Westerville South topples Hilliard 21-14
By Steve Blackledge
Dispatch Sports Reporter
A fluke and a juke helped Westerville South stun fourth-ranked Hilliard 21-14 in a Division I regional football semifinal last night at Dublin.
Tom Prenoveau returned an onside kicked 70 yards for a first-half touchdown and Tony Terry put the icing on the cake with a 50-yard TD burst midway through the fourth quarter.
“As far as the final score goes, sure, those were the two plays that beat us,” Hilliard coach John Sines said. “I don’t feel that bad right now because honestly, they just went out and outplayed us tonight.”
With 3:55 left until halftime, Westerville South (10-1) appeared ready to pad its 7-0 lead, facing fourth-and-goal at the 4.Terry fumbled a pitch by quarterback Billy Owen, and Matt Cottrell of Hilliard recovered and rambled 98 yards for the tying touchdown.After a rough-the-kicker call, Rodney Chenos tried an onside kick that bounced directly into the hands of Prenoveau, who raced down the sideline untouched for his first career touchdown.
“They overpursued the ball a little bit, and our front four just crushed the other guys,” Prenoveau said. “Hey, they got a cheap one, we got a cheap one.
”Westerville South coach Rocky Pentello said his kickoff team was prepared for an onside kick.“We practiced for that cluster kick they do, and our guys did just what they’re supposed to do,” Pentello said.
Sines said it was a golden opportunity gone awry.
“That was the perfect time and the perfect opportunity for us there, kicking from their 45,” Sines said. “Ninety-nine times out of 100, they’re not even going to run it back at all. It was just a fluke play.”
After Westerville South had a bad snap on a punt deep in its own territory, Hilliard (10-1) got a 1-yard TD run by Durance Mitchell to tie it 14-14.With 5:49 left in the game, Terry- who had been reasonably quiet- finally broke loose with a stop-and-go move.
“I messed up so many times fumbling tonight. I was just waiting for a little daylight so I could explode,” said Terry, who had 154 yards on 24 carries.
“They caught us on a blitz and made a nice adjustment on the play,” Sines said. “That kid’s got that kind of ability.”
On South’s final possession, Pentello successfully rolled the dice twice on fourth down, drawing Hilliard offside at its own 45, then running out of punt formation at the Hilliard 44.
“The first one was a designed play to get them to jump, but we weren’t going to punt anyway,” Pentello said.“If they don’t go offside, we’re running a play. That was a big moment there. It chewed up a lot of clock and kept the ball out of their hands.”
South did a bang-up job on defense, holding Hilliard’s potent attack to a meager 94 yards.
Quarterback Cliff Rece completed only 4 of 17 passes for 31 yards, and receivers Mike Furrey and Mark Belcher, who had combined for 1,100 yards and 18 TDs were not factors.
“We told our corners, (Chris) Chiero and (Jason) Swafford, to keep those guys from making plays and if they didn’t they’d be coming out of the game and everybody would know who was responsible.” Pentello said.
Dispatch Sports Reporter
A fluke and a juke helped Westerville South stun fourth-ranked Hilliard 21-14 in a Division I regional football semifinal last night at Dublin.
Tom Prenoveau returned an onside kicked 70 yards for a first-half touchdown and Tony Terry put the icing on the cake with a 50-yard TD burst midway through the fourth quarter.
“As far as the final score goes, sure, those were the two plays that beat us,” Hilliard coach John Sines said. “I don’t feel that bad right now because honestly, they just went out and outplayed us tonight.”
With 3:55 left until halftime, Westerville South (10-1) appeared ready to pad its 7-0 lead, facing fourth-and-goal at the 4.Terry fumbled a pitch by quarterback Billy Owen, and Matt Cottrell of Hilliard recovered and rambled 98 yards for the tying touchdown.After a rough-the-kicker call, Rodney Chenos tried an onside kick that bounced directly into the hands of Prenoveau, who raced down the sideline untouched for his first career touchdown.
“They overpursued the ball a little bit, and our front four just crushed the other guys,” Prenoveau said. “Hey, they got a cheap one, we got a cheap one.
”Westerville South coach Rocky Pentello said his kickoff team was prepared for an onside kick.“We practiced for that cluster kick they do, and our guys did just what they’re supposed to do,” Pentello said.
Sines said it was a golden opportunity gone awry.
“That was the perfect time and the perfect opportunity for us there, kicking from their 45,” Sines said. “Ninety-nine times out of 100, they’re not even going to run it back at all. It was just a fluke play.”
After Westerville South had a bad snap on a punt deep in its own territory, Hilliard (10-1) got a 1-yard TD run by Durance Mitchell to tie it 14-14.With 5:49 left in the game, Terry- who had been reasonably quiet- finally broke loose with a stop-and-go move.
“I messed up so many times fumbling tonight. I was just waiting for a little daylight so I could explode,” said Terry, who had 154 yards on 24 carries.
“They caught us on a blitz and made a nice adjustment on the play,” Sines said. “That kid’s got that kind of ability.”
On South’s final possession, Pentello successfully rolled the dice twice on fourth down, drawing Hilliard offside at its own 45, then running out of punt formation at the Hilliard 44.
“The first one was a designed play to get them to jump, but we weren’t going to punt anyway,” Pentello said.“If they don’t go offside, we’re running a play. That was a big moment there. It chewed up a lot of clock and kept the ball out of their hands.”
South did a bang-up job on defense, holding Hilliard’s potent attack to a meager 94 yards.
Quarterback Cliff Rece completed only 4 of 17 passes for 31 yards, and receivers Mike Furrey and Mark Belcher, who had combined for 1,100 yards and 18 TDs were not factors.
“We told our corners, (Chris) Chiero and (Jason) Swafford, to keep those guys from making plays and if they didn’t they’d be coming out of the game and everybody would know who was responsible.” Pentello said.