MARION — Highland stopped a Marion Pleasant drive deep in Scots’ territory with just one minute left in the game on Friday to preserve its 22-18 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference win over the host Spartans.
Justin Staton was held to a season-low 87 yards on 26 carries for Highland (3-2, 3-1), but Matt Young had a 60-yard TD run on his way to 95 yards. Overall the Scots had 314 total yards to 278 for Pleasant (1-4, 1-3).
Highland took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Young’s scoring run, but the Spartans came back to cut the lead to 7-6 with a 58-yard touchdown pass to David Carroll from Corey Kubbs. Pleasant’s Corey Nielsen gave his team its only lead, 12-7, on his 12-yard TD run with 9:41 to play, and it took nearly the rest of the half for the Scots to respond. With Staton stymied, it fell to Young to score with 58 seconds to play in the half, this time on a 16 yarder which, with Staton’s conversion run, gave Highland a 15-12 halftime lead.
The third quarter was important for the Scots, as they used a 7:50 drive to increase their lead and keep the Spartans off the field. Staton finished off the drive with nine seconds left in the period on a 1-yard run, which increased Highland’s lead to 22-12.
The Spartans needed two scores to come back for the win, and got the first on Brandon Slade’s 38-yard run with 9:05 to play in the fourth quarter. But Pleasant missed on the extra point, leaving the Spartans in need of a touchdown for the victory.
The Spartans did get the ball back, and had first down on the Scots’ 23. Pleasant worked down to the 14, but was left with a fourth-and-1 play. Highland smoked out the play with 1:00 to play, denying the first down, then ran out the clock.
Jake Ulrey completed 3-of-7 passes for 50 yards for the Scots, and Matt Stooksbury had a 29-yard catch.
Highland will return home for an MOAC contest with Elgin at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Redskins 56, Vikings 17
JOHNSTOWN — Utica broke one record and tied another on Friday night in its 56-17 victory over Mid-Buckeye Conference rival Northridge.
With only five games completed this season, Scott Cline caught two touchdown passes to set a new Redskin record with eight. That broke a record held by six previous players of seven for a full 10-game schedule. Jason Hoar, the person who threw those touchdowns, tied a school record with four TD passes in the game, matching the mark first set by Harry Klockner in 1957 against Centerburg and later tied by Rob Potes against Granville in 1983.
Hoar was 10-of-16 for 291 yards and four scores, and also ran 10 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Justin Newsome scored touchdowns three different ways for Utica (3-2, 2-0), via pass, rushing and a kickoff return.
Despite trailing 496-267 in total yards, the Vikings (1-4, 0-2) got on the board first, leading 7-0 on Tony Stanley’s 72-yard run with 10:22 left in the first quarter. The Redskins got most of the points back within two minutes, as Hoar found Newsome for a 71-yard touchdown catch with 9:00 left to trail 7-6. Hoar completed a drive later in the period, scoring from 1 yard out with 3:35 left which, with Newsome’s 2-point run, left Utica up, 14-7.
Northridge had a drive stall in the Utica red zone in the second quarter, but Brandon Hull lifted a 27-yard field goal with 6:13 to play in the half to cut the deficit to 14-10. However, on the next drive Hoar struck again, taking off on a 65-yard touchdown run to lift the Redskins to a 20-10 lead. Utica finished the half with another long touchdown, a 60-yard pass to Cline with 2:05 left which put the Redskins on top, 28-10, at the break.
Jake Torrens’ safety with 7:26 left in the third quarter gave Utica a 30-10 lead, and as reward got to catch a 61-yard touchdown pass from Hoar with 5:07 to play in the period. A fumble gave the Redskins the ball on the Northridge 19, and Cline caught his second TD of the game, 14 yarder, to put Utica up, 44-10.
In the fourth quarter, Newsome had an 8-yard TD run for a 50-10 Redskin lead with 9:13 to play. Colt McDaniel made the score 50-17 with his 20-yard TD run for the Vikings at the 5:53 mark, but Newsome took the ensuing kickoff back 87 yards to finish the scoring. Newsome finished with 199 total yards.
Utica will travel to Loudonville for a 7 p.m. start on Friday.
