Waterford’s Kameron Johnson (23) returns a punt with Danville’s Aidan Mickley (11) and Ashton Spaulding (15) in pursuit. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
WATERFORD – Waterford realized first-hand why its portion of the Ohio Division VII regional bracket was turning out to be something however chalk.
For the third straight week, No. 11 Danville defeated the next seed after holding off No. 2 Waterford 19-14 in a regional semifinal on Friday evening.
While the Blue Devils rode the shoulders of the offense of their first two wins, protection is what made the distinction as Waterford’s passing recreation was picked off thrice. The Wildcats additionally fumbled twice for a complete of 5 turnovers.
“Danville was strong up front,” Waterford coach Eric McCutcheon mentioned after his program closed out the season at 9-3. “They were mixing it up, coming off the edge a little bit. It was kind of confusing our guys a little bit. But for the most part, it was evenly matched in the trenches tonight.”
Waterford additionally rose to the event defensively and restricted a Danville workforce averaging 57 factors within the postseason to simply 187 yards of whole offense. The distinction got here down to caring for the soccer – the third and most crucial landing for the Blue Devils was arrange on a foul snap to the punter which left the ball sitting on the 2-yard line and Waterford trailing 12-7 with lower than 5 minutes remaining in regulation.
Waterford’s Maddox Antill (31) and teammate Tylor McDougal (65) mix on the sort out of Danville receiver Wesley Payne throughout Friday’s Ohio Division VII regional semifinal. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
Danville wanted only one play to punch the ball in the long run zone as Nolan Ridgeway’s TD on the 4:50 mark elevated the hole to 19-7.
One minute later, Waterford was proper again within the thick of issues as Wildcat quarterback Avery Pottmeyer accomplished 4 straight passes in as many makes an attempt for 54 yards to full a scoring drive capped by Trevin Zimmer’s 5-yard reception with 3:50 displaying.
Down 19-14, Danville started the following drive at its personal 21 and managed one first down earlier than Waterford compelled the Blue Devils to punt. Waterford used all three timeouts within the course of and nonetheless had 1:09 to work whereas taking on at its personal 32.
Pottmeyer related with Hayden Jones for a 16-yard completion on first down and had to depart the pocket on the next play for a 1-yard acquire.
After spiking the ball and nonetheless 51 yards from the top zone with 39 seconds on the clock, Pottmeyer threw deep close to the purple zone into heavy protection. With a number of Blue Devils defenders within the neighborhood and just one inexperienced jersey to be discovered, the move was intercepted by Danville’s Wesley Payne.
Waterford’s Hayden Jones will get wrapped up by a Danville defender throughout Friday’s Ohio Division VII regional semifinal. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
The Blue Devils (8-5) went into victory formation and took one knee to safe this system’s fourth straight regional last look.
“I knew Waterford wouldn’t back down – I knew they wouldn’t quit,” Danville coach Matt Blum mentioned. “To be sincere, we’re in all probability going to see them once more subsequent yr within the playoffs with how younger of a roster they’ve and the way younger of a roster we have now.
The Blue Devils’ senior class of seven gamers have performed in 57 video games.
“We’ve been able to make things happen in the back half of the season,” Blum continued. “We got our guys in the right spots and they finally started getting some confidence.”
With two stingy defenses on the sector from the outset, Waterford and Danville almost performed a scoreless first half. Waterford broke by way of on a one-play drive as Pottmeyer hit Brayden Smith in stride alongside the sideline for a 26-yard TD completion on the 2:50 mark of the primary quarter.
Waterford’s Ryker Hutchins (64) talks with a Waterford assistant coach on the sidelines throughout Friday’s Ohio Division VII regional semifinal. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
Staring at 7-0 deficit, Danville answered in meticulous trend – overlaying 65 yards in 9 performs. With 26 seconds remaining earlier than halftime, freshman quarterback Parker Proper rolled to his left and located Aidan Mickley for a 34-yard TD completion.
The two-point try failed. At halftime, Waterford led 7-6.
Danville, nevertheless, was ready to pull off a 2-for-1 after taking the opening drive of the second half 66 yards in 9 performs. Three straight carries for Proper contained in the Waterford 5 lastly ended with a 1-yard TD dive and a 12-7 Blue Devil lead.
Proper threw for simply 66 yards on 8-of-17 passing, however didn’t throw an interception. He led the workforce in speeding with 65 yards on 19 carries.
“We left some passes out there – there were some incompletions I thought we had down the field,” Blum mentioned. “We could have had some big game-breakers, but for a freshman he had a heck of a game.”
Waterford coach Eric McCutcheon surveys the motion on the sector throughout Friday’s Ohio Division VII regional semifinal (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
For Waterford, Hayden Jones rushed for a team-high 72 yards on 17 carries and caught three passes for 12 yards. The junior additionally accomplished a halfback move for twenty-four yards. Pottmeyer, additionally a junior, accomplished 10-of-17 passes for 105 yards.
“We used our timeouts extremely well there at the end which gave us plenty of time for our offense to go down and score,” McCutcheon mentioned. “It just wasn’t meant to be, but I am super proud of our effort.”
Waterford graduates simply 5 members from this yr’s roster.
“We are going to miss the seniors, for sure – they have contributed so much this year,” McCutcheon mentioned. “From the place we have been, we weren’t precisely certain what we have been going to have. We knew we had to have the younger guys step up. We’ll maintain tweaking with them and maintain getting higher as a result of we’re so excited for subsequent yr as effectively.
“All the fans should be proud of how they all fought tonight.”
Contact Kerry Patrick at [email protected]