Derrick Webb, Managing Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WILLIAMSPORT — Slant Double Fire, Double Turkey 15.
With a win in its sights, leading by a touchdown, that’s the play call that Circleville cooked up to finally put an end to Westfall’s hopes on Friday night.
With the Mustangs’ offense facing a 4th & 9 in overtime from Circleville’s 19-yard line, the Tigers’ defense, specifically junior Jacob Liston, chased Westfall quarterback Quinn Eberly to the sideline and didn’t give him a chance to get a pass attempt off.
It was the capper to a wild 42-35 victory that kept Circleville (3-0) unbeaten going into MSL play.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“You have to tip your hat to Westfall and coach [Logan] Stepp,” Circleville coach Jay Sharrett said. “Those guys went toe-to-toe with us. They poured it out and put it all on the line tonight. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do in overtime and, fortunately, it worked out. We got [Eberly] smothered [on the last play], got a timely holding call [before that] and here we are at 3-0.”
As the final score suggests, fans were treated to a back-and-forth pace all night long. Throughout the entirety of the contest, neither team held a lead larger than seven points.
Circleville scored first, taking its opening drive into the end zone. With 7:48 to go in the first quarter, Kole Nungester found paydirt from three yards out for a 7-0 tally.
But Westfall (2-1) immediately provided an answer.
After moving the chains on a 3rd and 14 play call, the Mustangs continued to call on quarterback AJ Paudicz to find open targets. Two completions to Quinn Eberly totaled 41 yards and set up Eli Wright for a two-yard touchdown plunge with 4:50 to go, forcing a 7-7 tie.
Circleville’s Hudson Phalin put his Tigers back ahead at the 8:12 mark in the second, calling his own number for a nine-yard touchdown and a 14-7 tally.
“Each week, Hudson gets more command of the offense and makes checks at the line,” Sharrett said. “We had some really good running lanes tonight and it’s because he checked the play at the line. He and I had already talked and had an idea of how we wanted to attack in overtime. We wanted to get our defense back out onto the field as quickly as possible. Fortunately, that’s the way it happened.”
However, the Mustangs punched back with 4:44 left in the first half. Wright scored his second touchdown of the night, this time from yard out, to make it 14-14.
Not to be outdone, Circleville regained the lead at 21-14 thanks to a 29-yard touchdown run from Ray Ezell — who was just getting started. That was with 2:10 left and was more than enough time for Eberly and Wright to lead WF on a game-tying drive, one that ended with a seven-yard touchdown run from Eberly, making it 21-21 at the break.
PHOTOS: Images from Circleville’s overtime win over Westfall
“Our coaching staff has done a tremendous job of player development,” Sharrett said. “There’s a lot of guys on the field right now that didn’t play one down last year. When we were going through camp and mandatory practices, some of these guys were like, ‘Holy Toledo, they’re really going to play me.’ But they’ve come out and played. Each week, that installment has shown itself. We haven’t panicked. Our guys have filled in roles in both offensive and defensive packages.”
Westfall received the football out of the intermission and was forced to punt. That’s when Ezell made another big-time play. The junior fielded the punt off a bounce, put multiple defenders in a spin cycle and shimmied his way 82 yards to the house, putting the Tigers up 28-21.
But, once again, the Mustangs refused to go away.
It took Eberly and company less than two minutes to force a 28-28 deadlock. He broke loose for an 85-yard touchdown gallop at the 7:08 mark in the third.
That trend continued to dominate the pace.
Phalin led his team on another scoring drive, one that ended with his second touchdown rush of the evening, this time from four yards out, to make it 35-28. Westfall then countered with a four-yard score from Wright with 9:20 to play.
That score remained until the end of regulation — that was after the Tigers drove deep into WF territory, only to have a 27-yard field goal attempt sail wide left.
In the extra time frame, Phalin quickly found the end zone from four yards out, producing the eventual final score. That set up Circleville’s defense to pound the nails in the coffin on 4th down.
“We had to be cognisant of that tunnel screen they hit us on a couple of times,” Sharrett said. “When you sit on that, you give up the edge play a little bit. But fortunately, we wrapped him up and Jacob Liston flushed [Eberly] out of the pocket and didn’t really give him a chance to set his feet, and we won the ballgame.”
In Week 4, Westfall will attempt to bounce back with a trip to Paint Valley. Meanwhile, the Tigers will try to keep their unblemished record intact, going to Logan Elm for the latest installment of the Backyard Brawl.
“These guys have a real resolve to them,” Sharrett said. “Next week, we’ve got Logan Elm, who went back-and-forth with [Westfall] last week. The way we’re doing it right now, a lot of the stuff is going to be decided in the fourth quarter. That’s why our guys have to take care of their bodies and really lock into our halftime adjustments. Hopefully, we can put another ballgame together.”
SPONSORS
KINGSTON NATIONAL BANK
PERFECTION ONE COLLISION CENTER
