Football: Panthers triumph in battle of Pick-Town
Friday, September 8, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Pickerington North’s Samuel Williams-Dixon runs for a long gain during the Panther’s 39-34 home win Sept. 8. Photo: Kevin Lam
Throughout Pickerington North’s latest meeting against Pickerington Central on Friday at home, Panthers coach Nate Hillerich sensed that the emotions of the experience sometimes got the better of his team.
It’s not the first time that’s happened to North considering it had defeated the Tigers just one other time since Hillerich took over the program in 2017.
This time, North committed 155 yards in penalties but produced enough big plays to secure a 39-34 victory and improve to 4-0.
The Panthers improved to 5-17 all-time against Central, which dropped to 2-2 this fall under first-year coach Jeff Lomonico and plays host to defending Division I, Region 3 champion Gahanna in Week 5.
“It’s crazy because last week, we had less penalties than Upper Arlington (in a 28-8 win),” Hillerich said. “You know this game is going to be a four-quarter fight. This is probably the first year that I’ve been here that I thought we had a better football team than they did. You’ve got to give it to our kids because they expected to win. We’ve got a lot of really talented players, but they’re selfless.”
North set the tone when quarterback Landon O’Connell connected with Preston Bowman for an 85-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage, but Central answered with a scoring drive on the ensuing possession that was capped by a 1-yard run from Kaejuan Alexander.
Pickerington Central’s Kaejuan Alexander gets into the end zone during the Tigers’ 39-34 loss at Pickerington North Sept 8. Photo: Kevin Lam
Neither team led by more than a touchdown during the game’s remainder.
“Everything we’ve worked for is starting to come into full effect,” North running back Michael Taylor said. “Sometimes penalties happen, but if we keep pushing, we’re going to come out with that win.”
North, which travels Sept. 15 to Reynoldsburg, took a 14-7 lead when O’Connell hooked up again with Bowman, this time for 21 yards midway through the first quarter.
Central tied it with 2:58 before halftime on a 20-yard touchdown run by Aaron Heller.
North began its final first-half possession at its own 25 but got runs of 15, 10, 19 and 17 from Dorian Hamilton. Then with 16 seconds to go before halftime, Bowman made a one-handed touchdown grab on a 14-yard pass from O’Connell for a 20-14 lead.
“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t even know I caught it,” Bowman said. “We know (Central is) a hard-fighting team and their coaches are great. We had to come out and fight. We were going to go until the end.”
Central took a 21-20 lead when Rocco Williams connected with Sherone White Jr. for 48 yards midway through the third period, but North again responded, this time with an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 15-yard run from Taylor.
The Tigers took a 27-26 lead on a 1-yard run by Heller with 10:48 remaining but Hamilton ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 8:56 to go for a 32-27 lead.
Pickerington North kicker Landon Grosh puts points on the board for the Panthers during their home win against rival Pickerington Central Sept. 8. Photo: Kevin Lam
North sealed the victory with 2 minutes remaining when Angelo McCullom – who is listed at 6-foot-3, 260 pounds and had carried the ball just one other time all season – pushed his way to an 18-yard touchdown run and fourth-and-1.
“(McCullom) is a kid when you talk about your seniors, you know he’s going to get 2 yards,” Hillerich said of McCullom, who is an Illinois commit on the defensive line. “I don’t think there was any stopping him on that play.”
For North, Samuel Williams-Dixon rushed 10 times for 87 yards, Hamilton had 73 yards rushing and Taylor added 55 yards on the ground in support of a passing game that featured O’Connell throwing for 277 yards. Bowman had five catches for 205 yards.
Williams threw for 192 yards to lead Central’s offense.
“We’re going to take what the defense gives us,” Hillerich said. “When they were selling out for the run, we had to win those one-on-battles. Preston took advantage of them. People have got to make a choice against us: Load the box and sell out to stop the run with our incredible running back and our offense line or try to double some guys, and when they sell out for the run, leave Preston with some one-on-one opportunities.”