Ohio State club team shutouts Wright State 48-0 in Great Lakes East Conference Club Football Action

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos, News

David Burnworth | September 24, 2023

Sunday afternoon I drove to Fairborn, Ohio to cover the college club game against #2 Ohio State and th home team Wright State University. I was invited by Wright State Special Teams Coordinator Donnie Smith to cover the game. Before the game, I got some thoughts from some of the Raiders players before the game. Amarion Chapman Who played high school football in Decatur, Alabama for Austin High School if he had any doubts about winning the game and he said he had no doubts because the team was well prepared, and had a lot of players so that depth would not be a problem, and the team is playing with a chip on their shoulders. Chad Swanson from Wayne High School in Wayne, Ohio said about the Buckeyes #2 ranking that it was just a number and he loved playing against top-ranked competition and he also felt the team was capable of pulling off the upset. Carter Mansell the Raiders 6-3, 300-pound tackle out of New Carlisle, OH, where he played his high school football for Tecumseh told me that getting a chance to continue his football career was a dream come true and that it not only helped make him a better person but a better college student. Cody Smith who played high school football for nearby Canterville said that he felt playing club football has led to some feelers from other places to play football at a higher level and that playing for Wright State helps him to be able to help out with area high school coaches and be more involved in the local community. He also said how much fun it is and that was his fourth year playing. The last player I was able to speak to before the game was, Jackson Smith. He also said that he thought that playing club ball could lead to bigger things and that he was using this to better the game and that it meant a lot for him because he did not play football in high school. He also said that playing at this level has aided in building good character on and off of the field and that his team is like a big brotherhood and coming from Cincinnati that meant a lot to him. I spoke to a member of the coaching staff and he said that the game plan for the offense was to slow the game down to keep the potent Ohio State offense off the field and to have a slow and steady pace to aid in limiting mistakes.

The Buckeyes gave a glimpse of what was to be when Spencer Moore (Lakota East) found Patrick Parrish (Fairborn) for a big 30-yard gain. A 20-yard run from Johnathan Thiele (Madeira) set up the Buckeyes first score which came on a 1-yard plunge from Moore. David Rive (Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, San Juan, PR) nailed his point after kick making this a 7-0 game. The OSU defense who pitched a shutout in week one against Oakland University (69-0) showed right away that they planned on keeping the streak alive with Parrish sacking freshman quarterback Jesse Tipton (Tippecanoe) for a loss of five.

The Buckeyes offense needed just three plays to score again with Moore hitting Sam Garber(Worthington Kilbourne) for a 15-yard touchdown to increase the Buckeyes lead to 14-0. Both teams would record sacks on the next drive, for Ohio State Trey Jones (Peters Township, PA) and then for Wright State, Cody Smith recorded the sack.

The Buckeyes capped off an 11-play, 82-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass going to Zach Hayes (Nazareth Academy, Ill) making this a 21-0 game heading into the 2nd quarter of play.

A little under three minutes into the quarter this became a 28-0 game on a 78-yard touchdown pass to Abdou Keita (Westerville North) who looked like he could be playing at a much higher level. After Reagan Little (Danvers, MA) threw Alexander Wood (Saint Clairsville) to the ground for a six-yard loss on a run play that was doomed from the start the Raiders offense tried to show some life with Matthew Gorrasi Jr. (Cincinnati Western Hills0 threw into triple coverage where Chad Swanson (Wayne) made a leaping catch for a gain of 25. The drive froze from there and the Buckeyes were quick to go the 80 yards needed for their next score, with the score coming on a 52-yard catch by Christian Wright (Olentangy Orange( making this a 35-0 game, with 5:14 left in the half.

The Buckeyes offense went back to work with the result being a 2-play, a 39-yard drive ending on a 30-yard touchdown catch by David Cooper (Kenston) making this a 41-0 game. The half would produce two more good plays, with the first coming on a sack by the Buckeyes, Daniel Sankiewicz (Maine West, Ill), and then it was a run of nearly 50 yards from the Buckeyes Jalen Haley (Zanesville) that would see Haley breaking a tackle, then reversing field to electrify the large crowd.

The running clock rule applies to the league causing the final half to fly by. The Buckeyes would get a 28-yard touchdown catch from Keitato making it a 48-0 game and that would be the final score. Before the clock hit 0.00 the Buckeyes had two interceptions. Jackson Rittman (Westerville Central) and Joseph Umba (St. Charles0 The lone bright spot to the never-quitting Raiders came on another improbable catch from Swanson)

My stats

Buckeyes

42 plays

512 yards

Passing 18-20, 5 TDs57 plays

Wright State

97 yards

Passing, 13-24 1 Int