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Ohio high school football playoffs: Columbus area OHSAA live third-round scores, updates
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- Ohio high school football playoffs: Columbus area OHSAA live third-round scores, updates
We have reached the regional semifinals of the Ohio high school football playoffs. These central Ohio teams are in action Friday night : Big Walnut, Danville, Dublin Coffman, Grandview Heights, Harvest Prep, Hilliard Davidson, Licking Valley, London, Olentangy Berlin, Olentangy Liberty, Pickerington North, Teays Valley, Upper Arlington and Watterson.
We are covering three games, all in Division I. Frank DiRenna will be in Springfield, where Coffman will try to pull off its third consecutive upset when it takes on Centerville. Dave Purpura will be at the rematch between Olentangy Liberty and Upper Arlington at Westerville Central, and Scott Gerfen will be at DeSales for the first meeting between Pickerington North and Olentangy Berlin.
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Olentangy Berlin takes the field at DeSales for Friday night's regional semifinal against Pickerington North.
Watch OHSAA football playoffs on NFHS Network
OHSAA scores, updates from third round of Ohio high school football playoffs
Thanks to our sister papers in the USA Today Network, we'll also have coverage of Big Walnut-Ashland (Division II, Region 7), Teays Valley-Massillon Washington (Region 7) and Licking Valley-Watterson (Division III, Region 11).
Who's going to win Friday night? Follow along with the action all evening as this live blog grows.
Olentangy Liberty holds off Upper Arlington 17-13
Top-seeded Liberty (11-2) moves on to the Division I, Region 3 final against Pickerington North. UA, which beat Liberty 31-28 in OCC-Central play, finishes 10-3.
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Big Walnut defeats Ashland 28-10
The Golden Eagles (12-1) will play for the Division II, Region 7 title. Big Walnut Superintendent Ryan McLane posted on his X account that Nolan Buirley rushed for 322 yards on 24 carries. Big Walnut is the No. 1 seed in Region 7.
Olentangy Liberty leads with under a minute to play
Geno Saccoccia catches a 13-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Leonard with 54.6 seconds left. Liberty leads Upper Arlington 17-13.
Watterson moves on to Division III, Region 11 final
The Eagles (13-0) defeat Licking Valley (11-2) 30-0 and will play next Friday for their second consecutive regional title.
Teays Valley falls to Massillon
The Vikings finish 8-5 with a 48-14 loss to defending Division II state champion Massillon (11-2).
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Upper Arlington leads Olentangy Liberty by 3
UA finally took the lead back with 4:12 left, when Edward Oakley snuck in a 48-yard field goal to put the Bears ahead 13-10. That was 11 yards longer than the sophomore's previous best this season.
Olentangy Liberty, Upper Arlington still tied at 10
Liberty's Ben Godwin ends a UA possession with an interception in the end zone, but Liberty fails on a fake punt and UA takes over at the Patriots 36 with 6:25 left in regulation.
Pickerington North wins defensive battle
The Panthers run out the clock on Olentangy Berlin and win 10-7 to advance to the Division I, Region 3 final. North improves to 11-2. Berlin finishes 10-3.
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Nolan Buirley scores again for Big Walnut
Buirley runs for a 46-yard TD, giving Big Walnut a 28-10 lead with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.
Pickerington North still leads Olentangy Berlin
Pickerington North's defense has come up with two stops on fourth down and a blocked field goal in the second half. The Panthers have the ball and hold a 10-7 lead with 2:55 left.
Olentangy Liberty ties Upper Arlington
Liberty has tied the game by driving 70 yards in 12 plays. Ben Godwin uses his 6-foot-3 frame to catch Andrew Leonard's 20-yard pass right on the goal line and tie the game at 10.
Big Walnut takes two-possession lead on Ashland
Nolan Buirley scores again, this time on a 69-yard run, and the Golden Eagles lead 21-10 late in the third quarter.
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We have our first final score of the night
Dublin Coffman's magical run comes to an end with a 42-7 loss to Centerville in a Division I, Region 2 semifinal. The 14th-seeded Shamrocks finish 4-9. No. 2 Centerville is 10-3.
Upper Arlington grabs lead against Olentangy Liberty
UA strikes fast to start the second half, driving 75 yards in nine plays. Fifty-two yards came on Kyle Cox's pass to Wally Swiney on third-and-10. Swiney caught it off a deflection from Liberty defensive back Antonio Kish. On the next play, backup quarterback Luke Backes tossed a 2-yard scoring pass to Cal Thrush to put UA ahead 10-3. Thrush, a Michigan State commit as a defensive lineman, also has three tackles for loss, including two sacks.
Teays Valley's defensive scores a touchdown
Defensive lineman Tyler Tietz forces a fumble and returns it for a 48-yard touchdown. Massillon leads Teays Valley 42-14 with 7:38 to go in the third quarter.
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Watterson builds lead against Licking Valley
After a safety and Zack Weber's 34-yard TD run, Watterson leads Licking Valley 23-0 with 4:25 left in the third quarter.
We've got a running clock in Springfield
After forcing a punt on Dublin Coffman's first possession of the second half, Centerville quickly marches 72 yards and Ziere Alston scores on a 4-yard run on a reverse. The Elks lead 35-0 with 5:02 left in the third quarter and the game is now under a running clock.
Massillon's Tyler Hackenbracht is dominating game against Teays Valley
Courtesy of the Canton Repository's Cliff Hickman:"Tyler Hackenbracht has as many touchdowns on special teams (3) as total plays that Massillon has run on offense tonight. You read that correctly. Massillon leads Teays Valley 35-7 with 3:37 to go in the third quarter."
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Defenses dominating in Olentangy Liberty, Upper Arlington contest
After Liberty tied the score, the rest of the second quarter featured three combined punts. The teams go to halftime tied at 3.
Dublin Coffman trails Centerville 28-0 at halftime
For the second time, Coffman drives deep into Centerville territory before time runs out in the first half. Quarterback Amari Valerio-Hudson was sacked on the final play.
Pickerington North grabs lead on Olentangy Berlin going to halftime
North takes a 10-7 lead on a 10-yard run by quarterback Jarin Mock as time expires in the first half. The two-play scoring drive came after North knocked the ball from Berlin quarterback Aiden Eviston and recovered it at the Bears' 28. Eviston has 86 yards on 12 carries, and Mock has completed seven of 11 passes for 96 yards.
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Teays Valley gets on the scoreboard
Luke Burgett catches a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brady Farmer for Teays Valley's first points, but Tyler Hackenbracht returns the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Hackenbracht previously had punt return scores of 50 and 80 yards. Massillon leads Teays Valley 35-7 with 4:33 to go in the second quarter.
Centerville scores again against Dublin Coffman
Shane Cole's 49-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Swanson gives Centerville a 28-0 lead with 1:25 left in the first half.
Big Walnut now up 14-0 on Ashland
Nolan Buirley gets his second short TD run of the night and Eli Stumpf takes in the two-point conversion on a keeper, putting the Golden Eagles up two touchdowns in the second quarter.
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Dublin Coffman comes up short of end zone
After moving the ball to the Centerville 1-yard line, Coffman turns it over on downs. The Shamrocks trail 21-0 with 4:50 left in the first half. The Elks have held Coffman star quarterback Amari Valerio-Hudson in check for most of the half, while their offense has moved the ball at will.
Watterson widens lead on Licking Valley
Ben Uhlenhake runs 70 yards for a touchdown, giving the Eagles a 14-0 lead with 5:59 left in the first half.
Liberty ties UA at 3
Liberty's drive fizzles with incompletions on second and third down, and Sean Hendricks ties the game with a 24-yard field goal 15 seconds into the second quarter.
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Teays Valley down big against defending state champion Massillon
A Jalen Slaughter 77-yard touchdown pass to Braylyn Toles gives Massillon a 28-0 lead on Teays Valley with 57.9 seconds left in the first quarter.
Liberty is on the move
Liberty trails 3-0 as the first quarter ends, but it begins the second with second-and-goal at UA's 7. The big play on the drive to this point was a 43-yard pass from Andrew Leonard to Jake Struck on third-and-8, a play Leonard extended with his legs by evading a handful of would-be tackles.
Watterson scores first in matchup with Licking Valley
Zack Weber's 3-yard TD run gives the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 10:30 left in the first half.
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Dublin Coffman trails by three touchdowns
Centerville opens a 21-0 lead on Shane Cole's 40-yard TD pass to Soren Vitas with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
Pickerington North scores on first drive
North's opening drive goes 57 yards in 13 plays and stalls inside the 10-yard line. The Panthers settle for a 23-yard field goal by Brandon Fowler. Olentangy Berlin leads 7-3.
Upper Arlington takes lead on Olentangy Liberty
The Golden Bears struck first in their Region 3 quarterfinal against OCC-Central rival Liberty, using a 43-yard field goal from Edward Oakley to take a 3-0 lead with 6:56 left in the first quarter. Sophomore running back Drew Theado helped UA establish itself on the ground early, rushing for 21 yards on three carries to start the drive.
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Big Walnut takes early lead on Ashland on Nolan Buirley TD run
Dublin Coffman is in trouble early
Parker Johnson's 24-yard touchdown run gives Centerville a 14-0 lead on Coffman with 3:57 left in the first quarter.
Olentangy Berlin scores on opening drive
Alejandro Aguilar's 3-yard touchdown run gives Berlin a 7-0 lead over Pickerington North. The Bears' opening drive went 80 yards in 10 plays. Quarterback Aiden Eviston accounted for 60 yards rushing on the drive.
We've got our first touchdown of the night
Centerville strikes quickly. Ziere Alston takes the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown. Dublin Coffman is down 7-0 only 11 seconds into the game.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA playoffs: Ohio high school football scores, third-round games
