Columbus-area high school football: 5 things we learned in Week 9
Suddenly, one week remains in the high school football regular season.
Ten central Ohio teams are undefeated heading into Week 10 — Canal Winchester, Columbus Academy, Danville, Gahanna Lincoln, Granville, Hamilton Township, Hilliard Bradley, Pickerington North, Watterson and West Jefferson. A few teams already have clinched league championships and can turn their focus to playoff positioning.
Others do not have that luxury, at least yet.
Here are five things we learned in Week 9:
1. Upper Arlington peaking as playoffs near
Given the program’s recent resurgence, the Golden Bears (6-3, 2-2 OCC-Central) are no strangers to playing their best in October and November. UA won the Division I, Region 3 championship in 2021, advanced to a regional semifinal last year and enters its regular-season finale against Hilliard Davidson (5-4, 1-3) having won two in a row.
A week after forcing four turnovers in a 10-0 win over Olentangy Orange, UA stormed to a 21-0 first-half lead Friday at Dublin Coffman thanks to two rushing touchdowns from senior Connor McClellan, a blocked punt by sophomore Nick Ardelea that led to McClellan’s second score and a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown from senior Mac Igoe. The Bears won 21-3, improving to 17-3 in October and November in coach Justin Buttermore’s four seasons.
UA is sixth in Region 3 and has clinched a first-round home playoff game, according to this week's projections on joeeitel.com. The OHSAA releases its computer ratings on Tuesday.
“We might have the most reliable defense in Ohio, honestly, and when our offense gets on the field we just need to control the clock and get points on the board,” said McClellan, who rushed for 130 yards against Coffman. “We were a little rough early … but we’ve rallied around our coaches and each other and (Friday) night played one of our best games. We’re excited to see what we can do in the playoffs.”
2. Canal Winchester secures outright league title
The Indians (9-0, 6-0) continued their undefeated season and wrapped up the outright OCC-Capital title by holding off host Delaware Hayes 24-21 on Friday.
They also maintained the No. 2 spot in Division II, Region 7 behind defending regional champion Massillon Washington (9-0), according to joeeitel.com.
“We don’t have a bunch of individuals, we have a team,” coach Jake Kuhner said. “This senior class is phenomenal. They’ve been working together all year. It’s a good group of kids and I love coaching them.”
Canal Winchester won its first league title since 2019. The Indians finish the regular season at home against Big Walnut (4-5, 3-3).
Against Delaware, Maxton Brunner passed for 144 yards and two touchdowns, covering 78 yards to A.J. Young and 30 yards to Karson Martino. Corey Howard added 80 yards rushing on 24 carries.
“It feels great,” Brunner said. “We’re not done. We’re looking to improve to 10-0. We have this championship, (but) it’s now next step forward.”
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3. Wild win boosts Worthington Christian’s playoff hopes
The Warriors will remember Friday’s 22-21 win over visiting Grove City Christian for a while, mostly for its dramatic ending, but perhaps also because it might allow them to prolong their season.
Trailing 21-7 midway through the fourth quarter, Worthington Christian (4-5) came back on two Hobie Raikes touchdown passes, first to Zach Kirkley and then to Ian St. John from 13 yards as time expired to make it 21-20. Raikes scrambled for several seconds before connecting with St. John, then tossed the winning two-point conversion to tight end Luke Hermiz.
Coach Jeff Hartings likened Hermiz’s catch to Dwight Clark’s leaping touchdown grab that helped San Francisco beat Dallas in the NFC championship game on Jan. 10, 1982. Hartings was an NFL offensive lineman from 1996-2006, playing for Detroit and Pittsburgh.
“Those aren’t the kinds of things you design or practice, necessarily, but it was just players making plays and a team never giving up,” Hartings said. “We really got blessed by Grove City Christian calling a timeout on our extra point to prepare for a block or ice our kicker. It gave us a chance to think about it and go for two … and it worked out.”
According to the projected computer ratings, Worthington Christian is 16th this week in Division V, Region 19, which is the final playoff spot. The Warriors close the regular season Friday at Bexley (3-6) and have an 81% chance of making the postseason, according to Fantastic50.net.
4. Fairfield Christian enjoying strong season
Third-year coach Marcus Pardon-Dudash has helped put the Knights in position for what he hopes is a long postseason run.
Fairfield Christian clinched the outright MSL-Cardinal championship, the program's first since 2013, by beating host Millersport 56-8 in Week 9. The Knights (7-2, 5-0) are projected to be fifth in Division VII, Region 27 this week and have clinched a first-round home playoff game, according to joeeitel.com.
They close the regular season Friday against Berne Union (2-7, 2-3) at Millersport.
Pardon-Dudash also led Fairfield Christian to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. Last year, the Knights beat Bridgeport 42-24 for the program’s first playoff victory before losing to Hannibal River 55-12 to finish 6-6.
“This year going into (the season), the kids’ goals were to hopefully win a league title and host a playoff game, and they’ve accomplished those goals,” said Pardon-Dudash, who also is the school’s athletic director. “I’m extremely proud of the kids.”
Danny Blair has rushed for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns on 154 carries to lead the offense. Gabe Welsh has completed 52 of 112 passes for 931 yards with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and Rusty Hutchinson has 19 receptions for 596 yards and eight scores.
5. High-powered Danville aims for undefeated regular season
The Blue Devils (9-0) — ranked third in the state in Division VII last week and projected to be second this week in Region 25 — will try to finish off their first perfect regular season since 2015 in the “Devil-Dog” rivalry game against visiting East Knox (6-3).
Danville thrives on a run-based offense that averages 50.3 points per game and has scored at least 52 each of the past four weeks — including a 53-20 win over Mount Gilead on Friday. Cole Delaughder leads the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference in rushing (1,086 yards, 18 TDs). Walter Weckesser has passed for 1,099 yards and 14 touchdowns and run for 517 yards and 11 scores.
Caleb Lucas and Delaughder have combined for 11 sacks, and Jacob Hackman and Weckesser share the team lead in interceptions with four.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio high school football: 5 things we learned in Week 9
