John Bruce, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
KINNIKINNICK — Brice Johnson is good at football.
The senior running back solidified his legendary status at Zane Trace on Friday night, running for 350 yards in a must-win game over archrival Unioto to clinch a share of the Scioto Valley Conference championship.
Johnson was the individual standout in the Pioneers 28-7 win, but a standout performance from ZT’s offensive line, alongside efficient quarterback play from sophomore Bryson Payne, helped the Pioneers (9-1, 6-1 SVC) turn a tie game at halftime into a three-score celebration.
“He’s taken it to another level during his senior year,” Zane Trace coach Dylan Wears said of Johnson. “As somebody that likes to see kids grow up and be good people, not just good football players, I think his monster year is not just because he’s a good player. It’s also because he’s really dialed in on being a leader and working incredibly hard.”
Unioto (7-3, 5-2 SVC) took the opening kickoff, but a bad snap was recovered by Zane Trace’s Blake Brower for the first turnover of the night. The Shermans’ defense stood tall, though.
Donzel Newlun gots his paws up to block a field goal attempt, keeping the game scoreless in the opening moments.
Following another stop from the Pioneers’ defense, Zane Trace caught its first break of the night when an errant pitch to Johnson hit the turf and bounced right back to the half back.
Once Johnson picked up the fumble, he rumbled inside the 5-yard line before being brought down. Two plays later, the senior took an outside toss and cruised seven yards into the end zone.
The Shermans looked to answer with a lengthy drive through the air, but Zane Trace’s Mason Hartley read an out route perfectly for an interception — his 10th on the season — in the end zone to keep the Pioneers’ lead.
The stop would be temporary, however, as the Shermans forced a punt and received the ball in Zane Trace territory late in the half.
Senior quarterback Isaac Coy connected with Brayden Harsha through the air two times, before a defensive pass interference call set the Tanks up at the Pioneers’ 15-yard line. Coy found Harsha again, this time on a bubble screen, where Harsha made two defenders miss and scampered into the end zone for a late touchdown to even the score.
Coming out of the break, the tide turned immediately with Johnson getting the first carry, bouncing to the outside and going 67 yards before being caught from behind inside the Shermans’ 20-yard line.
After being stuffed on three consecutive plays, the Pioneers elected to go for it on 4th down, trusting Payne to make a play. Following a high snap, Payne barely got a tunnel screen out to Jacob Stauffer, who followed a block from Blake Brower to put the Pioneers ahead 14-7 with a 15-yard score.
CREDIT: John Bruce/SOSA
“Bryson was kind of thrown in as a sophomore and he’s progressed throughout the year,” Wears said. “Running the offense, getting things going, I don’t say this lightly, his operational aspect of the game is as good as I’ve had as a head coach. You rarely have to tell him things twice.”
The Shermans moved the ball on their following possession, reaching the red zone before facing a 4th down of their own. The Tanks ran a well-designed throwback pass to Coy with a wall of blockers in front of him, but Johnson was not fooled by the misdirection and pulled down Coy a yard short of the sticks for a huge defensive stop.
Two plays later, the Pioneers avoided disaster as they recovered another fumble, this time after reaching a first down. That first down would be the start of a long, time-consuming drive that saw the Pioneers pick up several third down conversions before ultimately facing another 4th down early in the fourth quarter.
The Shermans sold out on the run and Payne pulled off a perfect play-action pass, eventually finding a wide open Hudson Williams who coasted into the end zone with a 36-yard touchdown with 9:53 to play.
The next few moments locked up the win for the Pioneers, with a hard hit on a scrambling Coy knocking the senior out of the game. The Shermans picked up a first down before turning it over on downs on their next set, giving the ball back to Johnson and the Pioneers just inside of their own 40-yard line.
Johnson put the final stamp on the game, breaking a tackle in the backfield and rolling the next 61 yards to the end zone for his second score of the night producing the 28-7 final.
The win gives Zane Trace a share of the SVC championship alongside Huntington, marking the program’s first league title since 2022. It is the 10th SVC championship for the Pioneers, eight of which have come since the 2001 season — the most in the league in that time frame.
The Shermans will await the final OHSAA computer rankings to see if they have earned a home game in Week 11.
The Pioneers will also wait on the final rankings, but appear to have earned themselves not only a home game, but also a bye in Week 11 and a much-needed week off to rest and recover.
“We love playing here. I hate bus rides, and in the playoffs, they can get long,” Wears said. “So we’re ecstatic we’re going to be playing here again, for sure. I haven’t had a bye yet. But we’re glad we do have it. We’ll use it to rest and, hopefully, get healthy.”
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