'It was a wild one': Anderson football pulls out DII playoff win over Harrison
WEST CHESTER – Anderson High School tried to run away. Harrison High School chased them down and made it interesting, if not downright scary, for the Raptors.
In the end, though, top-seeded Anderson posted a frenetic 50-36 win in the Division II football regional semifinal Friday, Nov. 11, at Lakota East High School.
How frenetic? It took until the sixth possession of the game before somebody didn’t score a touchdown. The teams traded quick-strike drives early. Harrison led 15-14 after the first quarter, but Anderson ran off 28 unanswered points to seize a 42-15 advantage in the third.
Undaunted, the Wildcats put up 21 straight points of their own to make it a one-score game at 42-36 with about 10 minutes to play.
“Our offense played great and then it played really badly,” Anderson head coach Evan Dreyer said. “Our defense played well, then it didn’t, then it did. It was a wild one.”
Indeed.
Brodey Berg made the difference for Anderson. He finished the night with four touchdowns, including the final score with 6:04 on the clock to thwart Harrison’s comeback bid.
He had plenty of help from his offensive line.Berg said, “They’ve been doing great. As a group, they’re so close on and off the field. We all just kind of follow their lead.”
Junior quarterback Justice Burnam also had a big game, completing 18-of -22 passes for 235 yards and a pair of scores, including a 39-yard strike to Trace Jallick on a double flea flicker to give Anderson its largest lead.
“It’s a little bit like March Madness,” Dreyer said. “You survive and advance and you play again next week. We glad to keep playing.”
Wildcats head coach Derek Rehage praised his team’s resilience in the face of a big deficit.
“They’ve never quit all year,” he said. “They fight. They have a fighting mentality and they never stop fighting. They didn’t tonight, either. I’m very proud of them.”
Senior salute
Rehage said making a deep playoff run after a 1-9 season a year ago was due in large part to a senior class that included McKain, Luke Rogers, Jayden Thompson, Sam Markarian, Donovan Casey, Stryker Reverman, Bruce Becker, Kyle Hater, Joe Banks, Cam Wong and Will Woy.
“They just forever changed our program,” he said. “We’d come off three down years, but they were in the weight room all summer, buying into what we were trying to do and setting the tone.”
The Raptors improved to 12-1 with the win, while the Wildcats fell to 9-4.
What's next?
Anderson advances to face the winner of the other DII semifinal between second-seeded Troy and third-seeded Withrow, both of whom were 11-1 entering play Friday night.
“I don’t think it really matters who we play,” Dreyer said. “We’re back to where we started this journey last year (in the regional finals). No matter where we play or against whom we’re playing, we have a chance to keep playing another week and play for a trophy. That’s what it’s all about.”
Anderson 50, Harrison 36
1Q – AND Brodey Berg TD run (Landon Goethe PAT) 7-01Q – HAR Dickie Engle TD pass to Luke Rogers (Landen Anderson PAT) 7-71Q – AND Justice Burnam TD run (Goethe PAT) 14-71Q – HAR Cole Koops TD run (Engle conversion run) 15-142Q – AND Berg TD run (Goethe PAT) 21-152Q – AND Burnam TD pass to Michael Smith (Goethe PAT) 28-152Q - AND Berg TD run (Goethe PAT) 35-153Q – AND Burnam TD pass to Trace Jallick (Goethe PAT) 42-153Q – HAR Cohen Hering TD run (Anderson PAT) 42-223Q – HAR Donavan McKain interception return for a TD (Anderson PAT) 42-294Q – HAR Engle TD pass to Preston Flick (Anderson PAT) 42-364Q – AND Berg TD run (Burnam to Caden Piening conversion pass) 50-36 1 2 3 4 FHAR 15 0 14 7 36AND 14 21 7 8 50
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio high school football: Anderson wins wild one over Harrison
