Westerville South Wildcats conquers Westerville North Warriors 21-13

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David Burnworth | September 23, 2023

Last night I drove to Westerville South High School for the first time since 2018 where I watched Westerville Central defeat Westerville South. On this night I was going to watch the original Westerville rival game pitting Westerville North against Westerville South. The last time North won this game was back in 2005 by a score of 14-10.  If you are wondering is this still a rivalry game I will say going into it I would have said no, but once I arrived at the stadium almost an hour and a half before kickoff, I learned very quickly that the fans believed it was and once I got into the stadium the atmosphere was electric added by the players on the field.

Zay Furman would get the action started when he got to Westerville North running back. Kayden Childress for a loss of two. Later on the drive, the Warriors would get a 51-yard run from Lem Reynolds would blast off for a 51-yard gain to help set up the first North score that came on a 1-yard run by quarterback Ronald Jackson. After John Link made good on the point after kick we had a 7-0 North lead with 8:35 left in the opening quarter.

The Wildcats wasted no time getting their offense going. A 22-yard catch from Nasir Phillips on a pretty thrown ball by Dominic Birtha got things heading in the right direction. Facing a fourth and eight the Wildcats would go for and convert when Birtha connected with Phillips again. Nasir would cap the 8-play, 65 drive-off when he broke two tackles to score from 20 yards, with Ethan Rozen being true on his point after kick we were locked up at seven with 6;20 left on the clock.

A bad snap turned into a 20-yard loss for North when  Neyo Thomasgot to Jonathan Stevens at the 4:16 mark of the quarter. Jackson would dance his way to a loss of four when Ian Smith put him on the turf.  The drive continued into the second quarter where a bad snap caused Link to field the ball on the punt with his knee touching the ground giving the Wildcats a first and goal on the Warriors 6-yard line. Quinn Ingram would go 6 yards to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead with 11:49 showing on the clock.

The South defense used a nice play by London Vickory who got to Jackson for a loss of four to shut down the North offense and quickly get the ball back to the Wildcats offense. The South offense needed just 5-plays to go 46 yards to make this a 21-7 game with Jordan Wheeler scoring on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 9:05 left in the half.

On the ensuing kickoff, it appeared Will Solomon coughed the ball up with Jonathan Adarquah-Yiadom recovering it for South but the refs talked it over and gave the ball back to North. North found themselves facing a fourth and two at the 6:47 mark where they elected to go for it and that turned out poorly for them when Stephens was stuffed on the play by London Vickroy.

On the ensuing drive, Phillips made a catch took a hit, and fumbled the ball where Javier Matthews pounded on it for North. Jackson, who struggled to throw the ball would get a leaping catch by Vari Adams for a gain of 20 yards but seconds later Jackson would get picked off by Antonio Armistead.

Westerville North would get the last laugh in the quarter when Stevens busted free for an 8-yard touchdown run. The point-after kick was blocked by Dylan Shoemaker to make this a 21-13 game. The drive lasted for 12 plays and totaled 61 yards.

The fourth quarter did not see any scoring but there were some good plays. First, Jackson was able to find Solomon for a 27-yard gain. The South would get a sack on Jackson with Preston Kawa and Ian Smith doing the honors for a loss of ten. Jackson would rebound from the sack to hit Solomon for a 17-yard gain on fourth and three. The last big play of the game came when Jackson was crushed by Vickroy causing a fumble that Zay Furman recovered for the Wildcats.

My Stats

North

71 plays

213 yards

passing 7-26 1 INT

South

66 plays

227 yards (48 in the 2nd half)

Passing 10-21 1 TD

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