Davidson defense smothers Pickerington Central
By Steve Blackledge The Columbus Dispatch Sunday November 21, 2010 7:06 AM
Connoisseurs of fine defense left Upper Arlington's Marv Moorehead Stadium sated last night after central Ohio's two stingiest teams engaged in a bone-jarring Division I regional final.
Ultimately, it took two huge defensive plays in the waning seconds for Hilliard Davidson to hang on for a 13-6 victory over Pickerington Central as a sellout crowd screamed until the end.
"I guess we wanted to make sure everybody got their money's worth," Davidson coach Brian White said, eyes rolling for effect, after Pickerington Central had driven from its 7-yard line to scoring range in the final 95 seconds.
Successive completions of 25, 9 and 15 yards from quarterback Nick Jensen-Clagg to Tamani Carter advanced Pickerington Central to Davidson's 32.
After a spike to stop the clock, Jensen-Clagg lobbed a deep ball into the end zone that Notre Dame recruit Eilar Hardy got a hand on, but it appeared to be tipped away by Davidson's Casey Topp at the final moment.
"I got in his face the best I could and tried to keep him from catching it," said Topp, who intercepted Jensen-Clagg in the first half. "I'm not sure if I knocked it away or not. It's all kind of a blur. All I know is he didn't catch it."
Defensive end Keith Heitzman sacked Jensen-Clagg as time expired, sending Davidson (13-0) into a state semifinal against Huber Heights Wayne (10-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Heitzman, a Vanderbilt recruit, had three sacks, one batted pass and a forced fumble. White said Heitzman "played like a warrior."
"That last drive scared the crap out of me," Heitzman said. "I was so tired, but we all had trust in each other when the game was on the line. I was sick of seeing them hit us with 4- and 5-yard runs the whole second half like we did to them the whole first half, but we just sucked it up and refused to give up a big play."
Davidson held Pickerington Central to no first downs and zero yards in the first half while taking a 13-0 lead, but the top-seeded Tigers (11-1) turned the tables after halftime, allowing the second-seeded Wildcats just one first down.
Quarterback Jimmy Curtis scored on a 1-yard sneak, and J.D. Detmer made field goals of 32 and 47 yards to give Davidson the early jump.
"I told our guys at halftime that I didn't think 13 (points) was going to be enough, that I thought we needed to score again to put them away," White said.
"Pickerington Central is really good on defense, and I knew they'd get their bearings and the make the proper adjustments to shut us down. We were really hesitant to take a gamble. Our defense was playing so well, we hated to do something that might put that unit in a bind."
Pickerington Central came in allowing 4.3 points per game and Davidson 5.5.
Two interceptions and several untimely penalties put Pickerington Central in a fix it could quite recover from.
Grant Hammond scored on a 2-yard keeper with 5:33 left in the third quarter for the Tigers, who had the momentum most of the second half. The extra point kick was blocked.
The Tigers drove for a potential tying touchdown late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. But on fourth-and-1 at the Wildcats 18, Speedy Hammond was stopped about an inch short of the first down.
Both coaches called the play pivotal.
"That's what the playoffs are all about," Tigers coach Jay Sharrett said. "We made stops, they made stops. I knew our kids wouldn't roll over. They fought every minute to the final play. You can't ask any more from a group of kids than that."
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Connoisseurs of fine defense left Upper Arlington's Marv Moorehead Stadium sated last night after central Ohio's two stingiest teams engaged in a bone-jarring Division I regional final.
Ultimately, it took two huge defensive plays in the waning seconds for Hilliard Davidson to hang on for a 13-6 victory over Pickerington Central as a sellout crowd screamed until the end.
"I guess we wanted to make sure everybody got their money's worth," Davidson coach Brian White said, eyes rolling for effect, after Pickerington Central had driven from its 7-yard line to scoring range in the final 95 seconds.
Successive completions of 25, 9 and 15 yards from quarterback Nick Jensen-Clagg to Tamani Carter advanced Pickerington Central to Davidson's 32.
After a spike to stop the clock, Jensen-Clagg lobbed a deep ball into the end zone that Notre Dame recruit Eilar Hardy got a hand on, but it appeared to be tipped away by Davidson's Casey Topp at the final moment.
"I got in his face the best I could and tried to keep him from catching it," said Topp, who intercepted Jensen-Clagg in the first half. "I'm not sure if I knocked it away or not. It's all kind of a blur. All I know is he didn't catch it."
Defensive end Keith Heitzman sacked Jensen-Clagg as time expired, sending Davidson (13-0) into a state semifinal against Huber Heights Wayne (10-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Heitzman, a Vanderbilt recruit, had three sacks, one batted pass and a forced fumble. White said Heitzman "played like a warrior."
"That last drive scared the crap out of me," Heitzman said. "I was so tired, but we all had trust in each other when the game was on the line. I was sick of seeing them hit us with 4- and 5-yard runs the whole second half like we did to them the whole first half, but we just sucked it up and refused to give up a big play."
Davidson held Pickerington Central to no first downs and zero yards in the first half while taking a 13-0 lead, but the top-seeded Tigers (11-1) turned the tables after halftime, allowing the second-seeded Wildcats just one first down.
Quarterback Jimmy Curtis scored on a 1-yard sneak, and J.D. Detmer made field goals of 32 and 47 yards to give Davidson the early jump.
"I told our guys at halftime that I didn't think 13 (points) was going to be enough, that I thought we needed to score again to put them away," White said.
"Pickerington Central is really good on defense, and I knew they'd get their bearings and the make the proper adjustments to shut us down. We were really hesitant to take a gamble. Our defense was playing so well, we hated to do something that might put that unit in a bind."
Pickerington Central came in allowing 4.3 points per game and Davidson 5.5.
Two interceptions and several untimely penalties put Pickerington Central in a fix it could quite recover from.
Grant Hammond scored on a 2-yard keeper with 5:33 left in the third quarter for the Tigers, who had the momentum most of the second half. The extra point kick was blocked.
The Tigers drove for a potential tying touchdown late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. But on fourth-and-1 at the Wildcats 18, Speedy Hammond was stopped about an inch short of the first down.
Both coaches called the play pivotal.
"That's what the playoffs are all about," Tigers coach Jay Sharrett said. "We made stops, they made stops. I knew our kids wouldn't roll over. They fought every minute to the final play. You can't ask any more from a group of kids than that."
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