New Albany takes early lead, holds on for second round win over Canal Winchester
Friday, November 6, 2026
By Kevin Rouch
krouch@cbussports.com
New Albany’s Kingston Torres-Lofton (19) celebrates one of his two touchdown runs in the Eagles’ 28-20 playoff win against the Canal Winchester Indians on Friday. Photo: Reggie Zachery
New Albany scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions to take a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter over Canal Winchester at Eagle Stadium on Friday. The Indians mounted a comeback in the second half but fell short, losing 28-20 in a Division II, Region 7 quarterfinal matchup.
The teams met in week two of the regular season, a game also played at New Albany, and Canal Winchester came away with a 35-20 victory.
The Eagles got going on their opening drive, scoring with only 1:49 off the clock in the first quarter. Senior wideout Avery Bastian took a short toss from senior quarterback Drew Jackson on what was essentially a jet sweep and took it down the sideline and into the end zone from 21 yards out.
Just before the end of the first quarter, another quick drive resulted in a touchdown when sophomore running back Kingston Torres-Lofton ran 14 yards for the score.
Torres-Lofton has received the bulk of the carries for New Albany after senior Jett Jerwers went down with an injury on Sept. 18 against Dublin Jerome. Jerwers returned against the Indians Friday and rushed for 44 yards on six carries in limited duty.
New Albany got back into the end zone with 9:21 left in the second quarter on another jet sweep “lob” to Bastian, who ran 43 yards for the score. On the night, Bastian had eight catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles led 21-0 at the halftime break.
New Albany’s Avery Bastian (center) heads to the end zone for one of his two touchdowns against Canal Winchester on Friday. Photo: Reggie Zachery
“We haven’t really been hitting (that play) all year,” said Bastian after the game. “We knew they were going to run some man blitzes and we took advantage of that. We got great perimeter blocking and then I scored from there.”
Canal Winchester got on the board on its second possession of the third quarter when senior running back Jamari Snow completed a 60-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Snow ran for more than 2,000 yards this season. He would finish Friday’s contest with 145 yards on 37 carries. But that felt like a victory for the New Albany defense, which limited the rest of the Indians’ running game to 37 yards on eight attempts.
Eagles’ linebacker Mason Ackermann noted, “Zero (Snow is) a beast, 72 (lineman Gabe Merrill is) a beast. They’ve got a good O-line. We knew if we stopped the run, we would win the game.”
Torres-Lofton scored on a five-yard run with 8:29 left in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles a 28-7 lead. He would end the night with 79 yards on 13 carries. New Albany netted 239 yards on the ground. Junior receiver Chase Jackson ran twice for 56 yards and caught three passes for 31 yards.
Canal Winchester put a scare into the home crowd scoring twice in the last 4 minutes and 33 seconds. The first touchdown came on a 1-yard Jamari Snow run, capping a 53-yard drive. The extra point was no good and the score stood at 28-13 in favor of the Eagles.
Canal Winchester quarterback Kian McGhee (15) hands off to Jamari Snow during the Indians’ playoff game at New Albany on Friday. Photo: Reggie Zachery
With 1:31 remaining on the clock, it was Snow again, this time from two yards out. the Indians couldn’t corral the onside kickoff and New Albany ran out the clock for the 28-20 win.
The Eagles have now won four straight games after falling to Division I Gahanna 35-3 in the first week of October.
Ackermann talked about the differences in the Eagles’ approach from their first game against Canal Winchester, “We were still getting our defense down, getting our offense on, and we just got new coaches. We were still swimming in the defensive coverages.
“We didn’t know exactly what we were doing. We weren’t getting set. This game, we got back to the fundamentals, really just honed in on getting set and getting the D-line set. That really helped us stop the run.”
There was an anxious moment for New Albany when quarterback Drew Jackson went down without any contact after a long run with just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. He was helped off the field with an apparent leg injury. No information was available after the game about the extent of the injury.
On the night, Jackson was 11-19 for 128 yards and two touchdowns. His opposite number, junior Kian McGhee was 18-28 for 199 yards.
The Eagles, the #4 seed in Region 7, now advance to a semifinal game with #1-seed Bishop Watterson next Friday at Ohio Dominican. Watterson remained undefeated after beating Whitehall 36-6 this Friday, the Eagles’ 40th win in a row.
Canal Winchester tight end Bryce Steier (8) runs after making a catch during the Indians’ game at New Albany on Friday. Photo: Reggie Zachery