Behind The Box Score

On the first weekend of high school football in Central Ohio, two dark horses from Columbus found themselves 1-0 after the opening week of play. The most shocking came from the likes of the Groveport Cruisers who upset highly ranked Westerville South 19-10 in front of a packet crowd at Cruiser Stadium. Limiting reigning district player of the year Jayshon Jackson to 133 yards and no scores, the Groveport defense remained strong for the majority of the game. Early on, it looked as if the Wildcats had taken control as Marcus Ball connected with Josh Llaneza for a 46 yard score to take a 7-0 lead. Striking back was the Cruisers with a long drive down the field, concluding with Shane Denny’s 1 yard touchdown run. After one, the Wildcats held a 10-7 lead. This was the last time the visitors would score as Groveport controlled the clock and the run, on both sides of the ball. Gashing the Wildcats defense, who is reeling the loss of Kent State freshman Derek Jones, Groveport ran the ball down South’s throat 39 times for 231 yards. Melvin Smith accounted for 166 yards on 24 carries including a touchdown in the second quarter. Nobody would score again until the fourth quarter when Denny scored a second time, this one from three feet out. As the clock dwindled to a close, the Cruisers found themselves on the winning side of a 19-10 upset against the #9 ranked team in the state of Ohio. This loss is cause for concern for Westerville, who matches up with Cole Stoudt and the Coffman Rocks next week in Ohio Stadium. Coffman, who torched the Olentangy Liberty defense for 390 yards, 163 of those coming from the legs of sophomore Bilal Williamson, is rolling on offense and has proven to be hard to stop.

In City Leage action, the Northland Vikings upset Eastmoor in an interleague matchup between two of the best teams in Columbus. Kevin Tooson’s team was led all night by Myles Taylor-Hicks, the dual threat Northland quarterback who scored twice on Friday. The Vikings took an early first quarter lead as Taylor-Hicks hooked up with Trey Bias for a 25 yard strike. Eastmoor would tie the game in the second quarter as Ron Tanner, who is headed to Ohio State, and Jalen Crosby connected for a 45 yard score. Going into halftime tied, Northland took a six point lead in the third behind Jarell Jones’ 3 yard touchdown run. Jones would score again in the fourth but was shortsighted as Ron Tanner led the EA Warriors to consecutive touchdowns in the final quarter, the last coming with a little over a minute remaining. Going into overtime tied, the second City League matchup to do so on Friday, as Briggs and Whetstone also went into the extra period, Northland would come out on top 25-19. Jones scored once again for Northland and an interception on Eastmoor’s first possession of overtime guaranteed the Vikings the victory. For Northland, this is a promising start to what many think will be a successful season. Behind Taylor-Hicks, who was one of the top quarterbacks at the Next Level Football Combine held at Grove City Christian early this month, Northland looks to take the north by storm this season. Traditionally, Brookhaven and Beechcroft have been the major powers but after the Bearcats were downed by Marion-Franklin 27-2 on Friday, a power shift seems to be coming into effect. The Vikings visit Central Crossing on Friday and hope to continue their early season success.