Epic Battle in the Shoe Ends in a Loss for South
Led by the rushing assault of Jayshon Jackson, the Westerville South Wildcats gambled but came up miserably short in a 21-20 loss against Hilliard Davidson in part of Kirk Herbstreit’s Varsity Football Series. Jackson, a transfer from Central Crossing, had a coming out party in Saturday’s contest. Having not been mentioned during the pregame, Jackson outperformed his former middle school teammate in Davidson’s Rico Butler, rushing for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson scored first on a 10 yard run where he nearly broke the ankles of two Davidson defenders. Using his size and strength, Jackson was essential to a passing offense that struggled for the most part.
With former receiver Tevin Favor operating under center, the Wildcats stormed back from a 21-14 deficit with less than five minutes remaining. With 11 seconds left on the clock, Favor delivered a pass into the back of the end zone where Ball State commit Jack Tomlinson leaped over the Davidson defender to cut the game to one. Forced with a tough decision of either kicking the extra point to take the game into overtime or go for two, South head coach Rocky Pentello decided to pick the latter. On a play that had worked several times during the game, Favor faked a run to Jackson who looked to have a gaping hole if the ball would have been handed to him, then threw a quick pass across the middle to Tomlinson. Jumping the route, Jake Trupiano got his right arm into Tomlinson’s body to disrupt the pass and give Davidson the win.
On a play that should have been called for pass interference, Davidson left the Shoe with a stolen win. On the opening kickoff, Tomlinson was credited with a fumble when he was clearly down, which resulted in a Davidson touchdown. With Watterson next on the schedule, this Westerville South bunch is one of the best in the OCC and should prove that statement with each game.
As Favor is the favorite to land the starting job, this spread offense should flourish this season. Running read plays the entire game, Jackson weaved and ran circles are around the Davidson defense compiling nearly 200 yards of total offense. With Cincinnati, West Virginia and Ball State among his interests, Jackson looks to be one of the best backs in the city, as even a stout Davidson defense could hardly contain him. Only time will tell how far this team can go but with the performance today, the only thing the South players should do is hold their heads up high. With the officiating against them, the Wildcats proved to have the resiliency and tenacity I was expecting out of them in the pregame. Look for another possible matchup in the playoffs later this season, as both teams are very talented and the results were shown on the field today.
