By Matt Florjancic
MaxPreps.com
As the sun drenched the FieldTurf inside Ohio Stadium, 68 of the state’s best high school football players strapped on the pads as preps one more time before heading off to college Saturday.
With tough defense and scores on two of the first three possessions, the North All-Stars earned a 31-9 victory over their counterparts from the South in the 63rd annual Ohio North-South Classic.
The win extended the North’s all-time series lead to 37-23-3, including three of the last four.
“It was an honor just to be picked to play in here,” North starting quarterback Ryan Radcliff of Fairview said. “It’s just a great experience because everyone is an all-stars. Everyone is great and [has] had awesome high school careers. It’s a blast because you get to play in “The Shoe”, on this field where the [Ohio State] Buckeyes play.”
Radcliff – a Central Michigan signee – not only started the game, but finished it by taking a knee in the waning seconds. Remarkably, the only play he was taken down behind the line of scrimmage was the play that iced the victory for the North, its third in four years.
Radcliff earned his spot in the game with the state’s third-highest career passing total of 11,038 yards. He also threw for 64 touchdowns this season.
For his efforts, Radcliff was selected as the North-South Classic Most Valuable Player.
“I was pretty confident in the line,” Radcliff said. “Our d-linemen are studs. They were giving our offensive line work all week. I knew they’d be ready and I had tons of faith in them. They obviously showed that they were awesome tonight.
“They’ve been running awesome routes all week, catching the ball and everything,” Radcliff said of his receivers. “They pretty much took it over out there.”
After winning the toss and deferring, the North squad held strong on defense, forcing a South punt. On the ensuing drive, the North All-Stars needed just six plays to march 69 yards for the game’s opening touchdown.
On second-and-10 from the South 18-yard-line, Radcliff flipped a pass out left to Devon Jennings of Euclid. Jennings, a 6-foot receiver heading to Ashland University, made a side trip to the end zone of Ohio Stadium.
With the defense pursuing and trying to take away his edge, Jennings outstretched his left arm, reached over the goal line and scored the touchdown.
“It’s been a humbling experience. It changed my life,” Jennings said. “We did a lot of great things that were off the field too.
“I saw the red end zone and said ‘I’m going to have to run through this guy to score.’ That’s what I tried to do.”
Jennings, who juggled another touchdown away from a defensive back in the third quarter, was named Offensive Player of the Game for the North All-Stars.
Mentor kicker Kevin Harper added a 30-yard field goal for the North before halftime. The score at the break was 17-0.
Against the Solon Comets this season, Harper kicked a state record 61-yard field goal.
The rules of the game give the trailing team a chance to go back on offense after scoring rather than risk injury with an onside kick.
Down 24-0 after getting stopped deep in their own territory on fourth down and giving up a North touchdown, the South put its first points on the board.
The nine-play, five-minute South drive, set up by a third-and-nine conversion near midfield, ended when Gallia Academy graduate Nick Stevens kicked a 50-yard field goal.
The South went right back on offense and needed only six plays to score its only touchdown.
South quarterback Robbie Davia of Harrison Central connected with Olentangy product Kenny Anunike three times on the drive. The final connection was a 22-yard South touchdown.
“Not everybody gets to get into this game,” Anunike, the South Offensive Player of the Game said. “I’m truly honored that my coach and I were nominated [and] put in the pool to be selected for this game. I was also selected as captain, too. That gave me a leadership role that I had to fulfill.
“I really wanted to,” he added of scoring a touchdown. “There were about two or three guys hanging onto me. I didn’t care; I’m getting into that end zone. I’m getting into that red.”
The three passes Anunike caught on the South’s touchdown drive were his only receptions of the game. Anunike will play tight end for the Duke Blue Devils in the fall.
North defensive end Andrew Schaetzke of Toledo St. John’s had a solo sack of Jeremy Ebert and contributed on several other stops en route to the Defensive Player of the Game. Teays Valley end Walt Stewart was the South Defensive Player of the Game.
Matt Florjancic, a freelance reporter and a sports show host for WOBL and WDLW, covers Northern Ohio for MaxPreps.com