COLUMBUS — A couple of quarterbacks shot to the top of the attention charts for Ohio high school playoff football fans after the second weekend of postseason action.
One of them outshone even his father, who happens to be the head coach at Ohio State.
Columbus St. Francis DeSales quarterback R.J. Day, son of OSU football coach Ryan Day, set the school record for single passing yards with 482 (unofficial school record) and three touchdowns in a dramatic, final-seconds win over Ashland, 33-29.
“That’s the most that’s ever been thrown in my house. It’s hard for me to say that,” Day said on the Buckeye Roundtable on 97.1 The Fan. “I can say I never threw for 480.
“I’m proud of him. He loves it. He puts a lot into it. There’s a lot that comes at him. He played great. He really did,” the Buckeyes’ boss said.
“Now that game is over with. We have Massillon coming into town. He better not be reading his press clippings.”
R.J. Day threw the game-winning, 3-yard touchdown pass with five seconds left in foggy conditions to Jordan Karhoff, a four-star Ohio State recruiting target in the class of 2027.
The 6-foot-4 Karhoff – a junior with more than 30 Division I college offers – wrestled the ball away from Ashland’s Jordan Ferguson on the play. A junior, R.J. Day’s recruiting is picking up steam too. He took a recruiting visit to Purdue last week during the Buckeyes win at West Lafayette, Ind.
“To go 90 yards to score and win the game with 5 seconds to go, what a drive,” said Stallions head coach Ryan Wiggins, whose squad took over possession down 29-26 with 2 minutes left and no timeouts. “And our season’s been that way – that was our fifth time where we’ve been down in the fourth quarter and have been able to come back and win.”
The game-winning catch was a jump ball that could’ve gone either way. But Day had confidence in his tight end.
“(Dax Middleton and Karhoff) have been with me since I was a little kid, so just growing up with them and having chemistry with them is a huge thing,” said Day, who ended his night 31-of-45 passing.
“You want to get your best players the ball at the time it matters most – that’s when it comes down to players and not really plays,” he added. “I just wanted to give (Karhoff) a chance and he made an unbelievable play.”
— Locally, Shelby’s Brayden DeVito moved to No. 4 on the OHSAA record book’s all-time career passing yards list after throwing for 283 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-0 win over Orrville.
DeVito now has 12,198 yards for his career, unofficially the fourth most in Ohio high school football history. His four TDs gave him 117 career passing touchdowns which is tied for 13th on the all-time list, too.
DeVito could move up the list in career passing TDs. He would need 124 to get into the top 10 — that’s possible depending on how much further the undefeated and No. 1-ranked Whippets advance in the state playoffs.
However, to get to the top three in Ohio’s career passing yards would mean eclipsing Drew Novak, of Mount Orab Western Brown, at 14,127. That figure would seem out of reach even if Shelby goes all the way to the state championship game — at most four games remaining.
Back to the game, Shelby’s Travis Slone added a 30-yard rushing touchdown and had an interception on defense to lead an all-round effort that saw the Whippets post their fourth shutout of the season tying the 2017 team for the most in a single season since at least 1999.
Brady Bowman added eight catches for 149 yards and three TDs and Michael Shephers added 34 yards and a score. The Whippets host Lima Bath in the regional semifinals this week.
-Junior wideout Parker Weithman had a spectacular night, catching 4 balls for 187 yards and three touchdowns, as Colonel Crawford defeated Mount Gilead 42-8 in a Division VI, Region 23 quarterfinal game.
Quarterbacks Brayden Holt and Peyton Baker were effective, combining on 7-of-10 passing for 219 yards. Eagles running back Connor McMichael rushed for touchdowns of 31 and 4 yards. He had 59 yards on 10 carries.
Indians’ running back Carson Barnum rushed 23 times for 71 yards.
-Junior running back Miles Marshall stepped up big for his team, scoring four touchdowns and adding a pair of two-point conversions to score 26 of his team’s points in a 28-14 victory over West Lafayette Ridgewood. The junior standout will lead his team against Colonel Crawford this week. Look for Marshall and C.C.’s Weithman to have a few on-field meetings in that matchup.
-Massillon’s defense held North Canton to seven points, thanks to the efforts of nose tackle Zay-Shawn Murray, in a 62-7 regional quarterfinal blowout. Murray had 7.0 tackles, 1 sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, and five unassisted tackles in his first game of the season, which was due to undisclosed reasons.
-Kirtland running back John Silvestro was impressive during their regional quarterfinal against Wickliffe, amassing 172 yards on 15 carries and five touchdowns in a 41-3 win to advance to the regional semi-finals.
-Third seeded Leipsic (10-1) advanced to the Division VII region 26 regional semifinals with a 36-7 victory over #6 Mohawk. Marc Kirkendall was 15-26 for 238 yards and threw three touchdown passes. Avery Paris caught 6 passes for 83 yards and a TD. Paris also housed a 43 yard punt return. Aaron Hazelton had 4 catches for 83 yards and two scores. Hazelton also ran for 57 yards on 15 carries. Marquise Williams ran 6 times for 97 yards and a touchdown. Williams also hauled in 6 catches for 42. Leipsic hosts #7 Pandora-Gilbon Friday night in a regional semifinal contest.
-In a league re-match, the Wapakoneta Redskins (11-0) downed Lima Shawnee 41-6 to advance to the Region 12 Semifinals. Caleb Moyer completed 12 of 16 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns, all to Ohio Bobcat commit Kaden Page, who made 10 grabs for 124 yards.
-Tri-Village won a second round OHSAA DVI Region 24 playoff game 54-22 over Portsmouth West. They were led by Sr. Quarterback Trey Sagester and Jr. receiver Griffin Richards. Sagester threw for 231 yards with 4 TDs. Richards had 5 TDs and was on the receiving end of Sagester’s passes with 4 TD grabs along with a 71-yard punt return for a score. Tri-Village had 516 total yards offense and rushed for 285 yards with Staley Colston, Colt Camacho and Noah Finkbine all scoring on long runs in the game. The Patriots will host Coldwater Friday in the DVI regional semifinals.