HARROD — High school football playoff games were played all over Ohio on Friday night but McComb’s 45-13 win over Lima Central Catholic might have been the most unique of them all.
Every one of the Panthers’ offensive plays in their Division VII regional semifinal win over the Thunderbirds was a running play.
Not one screen pass, shovel pass, crossing pass or deep ball interrupted McComb’s relentless repetition.
McComb’s veteran offensive line opened pathways and Braxton Althauser (24 carries, 169 yards) and Brad Miehls (11 carries, 88 yards) ran through them.
It was something neither coach in the game had seen before in their careers.
“I have never had anyone not throw a pass but they did not need to,” LCC coach Scott Palte said.
McComb’s Kris Alge said, “We’ve had teams before where maybe we threw two or three times. The offensive line took charge and Brad Miehls had a heck of a game. Althauser, we expected that from him.”
The first 15 minutes of the game couldn’t have gone much better for McComb or much worse for LCC.
The Thunderbirds fumbled away the opening kickoff, which led to McComb’s first touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Blake Wittenmyer for a 7-0 lead for the Panthers.
Linebacker Trace Bryan’s interception on the first play of the second quarter set McComb up at the Thunderbirds’ 16-yard line and five plays later Donavin Hepperly’s 1-yard touchdown run made it 14-0.
On LCC’s second play of its next drive, Althauser scored on a pick six and suddenly it was 21-0 with 9:30 left in the first half.
LCC quarterback Carson Parker (167 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions) connected with Matt Quatman and Mylon Cowens on a pair of short TD passes in the second quarter. But McComb turned a 31-13 halftime lead into a running clock situation by the first minute of the fourth quarter.
“That game probably couldn’t have started any worse if we tried to make it start worse,” Palte said. “But give them the credit, I don’t think it would have mattered. They’re far more physical than we are up front, they’ve got a great running back and great coaching. We were just overmatched.
“We had a lot of young guys out there on the field and we’re going to learn from it and be back here next year,” he said. “You’re talking sophomores versus seniors, boys versus men. We have a lot of new guys. They returned everybody up front who started last year. So it’s a big difference.”
LCC beat McComb 30-26 in a regional championship game a year ago. But this time was different.
Alge pointed to two big differences for his team this season from last season.
“We didn’t make mistakes. Last year we made a ton of mistakes. I think it was the seniors having experience. Last year we had a young line. They were juniors and sophomores. This year they were mostly seniors.”
And last year’s result might have been an incentive for the Panthers. “We had hurt feelings from last year. We did not play well. That’s been a sour taste in our stomachs,” Alge said.
McComb is 11-2 and headed to a regional championship game against Patrick Henry. LCC finished its season 8-4.
