NEW RICHMOND
Anything can happen on a full moon, including breaking a 25-year losing streak to one of the best high school football teams in Southwest Ohio.
Brady Young found ol’ reliable Peyton Abner for a game-winning 31-yard touchdown pass on an untimed down in New Richmond’s thrilling 41-37 victory over Clinton-Massie to open American Division play on a beautiful, clear, fall evening at New Richmond Stadium.
“Unbelievable. Unbelievable,” New Richmond coach Brian Pitzer said. “The kids played their fricking butts off, our defense made stops at times and Clinton-Massie is going to score. I told our kids that we are either winning this game on a last-second play or it’s not going to be good because they are too good of a football program to blow out.
“We talked about doing our job all week, and great players made great plays. We have never beaten them since 2001, and I played and coached against them at Greenfield McClain when they were in the SCOL, and I’ve never beaten them. It’s an unbelievable win for everybody.”
It was New Richmond’s first football victory over Clinton-Massie since 2001 and gave the Lions a big boost in their quest for a fifth consecutive postseason berth.
“It’s great,” Dylan Wolf said. “Beating them gives us a better chance to beat teams left on our schedule because the teams we have left to play don’t have the kind of hard defense that they have, and other teams don’t have that same passion and drive that they (Massie) have on offense. They were pushing that rock. I won’t lie, we’ve got the next few games.”
Massie kicker Jace Horner connected on a 37-yard field goal with 13 seconds left to give the Falcons a 37-35 lead. On the final timed play in regulation, the Lions went with a type of hook-and-ladder setup, with Dylan Wolf getting the lateral and working upfield before being tackled with no time left on the clock. However, Wolf drew a facemask, giving the Lions an untimed down at Massie’s 31-yard line.
“The defender was in front of me so I cut inside and tried to make the most of it,” Wolf said. “I was scared because the clock hit zero and I got tackled, but the kid got me by my facemask and I was thankful. I thanked God like, all right, we gotta get this dub.”
A game cannot end on a defensive penalty.
“Oddly enough, we had practiced for the first time all year in-game situations this week, and we actually called a play called Stanford,” Pitzer said, referencing ‘The Play’ when Stanford used a five-lateral return to beat Cal in 1982.
Young rolled to his right and rainbowed the ball to Abner, who leaped and caught the ball past the outstretched hands of Quinn McCoy for the game-winning touchdown.
“We had single back-side coverage with our fastest guy, Waylon Willis. We peaked at him; they had it double-covered, and we threw it to Peyton, who is our best receiver and the best receiver in the league with the best quarterback in the league and that’s what happens,” Pitzer said.
Young knew from the start who he was going to.
“I was looking for Peyton,” he said, with a smile. “Peyton is my guy, and I had faith that he was going to catch it.”
The Lions snapped their two-decade-plus skid to Massie by overcoming a 20-point first-half deficit.
“We understood that it was self-inflicted,” Pitzer said. “Nothing against them. They got great field position, they are a good football team and they did what they were supposed to do in those situations. … But we felt good coming out of the half. We just scored, and we had momentum.”
The Falcons scored touchdowns on their opening possession of the game, following a Lions’ three-and-out on their first offensive drive and following the first of two Brady Young interceptions.
New Richmond looked to get back into the game with 5:17 left in the second quarter when Young was picked off in the end zone. However, New Richmond forced a punt, and Eric Miller blocked it, setting the Lions up at Massie’s 24-yard line with 2:34 remaining.
Young found running back Dylan Wolf on a 20-yard screen pass, and the senior, playing in his second game at back New Richmond since transferring from Georgia, scored from a yard out to put the Lions on the board, 20-7, with 46 remaining.
The Lions double-dipped by scoring on their opening possession of the third quarter, culminating in a 3-yard touchdown reception by Leland Hammons to complete a 14-play, 81-yard drive to close the game to 20-14 with 6:11 to go in the third quarter.
New Richmond’s defense stepped up when Hunter Hold sacked quarterback Brody Webb, giving the ball to the Lions on Massie’s 36-yard line. One play later, Hammons caught touchdown pass No. 2 on a 36-yard pass from Young. Elijah Taggert’s extra point gave the Lions their first lead of the game, 21-20, with 3:15 left.
Brody Shaner then forced a fumble on Massie’s first play on its next drive, which was scooped up by Dallas Klinker and returned 33 yards to cap the Lions’ 28 unanswered points.
The Falcons got back into a rhythm offensively by scoring on back-to-back offensive possessions to take a 34-28 lead with 10:16 left in the fourth quarter.
New Richmond answered when Young found Thomas Uhlenbrock for a 70-yard catch-and-run down to Massie’s 5-yard line. Three plays later, Hammons scored for a third time with a 4-yard pass in the flats to put New Richmond back on top, 35-34, with 7:22 remaining.
“Dylan is a beast. Their defense played hard, and Dylan’s running just opened up so many options for me, and I’m just so thankful that he’s back,” Hammons said. “That play was a good call by Pitzer, and I’m just thankful, man.”
Massie converted on fourth and 1, and Corban Cartner scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:09 left, but a hold eventually forced the Falcons to settle for the 37-yard field goal, setting up the Lions’ game-winning heroics.
A TEAM WIN
All facets contributed to the Lions’ historic victory.
The Lions offense did their thing both through the air and on the ground, while the defense got the scoop-and-score by Klinker and Holt’s sack-fumble that eventually led to a New Richmond touchdown on offense.
On special teams, Miller’s blocked punt set up New Richmond’s first touchdown on the night.
“Anytime you are going to have that — a blocked punt, a scoop-and-score, a fumble, you are increasing your odds to win statistically,” Pitzer said. “Then our offense played well, and defense played well. All three phases basically got us points at some point in time.”