CLEVELAND, Ohio — The official road to a three-peat started Friday night for Glenville.
Glenville (8-3), seeded fifth in Division VI, Region 13, defeated No. 12 Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (5-6), 47-20, in a first-round game of the OHSAA playoffs.
The Tarblooders will take on No. 4 Beloit West Branch in the regional quarterfinals, while the Lions’ season ends.
The back-to-back defending champions have recorded dominating wins in the opening round the past two seasons: a 46-8 win over Napoleon in 2022, and a 44-0 win over Lima Bath in 2023.
This time around, it wasn’t smooth sailing at first.
The Lions came out aggressive from the start with a 35-yard connection from senior quarterback Ryan Lipowski, to his fellow senior wideout, Nick Dietrich on the first play of the game. That series ended in a field goal, and that 3-0 lead was the Lions’ lead of the night.
They even caught Glenville off guard with an onside kick, though they didn’t recover.
Glenville’s response to the aggressive start, and for most of the game, was simple: give the ball to Chris Newell Jr. and stay out of his way.
The senior running back ran on all of Glenville’s seven plays in their first series, gaining all 55 yards on the ground and ultimately scoring on a 3-yard run for a 7-3 lead.
It was the run game that carried Glenville into finding its rhythm and wearing down the Lions.
By late in first half, Glenville extended the lead to 26-3, with all four first-half touchdowns coming from the run game.
A hundred of Newell‘s 163 rushing yards, and three of his four rushing touchdowns, came in the first half. The only other touchdown of the half came from quarterback LaMarques Greenwood II, who escaped the Lions’ defensive pressure during the Tarblooders’ fourth series and ran left end for the 20-yard score.
After their opening series, the Lions’ next four series’ ended quickly. Three of them were three-and-outs, and one ended in an interception on the first play by Glenville’s Jaylen Edwards.
The Lions didn’t score again until their sixth series of the game, where Lipowski found wide receiver Brendan Sawitke, in the end zone for 35 yards.
The Lions scored again before halftime, settling for a field goal to cut the lead to 26-13. However, the Lions may ride the bus home thinking about a “what if” moment on the first play of their last series of the half.
Lipowski found wide open Blake Dumermuth downfield, who had his eyes on the end zone, but was stopped yards away for a 51-yard reception. If not for Edwards’ hustle for the tackle, it could’ve been a potential game-changing touchdown.
The Tarblooders kept a hold on the second half with three touchdowns, including a 46-yard rushing score by Newell and a 33-yard connection from Greenwood to London Hearn.
There’s no question regarding the talent Glenville holds, but more so who will step up from this young group.
They continue to fill the void left by Bryce West and Damarion Witten, both playing for Ohio State. Also Fred Johnson Jr., who plays for Louisville, and D’Shawntae Jones, last year’s Division IV co-Offensive Player of the Year.
Those are only a few of the players who set the state championship foundation this young group has now taken on.
This story will be updated.