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Ohio high school football: Late TD lifts Anderson past Big Walnut in state semifinal
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- Ohio high school football: Late TD lifts Anderson past Big Walnut in state semifinal
DAYTON – Big Walnut's bid for its first state title since 2007 ended Friday night, but not without a fight against Cincinnati Anderson in a Division II semifinal at Welcome Stadium .
Justice Burnam's 1-yard touchdown run with 33 seconds left lifted Anderson (15-0) to a 28-24 win and a berth in the state final against Avon at 7 p.m. Thursday in Canton . Avon beat Akron Hoban 35-10 in the other semifinal.
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Big Walnut (13-2) trailed 14-0 after one quarter, but rallied to take two second-half leads. Nolan Buirley 's 24-yard TD run with 4:13 remaining gave the Golden Eagles their final lead at 24-21.
Buirley finished with 120 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries, again carrying the Eagles' offense.
"They're a great team," Buirley said of Anderson. "We worked really hard. We put everything into our game. We just didn't come out on top."
Big Walnut takes advantage of turnovers
Trailing by two touchdowns heading to the second quarter, the Eagles used an opportunistic defense and four turnovers by Anderson to nearly pull off a comeback win.
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Down 14-7 in the second, Clint Stover intercepted a Burnam pass, giving the Eagles the ball deep in Anderson territory and leading to Buirley's 4-yard TD run for a 14-all tie at halftime.
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Big Walnut's Eli Stumpf is brought down in the second half of a 28-24 loss to Cincinnati Anderson in a Division II state semifinal Friday at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.
After another Anderson turnover early in the second half, Big Walnut took its first lead at 17-14 on Jake Neff's 37-yard field goal.
And after falling behind 21-17 on Burnam's 5-yard TD run, Big Walnut capitalized on another turnover, leading to Buirley's go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. Austin Kowasaki's interception off a tipped pass set up the score.
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"We've been in this spot before this year," Big Walnut coach Curtis Crager said. "We have tough, resilient, hard-nosed kids that never quit, and that's a testament to them. I love these guys. I love this team. We fought all year. A lot of people didn't think we'd be here, but these kids did."
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Cincinnati Anderson's Jayden Egbert celebrates his team's 28-24 win over Big Walnut in a Division II state semifinal Friday at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.
Anderson coach impressed with resiliency of both teams
Anderson coach Evan Dreyer said his team was fortunate to escape with the win.
"Big Walnut was an unbelievable opponent, they never gave up," Dreyer said. "Throughout the season, they kept getting better. They have younger talent, and that younger talent got more experience and they just kept on getting better. ... Our experience helped us in the end to keep playing and get a huge victory.
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"We were worn down, but our defense played their tails off. They got us some stops late."
Burnam completed 18 of 22 passes for 247 yards with two interceptions and rushed for 90 yards and three touchdowns with two fumbles.
Cincinnati Anderson's Durrell Turner tries to run through the tackle of Big Walnut's Eli Helton during a Division II state semifinal Friday at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.
The turnovers were "one of those stats that lied to us tonight," Dreyer said. "Turnovers are supposed to haunt you and we got lucky. We didn't play very well in taking care of the football. I thought if we had four turnovers, we would have lost tonight. It's one of those things where you wake up tomorrow morning and you try to tell kids that ball security has to be better to win a state championship."
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Durrell Turner rushed for 98 yards on 15 carries and Aiden McClanahan had six receptions for 96 yards.
"We never lost confidence (after failing behind in the fourth quarter)," Turner said. "We keep our composure. ... Big Walnut is a really good football team. Their defense is really good and (Buirley) is pretty good, but we got the job done. We did what we had to do. We overcame adversity."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA football: Late TD lifts Anderson past Big Walnut in state semi
