the important part is there is an upcoming week for the top-seeded Pioneers, who fought off a gallant upset bid from defending state champion Liberty for a 21-17 win before an engaged crowd at Pioneer Field.
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Orange (12-0) will face second-seeded Pickerington Central (11-1) – a 17-16 victor over Upper Arlington in the other semifinal – for the regional crown at 7 p.m. Friday, presumably at Historic Columbus Crew Stadium.
Second-ranked in the final Associated Press state poll, Orange came in having outscored its opposition 415-112. Its closest game had been a 26-14 win over red-hot Liberty Week 10 for the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division championship, but this one seemed much tighter.
“That was our first real test all season and to our credit, we answered it,” Schroeder said. “They ran the ball on us well with No. 39 (Grayson Davis). It might have had something to do with the fact that they’re huge up front and we’re not. And it was a great game plan on their part to control the ball and try to keep it out of our hands.”
To the credit of Orange’s hard-hitting, swarming defense, which had allowed only one opponent over 14 points all season, it came up big when the chips were down.
Jayden Hawk comes up with a huge interception of a Levi Davis pass in the end zone to set the stage for a Patriot comeback attempt.
After Jayden Hawk intercepted a Levi Davis pass in the end zone to thwart a potential clinching score, Liberty (8-5) took over at its own 20 with 8:14 remaining.
The Patriots methodically crossed midfield with three first downs, thanks to the physical inside running of Davis (24 carries for 113 yards) and timely passing of Alex Leonard.
But on a second-and-9 play, Remley Bowen plowed through the Liberty line and sacked Leonard for an eight-yard loss, pushing the Patriots out of their comfort zone.
“Remley is our best offensive lineman and he hasn’t played much defense at all this year,” Orange senior defensive back Treyton Schoeder said. “Usually, he’s in there just to stop the run. Something must have happened there because he got into the backfield fast and took down the quarterback. That was a huge play.”
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But the back-breaker was yet to come.
On the next play, Leonard uncorked a long pass toward the sideline that Schroeder read perfectly and made a leaping interception. His 35-yard return put Orange in business with just 2:31 remaining, and the Pioneers successfully advanced to the Liberty 1-yard-line before taking knees to end of the game.
Lucas Fickel powers his way into the end zone for his second score of the night.
“I’m really proud of Treyton,” said Wes Schroeder, his uncle. “I think that’s 20 (interceptions) in his career. He’s got a knack for coming down with balls like that.”
Treyton Schroeder, a first-team All-Ohioan in 2024 and a third-teamer as a sophomore, also was a playmaking starting guard on Orange’s state championship basketball team last March.
“I don’t know whether it was 19 or 20 or 21 for me but it was definitely the biggest interception in the biggest game of my career,” he said.
Schroeder’s backcourt mate in basketball, senior quarterback Levi Davis, watched Liberty’s last drive with some anxiety from the sidelines.
“To be honest, I’m the kind of guy who prefers to control the controllables, so I was trying to process everything about what we would do if they scored, or if we got the ball back in the final minute or two,” Davis said. “To be honest, though, as soon as I saw that pass going up with Treyton covering, I’m thinking, “Pick!, Pick!” He’s done that so many times for us. It was great to see our defense finish the job.”
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On its opening series of the game, Orange drove 65 yards in 11 plays, capped by a Lucas Fickel 1-yard TD run.
Carson O’Morrow nails a career-long 52-yard field goal to get Liberty on the board in the first half.
Liberty’s Carson O’Morrow kicked a career-long 52-yard field goal early in the second quarter to make it 7-3.
Orange drove the field again with Fickel and Davis trading off chunk plays. But facing fourth-and-3 at the Liberty 21, the Pioneers opted to go for it. Schroder lined up in the backfield and darted in motion. Davis threw a lateral to Schroder, who threw a flea-flicker pass to a wide-open Jake Luling for an easy touchdown.
“We hadn’t run a trick play in a while, but coach had drawn this up a while ago and decided this was the perfect time for it,” Treyton Schroeder said. “They bit hard on the lateral. Nobody covered Jake at all. All I had to do was get it out there to him.”
The Pioneers made it 21-10 on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up five minutes to open the second half. Fickel, who rushed for 129 yards on 21 carries, scored his second TD on a 6-yard run.
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Liberty, however, refused to surrender, responding with a 12-play, 73-yard drive of its own. Leonard capped it with a 10-yard TD pass to Ben Godwin with 2:31 left in the third.
Jake Lulling celebrates with lineman Cameron Samu after Lulling waltzed into the end zone on the receiving end of a flea-flicker pass from Treyton Schroeder.
Levi Davis, the Central District co-offensive player of the year with Pickerington Central quarterback Rocco Williams, completed 10 of 18 passes for 127 yards and added 83 yards on 18 carries. It may not have been his usual dazzling performance but it was enough.
“During a playoff run, you’re going to run into games like this,” said the Ohio University commit. “This kind of game will make us tougher. It show us what we’re made of. I thought both teams played a great game tonight. Hats off to (the Patriots). They put up a good fight.”
The defeat was tough to handle for Liberty, which graduated 31 seniors from its state championship team. After starting 0-3, the Patriots rallied for seven straight wins and knocked off another intra-district rival in Olentangy 17-0 last week in a quarterfinal.
“I’m heartbroken for our kids, especially our seniors, but we fell just a little short,” Liberty coach John Sansbury said. “We made a couple mistakes that proved costly and while we were able to establish the run, we didn’t make quite enough plays.
“I’d really like to take back a couple plays, the sack and the interception on our final drive, but, unfortunately, you can’t do that.”
Orange, which was just 3-10 in postseason play prior to this season, next will run into a Pickerington Central squad oozing with tradition. The Tigers have won two state championships (2017, 2019) and been runner-up three times with nine regional titles.
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