St. Francis de Sales (Columbus, Ohio) quarterback Nick Gentile tried to downplay the significance of what occurred last Friday, but there were some factors that were difficult to ignore.
Most obviously, the sting from the Stallions’ 35-7 loss to
Cardinal Mooney (Youngstown) in the Division III state championship game last year hasn’t been forgotten.
Although the Cardinals’ personnel barely resembled the team that went 15-0 last season including also beating DeSales 21-14 during the regular season, DeSales wanted nothing less than to exact revenge for what occurred a year ago.
The Stallions did so, winning 41-31 to improve to 3-1, as they re-confirmed that they should remain one of the state’s teams to beat in Division III. DeSales lost 13-10 in overtime on Sept. 10 to area rival New Albany, a Division II team.
“I don’t think that it was all about revenging the state title game from last year, but it’s a huge team victory,” Gentile said. “Having a couple guys out and getting a victory like this is awesome.”
The most glaringly absent from the celebration for DeSales was junior running back Warren Ball, one of MaxPreps’ preseason top 100 juniors to watch. Ball, who recently verbally committed to Ohio State and had 334 yards and six touchdowns rushing through three games, did not play because of an ankle injury.
Gentile rushed 29 times for 116 yards with three touchdowns on Friday.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2001 and are off to a 2-2 start. Nearly all of the components of the team that had won 17 consecutive games before falling to Lakewood (Cleveland) St. Edward 37-3 on Sept. 10 graduated, other than kicker and punter A.J. Fox who has offers from Air Force and Akron.
DeSales’ Chris Rock, who has verbally committed to Michigan, has struggled to make an impact early on as he adjusts to opposing offenses running the opposite direction. DeSales senior linebacker Sam Borghese has starred defensively early on with 11 sacks.
In other news of the week from Central and Northern Ohio:
2. Pickerington Central is back: The Tigers had a bye week after beating Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Frommel Smith 36-20 in the Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic on Sept. 6 in Ohio Stadium.
They returned in dominating fashion last Friday with a 26-0 victory over Lancaster, a game which helped them avenge their only loss from last year’s regular season.
Central held the Gales to just 112 yards on 50 carries as safety
Eilar Hardy, a Notre Dame recruit, led the way. Hardy also returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown.
3. Solon stays on fire: A year after going 12-1 and losing in a Division I regional final, the Comets are off to a 4-0 start.
Cardale Jones led Glenville over Anderson.
Photo by Scott Seighman
In a 38-13 victory last Friday over previously unbeaten Parma, Solon’s
Kyle Hammonds rushed for 220 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Quarterback
Chris Humphrey completed 10 of 15 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns.
Hammonds has verbally committed to play for Ohio University.
4. Glenville responds: Glenville (Cleveland), rated No. 11 in the Xcellent 25, improved to 4-0 with a 34-7 win last Saturday over Cincinnati Anderson.
After 17 starters showed up late for a practice two weeks ago, Tarblooders coach Ted Ginn Sr. suspended them from a 39-6 victory over Cleveland Rhodes. With those players back in the fold last Saturday, quarterback
Cardale Jones threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way.
5. Elyria Catholic edges Hartley: In a matchup of Division IV powers,
Elyria Catholic (Elyria) edged
Bishop Hartley (Columbus) 34-28 in overtime last Friday.
Elyria Catholic finished with 514 yards of offense, with quarterback
Danny Reaser completing 25 of 36 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns. He hooked up with Conor Voreis for a 7-yard play-action touchdown pass in overtime to help his team improve to 4-0. It was the first loss this season for the Hawks, who are averaging 43 points.
TOP PERFORMERSDerik Rudolph, Eastmoor Academy (Columbus): During a 55-36 win over Columbus West, the senior running back shined last Friday with 311 yards rushing and touchdowns of 7, 3 and 6 yards on 30 carries.
Richie Sanders, Mentor Lake Catholic: The senior running back rushed for 290 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cougars to a 31-14 victory over previously unbeaten Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit. Lake Catholic improved to 3-1.
Jake Schneider, Maumee: On the way to helping his team paste Sylvania Northview 31-8 last Friday, the dual-threat quarterback rushed for 179 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries and completed 15 of 22 passes for 194 yards and another score. The Panthers were a Division II playoff team last year and are off to a 3-1 start.
COMING THIS WEEKGahanna at Dublin Jerome, boys soccer: The defending Division I state-champion Gahanna boys soccer team won its first eight games, giving up a combined two goals during that stretch. One of the Lions’ toughest regular-season games could come Thursday when they travel to Dublin Jerome, also a defending district champion.
Gahanna was No. 1 in the most recent National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.
Morgantown (W. Va.) at Steubenville, football: The Big Red are off to a 4-0 start after advancing to a Division III state semifinal last year and should face one of their toughest games Saturday when they face Morgantown. While the Big Red shut out three of their first four opponents, the Mohigans are averaging 49.5 points.
Marion-Franklin (Columbus) at Walnut Ridge (Columbus), football: In a matchup of 4-0 teams Friday, the visiting Red Devils will look to avenge a 21-14 loss last season against the Scots. Both teams made the Division II playoffs last year, with Marion-Franklin advancing to a state semifinal.
RECRUITING NEWSArchbishop Hoban (Akron) junior defensive end
Latroy Lewis reportedly has been offered a scholarship by Ohio State, according to ScoutingOhio.com. Lewis, a 6-foot-4, 230-pounder, also reportedly has been offered by Cincinnati and has received interest from Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Alabama and Oregon. …
Austin Traylor, a senior defensive lineman and tight end from Walnut Ridge (Columbus), took an official visit last week to Wisconsin. He also plans to visit Michigan, Michigan State and Arizona, who all have offered him scholarships. Traylor, who had eight sacks through four games, also has received interest from schools from the SEC and ACC. …
Pickerington North senior Darien Bryant, a 6-4, 215-pound defensive lineman and tight end, was offered last week by Kansas. He also has offers from a list of schools that includes Nebraska, Maryland and Duke, according to ScoutingOhio.com
BRIEFLYWesterville South senior running back
Jayshon Jackson is central Ohio’s leading rusher through four games with 998 yards. After getting off to a slow start in the scoring department, he has seven touchdowns over the last three weeks. … The defending Division I state-champion
Hilliard Davidson football team is off to a 4-0 start and has given up just 9.6 points over their first four games, posting three shutouts. Davidson has a Division I recruit at linebacker in senior
Keith Heitzman, who has committed to Vanderbilt.
Jarrod Ulrey covers Central and Northern Ohio for MaxPreps.com. He covers prep sports for ThisWeekSPORTS.com and can be reached at julrey@thisweeknews.com.
