by FULL HIGHLIGHTS
CANTON, OH – The St. Edward Eagles won their 3rd straight Division One OHSAA State Championship, and their 7th overall with a thrilling 31-21 victory over Springfield. The Eagles broke free from a 21 all tie midway through the fourth quarter, to score 10 straight and close out the win!
The Eagles focused solely on the run game tonight as sophomore sensation Brandon White went off for 243 yards and 3 scores on 32 attempts. The weather and the tough pass defense of Springfield forced the Eagles to focus solely on the run. Quarterback Casey Bullock also shined as he ran for 67 yards and a score on 7 carries.
The passing game wasn’t much, but Kyan Mason had 4 catches for 31 yards and also ran the ball for 10 yards on a carry. The stingy Eagle defense shined once more as they held Springfield scoreless the entire second half. Their secondary held Brent Upshaw in check as he tossed for 97 yards on 12 of 18 passing with an interception.
A couple of Springfield Wildcats had nice nights on offense however as Ohio State commit Aaron Scott ran for 44 yards on 11 carries. Bay Bay Norman had a great night with 79 yards on 15 carries, but also a record setting 93 yard kickoff return touchdown.
After both teams failed to move the ball on their opening drives, St. Ed’s got it cooking with a 6 play, 65-yard drive in just 2:26. It was run heavy, with the big blow coming from a Brandon White 25 yard jaunt. The Eagles cashed in when Casey Bullock took it in from 6 yards out.
The next Eagle drive appeared to face a third and long when a post play personal foul from Springfield sparked the Eagles and enflamed the drive. Brandon White refused to go down, and blasted his way through the Springfield defensive line, play after play. White eventually scored on a 20-yard rumble that extended the St. Ed’s lead to 14-0 with 2:10 to go. It 8 plays for 77 yards in 2 minutes and 27 seconds. They were doing a lot, quickly!
Springfield struck back as they attempted to move it with a variety of runs. Aaron Scott ran a few beautiful misdirection runs to move the ball inside the St. Ed’s 10-yard line as the Wildcats faced a 4th and 3 from the 7-yard line. Another Scott run set them up with a first and goal from the 3-yard line. The next play resulted in a fumble, but Da’Shawn Martin fell on it to get the Wildcats on the board.
After forcing a punt, the Wildcats went right back to work and once again tasted success. The big strike coming on a 38-yard pass play from Brent Upshaw to Martin to move the ball inside the Eagles 20-yard line. Aaron Scott kept pushing the ball with the ground game and got them to the goal line. From the goal line, it was Bay Bay Norman slamming past the line to score and tie the game at 14 with 3:48 to play.
The Eagles have been very comfortable all season long having the ball with under 3 minutes to play in the first half, this was no different and they even had an extra 48 seconds to work with. They wasted no time marching down the field with ease for a go-ahead touchdown. It took 2:19, went 5 plays and accumulated 61 yards on the scoring drive.
Down 21-14, the Wildcats didn’t blink, and Bay Bay Norman took the ensuing kickoff 93 yards to score. And just like that, the game was tied once again at 21 each. The kickoff return was the longest in OHSAA State Finals history.
From there, the Wildcats went for broke and converted an onside kick to take over right away, on the happy side of the 50. However, poor clock management allowed the clock to run out as they reached the 1-yard line, but didn’t have enough time to run another play. Sending the game to halftime, tied at 21 apiece.
The second half began as the first did, with both teams forced to punt on their opening drive. From there, both teams fumbled, and the third quarter ended the same way it started, 21 each. A long and methodical drive by the Eagles to start the fourth, chewed up 5 minutes off the clock and resulted in a 36 yard field goal from Kellen Moyer to allow the Eagles to reclaim the lead, at 24-21 with a little over 5 minutes to play.
The Eagles tacked on one more score to make it 31-21 with 1:27 to play as Brandon White rumbled in for another touchdown. This time from three yards out to seal the victory!
