New Albany faces Gahanna Lincoln in central Ohio high school football Game of the Week
Gahanna Lincoln coach Bruce Ward acknowledged trying to remember as little as possible about losses, but some details of last year’s 31-3 setback at New Albany have managed to stick around.
The Lions trailed 14-3 into the fourth quarter until a fumble was returned for a touchdown, opening the floodgates in what, like this year, was a rivalry showdown between teams off to strong starts with aspirations beyond an OCC-Ohio Division championship.
“Something we’ll continue to preach is that with New Albany, you have to play four strong quarters to win,” Ward said. “It’s easy to hit home with that point this year, knowing that the wheels fell off in the second half last year.”
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Both teams enter the 20th installment of their series Sept. 30 at Whitehall with records of 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the league. Gahanna and New Albany both rely heavily on the run, and the Lions take particular pride in a defense that hasn’t given up more than 59 yards on the ground in any game.
“They have, in my opinion, the best defense in central Ohio,” Eagles coach Brian Finn said. “Their defensive coordinator, (Murad) Holliday, has been there for some time and they have some stout kids up front.
“They have an unbelievable running back and a huge offensive line. If you think you can stop their running game, coach Ward’s son (Brennan) is a really good quarterback. There are very few flaws.”
Linebacker Jaden Yates’ 47.5 tackles, 45 of which have been solo and 14 of which have been for loss, lead a defense that also features fellow linebacker Kamari Burns (18 tackles), defensive backs Makai Shahid, Ty Staples, Jacob Starr and Romearo Wells and defensive end Elijah King.
Burns is a Cincinnati commit, and Yates has committed to Marshall.
Gahanna is allowing 145 total yards per game and 35.7 rushing, including 8 yards against Groveport and 4 against Mason in the season’s first two games.
“It’s the best part of our team right now. As they go, we go,” coach Ward said. “Our ability to stop the run has been tremendous over the past two years. We have a pretty good defensive line and a good linebacking crew.”
Running back Diore Hubbard enters the game with 994 yards and nine touchdowns on 145 carries. Amir Simmons has 19 carries for 240 yards and three scores, and Brennan Ward has completed 52 of 114 passes for 603 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
Eagles running back Christian Manville has 85 carries for 785 yards and 13 touchdowns. Three of those scores came in last week’s 45-21 win over Grove City.
Dylan Rosser has 588 yards and six touchdowns on 96 carries.
Linebackers Tom Bohman, Chidi Mabatah — who had the fumble recovery for a touchdown in last year’s game — and Roman Orsinelli lead New Albany’s defense along with defensive backs Elijah Griffith and Sabian Harris.
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“We’ll have to play pretty consistent. We still have things to shore up,” Finn said. “We made some mistakes (against Grove City) that could have cost us and we were fortunate to overcome those.”
Gahanna and New Albany are first and second, respectively, in this week’s Division I, Region 3 computer ratings. The Lions have 13.7167 points, just ahead of the Eagles’ 13.2803.
Gahanna leads the series 16-3.
dpurpura@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekDave
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: New Albany meets Gahanna in central Ohio Game of the Week
