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Eastmoor downed Licking Valley to play in the championship.

War on, Warriors!!! -- Eastmoor Academy 14, Licking Valley 10 --  (Division III, 11/22) --   We knew there'd be one local team headed to the Division III title game, but Eastmoor Academy (13-1) made sure it wasn't a repeat appearance by Licking Valley (12-2). Instead, it's a first trip for the Warriors to Fawcett Stadium in Canton, where the pride of the City League will play Aurora (12-2) at 11AM Saturday for the championship. Eastmoor QB Malon Johnson managed a good game and created an incredible scramble for a first down on third and five late in the game to preserve the victory. Licking Valley had closed the score to 14-10 after Drew Ryan's 6 yard TD run, but Johnson helped Eastmoor essentially kill the quarter and the game. Licking Valley's heralded OSU recruit Storm Klein was deprived of a 100th career TD and was held to 90 yards on 25 carries. Aaron Flowe and Aaron Ross scored the two Warrior touchdowns. Aurora 20, Big Walnut 14 -- Eastmoor's next opponent, Aurora (12-2), got a scare from Sunbury's defending Division III champs, Big Walnut (11-3) but prevailed to play in the title, meaning that we don't get our much anticipated all-Central Ohio final or a possible Eagle repeat. Big Walnut was able to pull to 10-7 in the third quarter on a fake reverse by Eugene Cannaday, who also scored on a 29 yard throw by Johnny Cannell late in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 20-14. The Eagles had one last chance, getting the ball back with 1:00 to go but an Aurora pick sealed the deal. Div. I -- Elder 24, Pickerington Central 10 --  This was a tale of two games, as Pickerington Central (13-1) took a 10-0 lead after a 5 yard TD by Jamie Wood but was then subject to utter domination at the hands of the Elder Panthers (13-1). Elder followed the leads of backup tailback Ben Caffaro, who pounded up the middle for a 22 yard TD, and QB Mark Miller, who hit Josh Jones ofr a 64 yard score. Pickerington threw interceptions on its last two possessions to prevent any chance of a comeback. Youngstown Ursuline 35, Liberty Union 6 (Div. V) -- Liberty-Union (12-2) bowed out to powerhouse Ursuline (14-0) to finish up a great season. The Lions struggled on offense again with only 108 yards. Ursuline was the Div. V state runner-up last year.

Purple on purple crimes with PC and Elder next week.

Cat Fight -- Pickerington Central 7, Hilliard Davidson 3 -- (Division I, 11/15) --   If defense wins championships, as the time worn cliche says, then maybe Pickerington Central (13-0) is destined to top Cincinnati Elder and then either North Canton Hoover or St. Ignatius for the Division I title. Those are the big school teams left, and that is the path for the Tigers, who defeated Hilliard Davidson 7-3 Saturday night before a large elements braving crowd at Upper Arlington. Neither the Tigers nor the Wildcats scored a "true" offensive touchdown in this Region 3 final, and what little scoring there was all came in the first frame. Davidson struck first, connecting on a J.D. Detmer 40 yard FG early. The Wilcats then thought they had the Tigers in a bind, forcing the Central punt squad out at the 38 on 4th and 6. Backup Tiger QB Josh Kristoff stole the show, though, calling a fake punt pass audible and connecting for a score with Patrick White, who headed down the sideline unguarded. Davidson threatened several times late in the game, missing a short FG attempt and being stopped on four straight incompletions from the Pickerington 22 on their last drive. Central now draws a battle of the purples against Elder (12-1) at Dayton Welcome Stadium next Sat. night 11/22.

A Storm awaits Eastmoor.

Division III -- Eastmoor Academy 23, Logan Elm 0 -- It was a fantastic turnaround season for Logan Elm (12-1), after going winless last year, but all good things must end and this one did at the hands of City League powerhouse Eastmoor Academy (12-1), which advances to face Licking Valley at Gahanna next Saturday in a state Division III semi-final. Eastmoor's Touche Hopkins, who rose up the depth chart during the season thanks to RB injuries, stole the show and scored all three TDs for the Warriors, one in each of the first three quarters. Hopkins scored on breakaway runs of 63 and 47 yards as well as a shorter 9 yard scamper on his first try. The Eastmoor defense added a safety, tackling Logan Elm QB Johnnie Brown in the endzone, and provided stalwart play after an impressive early drive by the Chiefs that self-destructed after getting to the Eastmoor 5 yard line. Hopkins ended with 205 yards for an Eastmoor team that totalled 379 through the run. Licking Valley 35, Dover 28 -- Dover (11-2) was riding high and coming off two recent defeats of archrival New Philadelphia in the regular season finale and the first round of the playoffs by a total of 75-7, but the Tornadoes ran into a Storm of their own against Licking Valley (12-1) at Zanesville Saturday night. Storm Klein, he of the Scarlet and Grey next year, impresses on both sides of the ball, and against Dover the impressions were through footprints and strongarms. Klein led the Panthers to three first half touchdowns before having to withstand a Tornado comeback that cut the difference to one score.  No surprise with the Dover scores, being a team that scored 69, 68 and 69 three games in a row earlier in the year. Klein's teammates Michael Shackleford and Eric Mitchell helped stem the tide with touchdowns to build up a new lead that held for the victory. Licking Valley now awaits a brutal battle with Eastmoor Academy at Gahanna on 11/22 for a state semi-final. If the Panthers win, they could potentially have a state final rematch with none other than reigning champ .... Big Walnut 24, Avon 15 -- Yep, the Eagles still own the trophy, and they're following the road to a potential repeat if all goes well, which it did against Avon (12-1) at Ashland in a Division III regional final. Though Avon picked up a TD and a safety late to make the score close, this one was dominated by Big Walnut (11-2), which overcame two close early season losses to Chilllicothe and Olentangy win the OCC Capital and qualify. QB Johnny Cannell tossed a 35 yard score to Nick Heiden and ran in another in the fourth to make the score 24-7. The Eagles' Patrick Daugherty contributed a 68 yard TD run earlier to establish the lead. Big Walnut plays Aurora (11-2) this coming Saturday.

Don't look east, Liberty-Union is coming.

Division V -- Liberty Union 13, Bishop Ready 3 -- Confession time, since we're talking about Ready here. I fully admit that when it came to Div. V this year I gave a little more focus to the plight of Ready (8-3) since our westsiders had to endure two opponents' cancellations, a shortened season and a two team conference (which they won by crushing rival Hartley) before making the playoffs. Well, the boys from Baltimore got my attention this week, and it was clearly through their defense. Indeed, Liberty-Union (12-1) has been dominating by defense the whole season, holding nine opponents to one TD or less and posting five shutouts. Its lone blemish was a loss to playoff qualifier West Jefferson (10-3), which bowed out to Maria Stein Marion Local (11-2) Saturday night 21-14 despite the best late efforts of standout QB D.J. Mendenhall, who hit Eric Fisher for a 12 yard TD after throwing a 25 yard score earlier to Eric Love. With another win, Liberty Union could potentially face Marion Local in the final if both win, but the Lions must first get by a strong team in Youngstown Ursuline (13-0). This past weekend, the Lion defense held strong against Ready but needed some smoke and mirrors to gain the edge. The master magician was placekicker Sam Tennant, who struck deep from 47 and 50 yards, unheard of in Div. V high school ball, and added a PAT. Tennant had not previously connected from anywhere longer than 36 yards, so it was quite a feat in such a big, close game. The PAT came after the game's lone TD, a try scored by the Lion defense after a block of a Silver Knight punt that Ethan Pulvermacher fell on in the endzone. It was a good thing, since Ready held Liberty-Union to a total of 49 positive yards offense on the night.

Tags: football, high school football, high school sports