Ohio high school football state finals: Live updates from Watterson, Liberty games

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Ohio high school football state finals: Live updates from Watterson, Liberty games

Dave Purpura and Andy Resnik, Columbus Dispatch · The Columbus Dispatch

Sat, Dec 7, 2024 ·

12 min read

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For central Ohio high school football teams, what started Aug. 1 with the first day of practice ended Friday with Watterson and Olentangy Liberty playing in state finals at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.

Watterson (16-0) defeated Toledo Central Catholic (14-2) 19-14 in the Division III title game , avenging a 27-7 loss in last year's state final .

Liberty (14-2) , which reached a final for the first time after losing in semifinals in 2016, 2017 and 2018, defeated Cincinnati Moeller (14-2) 28-14 in Division I .

Here are live updates from Friday's wins by Liberty and Watterson.

Victory formation for Olentangy Liberty

Liberty closes out a 28-14 win over Cincinnati Moeller for its first state championship. Liberty quarterback Andrew Leonard outplayed his Moeller counterpart, Ohio Mr. Football Matt Ponatoski, finishing 17 of 23 for 272 yards and three touchdowns to Christian Moulton. Jake Struck rushes for 99 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries and catches four passes for 74 yards.

Penalty extends Olentangy Liberty drive

Cincinnati Moeller's Christian Harris jumps offside on fourth-and-5, giving Liberty a first down. We're now under 3 minutes to play. The Patriots lead 28-14.

Olentangy Liberty keeps drive alive

One third-and-10, Andrew Leonard fires a 12-yard strike to Geno Saccoccia for a first down with 5:25 left. Liberty got the first down after two short runs by Jake Struck and a false start.

With Olentangy Liberty expecting onside kick, Cincinnati Moeller kicks deep

The kickoff goes out of bounds, and Liberty starts at its 35-yard line.

Ohio Mr. Football throws first touchdown pass

Cincinnati Moeller has its first scoring drive of the game; its first touchdown was on defense. Matt Ponatoski throws a 3-yard touchdown pass to Landen Adams. Olentangy Liberty leads 28-14 with 7:36 remaining. Ponatoski is 16 of 30 for 112 yards.

Olentangy Liberty turns ball over on downs

Cincinnati Moeller takes over at its 38-yard line after Christian Harris sacks Andrew Leonard on fourth-and-7. The Crusaders, down three touchdowns, take over as the clock approaches 10 minutes remaining.

Olentangy Liberty gets a fourth-down stop

Liberty stuffs Moeller on fourth-and-1, and the Patriots get the ball back at midfield with 42 seconds left in the third quarter. It's now 28-7 Liberty going to the fourth.

It's a hat trick for Andrew Leonard and Christian Moulton

For the third time today, Liberty's quarterback has thrown a touchdown pass to his No. 1 receiver. This one covers 14 yards, and the Patriots lead 28-7 with 1:39 left in the third quarter. Leonard is 16 of 21 for 260 yards and Moulton has eight catches for 161 yards. The other touchdowns covered 20 and 61 yards.

Olentangy Liberty scores in two plays

After the fumble recovery, Jake Struck runs for 22 yards and Andrew Leonard throws a 61-yard touchdown pass to Christian Moulton. It's 21-7 Liberty with 7:05 left in the third quarter. Leonard is 13 of 18 for 217 yards with two touchdowns to Moulton, who has five catches for 118 yards.

Olentangy Liberty recovers Cincinnati Moeller fumble

Driving for the tying touchdown, Moeller's Jovan Love caught a pass and was weaving through the Liberty defense when he was stripped of the ball. Liberty's Lincoln Gardner recovers with 7:22 left in the third quarter. It's still 14-7 Liberty. Moeller QB Matt Ponatoski, who was named Ohio Mr. Football on Thursday, is 9-of-18 passing for 60 yards.

Second half is underway

Moeller runs for a first down on a fake punt on fourth-and-10, keeping the first drive of the second half alive.

It's halftime in the Division I state final

Olentangy Liberty is dominating this game, but the Patriots lead only 14-7 because of the fumble return in the final seconds of the first half.

Cincinnati Moeller is back in the game

After a Moeller fumble, Liberty moved the ball to the Moeller 20. On fourth-and-1, Liberty called a Jake Struck sneak out of the wildcat. He was stuffed at the line of scrimmage and as he reached for the first down, Moeller stripped the ball. Cooper Gearhart scooped it up and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown. It's now 14-7 Liberty with 18 seconds left in the first half.

Olentangy Liberty foils a Cincinnati Moeller fake punt

The pass goes into coverage and is incomplete, and Liberty takes over at the Moeller 36-yard line. But a holding penalty and an incomplete pass leads to a Liberty punt on fourth-and-19. The punt goes into the end zone for a touchback.

Jake Struck and Andrew Leonard are unstoppable

Liberty's defense forces a punt and Jake Struck shakes off a handful of would-be tacklers on a 24-yard punt return to the Moeller 24. Andrew Leonard then scrambles for 9, but on the next play, Liberty is called for holding and then Leonard is sacked. On third down, Leonard rifles a 20-yard touchdown pass to Christian Moulton. It's 14-0 Liberty with 7:24 left in the first half.

Cincinnati Moeller defense holds

The Patriots are forced to punt, and they pin the Crusaders at the 5-yard line.

Christian Moulton caught three touchdown passes in Olentangy Liberty's state championship victory.

Olentangy Liberty leads Cincinnati Moeller 7-0 after first quarter

The Patriots pick up 27 yards on a pass from Andrew Leonard to Christian Moulton, and a 1-yard run by Jake Struck ends the first quarter. Liberty will be at midfield for a second-and-nine when the second quarter starts.

Olentangy Liberty defense holds again

The Patriots force Moeller to punt. They take over at their own 22-yard line with 2:01 left in the first quarter.

Olentangy Liberty gets on the board first

Jake Struck gives Liberty the lead with a 1-yard touchdown run. Struck set up his score with a 25-yard reception to the 1. Struck caught the ball in traffic and was tackled just short of the goal line. It was originally ruled that he scored, but the touchdown was overturned on replay. Struck then ran it in on the next play. Liberty leads 7-0 with 3:54 left in the first quarter.

Olentangy Liberty defense gets stop

After the interception, Liberty's defense stops a run on fourth down and Moeller turns the ball over on downs.

Moeller gets game's first big play

After a couple first downs, Liberty quarterback Andrew Leonard has been intercepted by Moeller's Lincoln Murphy.

Liberty to receive opening kickoff

Moeller won the toss and deferred.

Watterson wins the Division III championship

The Eagles' defense stood tall in the final minutes, holding Central Catholic outside midfield and stopping the Irish on fourth-and-24 to clinch a 19-14 win and their third state championship. It is Watterson's first title since 2010 (its first title came in 2002).

Watterson coach Brian Kennedy and his players celebrate their Division III state title.

Watterson takes the lead with 1:29 left

The Eagles are 89 seconds from the Division III state championship.

Quarterback Drew Bellisari scored on a 9-yard keeper to put Watterson ahead 19-14, capping a 15-play, 80-yard drive that started with 7:12 left.

Watterson went for a two-point conversion to make it a seven-point lead, but offensive pass interference nullified the play. The Eagles tried again from the 18, but Bellisari was tackled on the play.

Now the Eagles must hold a five-point lead for less than 90 seconds to capture the championship.

Watterson draws within a point on long touchdown pass

Eagles quarterback Drew Bellisari completed his first two passes of the game on successive attempts, and the second went for a 52-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Dominic Theado, a tight end, on fourth-and-1 at the Watterson 48.

That made it 14-13, but Mike Antry's extra-point attempt that would have tied the game was blocked with 10:26 left in regulation.

Central Catholic snatches the lead right back

But moments after Weber's touchdown, Central Catholic took the lead right back when Jeremiah Fuller returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown of his own. The Irish lead 14-7 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.

And that was the score as the game moved into the fourth quarter. Weber has just surpassed the 100-yard mark, and the Eagles will start the final quarter of regulation with first-and-10 on their own 39.

Zack Weber TD run ties it for Watterson

Finally, the Eagles have pulled into a 7-7 tie with 1:06 left in the third quarter.

Senior running back Zack Weber broke two would-be tackles in scampering straight up the gut 28 yards to the end zone, capping a 12-play, 90-yard drive that consumed 4:15 and started with a key fourth-down stop on the other end of the field.

And we have ourselves a brand new ballgame.

Watterson defense holds to start second half

Central Catholic again drove deep into Watterson territory, using 6:39 off the clock to advance to the Eagles' 9 before a Beydoun lost a yard on a fourth-down keeper.

The Irish hurt their cause with successive negative-yardage plays and a hold on the drive, although they got some of that yardage back on a Watterson personal foul.

Now the Eagles, still trailing only 7-0 with 5:21 left in the third, have a chance to shake off their first-half offensive doldrums and potentially turn the game around.

Also as I was writing this update, attendance has been announced at 4,410 as the sun sets on northeast Ohio.

Halftime statistics favor Central Catholic

With the score only 7-0 in favor of the Irish, the statistics are a tad more lopsided.

Here are the important numbers …

Total yards:Central Catholic 162 (70 rush/92 pass), Watterson 44 (all on the ground. Drew Bellisari has the longest run, of 12 yards.)

First downs:Central Catholic 10, Watterson 2

Top Irish stats:Ali Beydoun 11-of-17 passing, 92 yards and 3 rushes-11 yards, TD; Tyler Morgan 14-61. Four receivers have two catches apiece for Central Catholic.

Top Eagles stats:Zack Weber 9 carries-27 yards and Drew Bellisari 7 carries-17 yards. Bellisari is 0-of-3 passing and has three punts for 117 yards.

Also:Watterson has yet to run a play across the 50. They have four penalties for 50 yards, including the interference call late in the half. Four Central Catholic penalties for 38 yards.

Central Catholic takes lead into halftime

The Irish drove to Watterson's 6 in the final seconds of the first half, aided by a questionable pass interference call on the Eagles' Joe Hayes, but got no further and took a 7-0 lead into halftime.

Central Catholic kicker Blake Moody missed a 23-yard field goal attempt wide left as time expired.

Central Catholic got the ball back with 2:09 left in the half. On fourth-and-8 at Watterson's 30, Beydoun looked down the right sideline for Victor Singleton, who was covered by Watterson's Joe Hayes. There was some contact between the players, but Hayes was called for interference despite appearing to keep his eye on the ball and not signficantly impeding the progress of Singleton, a junior who has more than 20 offers as a cornerback, including from Ohio State.

Watterson gets game's first turnover in second

The Irish drove to the Eagles' 23-yard line early in the second quarter before Watterson's Ben Uhlenhake, a sophomore linebacker, came up with the first turnover of the game.

Uhlenhake, one of six sophomore starters on the defense, intercepted Beydoun and gave Watterson possession, thwarting a drive that could have seen the Eagles go down two scores.

But Watterson could not capitalize and was forced to punt. Central Catholic began its next drive at its own 7 with 3:28 left in the half.

Central Catholic strikes first

Sophomore quarterback Ali Beydoun's 4-yard touchdown run with 3:58 left in the first quarter put the Irish ahead 7-0.

There was a momentary delay to check whether Beydoun crossed the goal line, but the play stood. Some television replays indicated the call could be overturned.

Beydoun, who is 3-0 as a starter in relief of injured senior Isaiah Fox, scored to cap an eight-play, 52-yard drive that took 3:14.

That remained the score after a quarter. Central Catholic hurt itself in the final two minutes of the quarter with personal foul and holding calls, and Watterson will start the second with first and 10 at its own 37.

Live from the press box, it's almost gametime

Greetings from high atop Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, where the sun is shining about 20 minutes before the Division III state final. That's more than it did last year at this time for the first Watterson-Central Catholic matchup.

And it's certainly better than Thursday night, when it snowed throughout the the Division II final. Fun to watch from home, but maybe not as much from in the stands.

In any case, Central Catholic won the opening coin toss and deferred, so Watterson gets the ball first with a chance to set the tone. The Eagles rushed for only 68 yards in last year's final but should get considerably more than that today with a solid ground game led by senior Zack Weber.

We shall see. Kickoff beckons. Stay with us all afternoon for updates.

Poll: Vote for central Ohio's best football state championship victory since 2000

Urban Meyer, Charles Davis , Al Washington wish Watterson well ahead of state final

Former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer was among those who had a pregame message for the Eagles in a video posted on the team's X account. Meyer's son, Nate, played football and baseball at Watterson.

How to watch 2024 OHSAA football state finals

All championship games air live on Spectrum News 1. They also can be streamed live via OHSAA.tv , where each game can be purchased for $9.99.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA football: Live updates from Watterson, Liberty state finals

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