Upper Arlington dominates Reynoldsburg behind St. Clair, opportunistic defense
Friday, November 6, 2026
By Aaron Blankenship
info@cbussports.com
Upper Arlington quarterback Reign St. Clair led the Golden Bear offense to a 34-8 win over Reynoldsburg at the Marv on Friday. Photo: Ralph Schudel
UPPER ARLINGTON – Upper Arlington junior quarterback Reign St. Clair has become accustomed to dwelling under the enormous shadow of his older brother, Tavien St. Clair.
Tavien, who is a redshirt freshman backup quarterback at Ohio State University, put together a legendary career at Bellefontaine, passing for more than 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns en route to becoming a 2024 Ohio Mr. Football finalist.
“Everyone knows who Tavien is,” said Reign, who moved to Upper Arlington in January after playing two seasons at Bellefontaine. “When I was still at Bellefontaine it was a problem because it was tough to make a name for myself.”
However, Reign continued his process of carving out his own legacy on Friday, when he completed 11 of 16 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns to help lead the second-seeded Golden Bears to a 34-8 victory over 10th-seeded Reynoldsburg in a Division I Region 3 quarterfinal at Marv Moorehead Stadium.
With the win, the Golden Bears improved to 9-2 and advanced to a regional semifinal Nov. 13 to play host to sixth-seeded Pickerington North.
UA defeated North 30-27 in a Region 3 quarterfinal a year ago. But the Panthers clobbered third-seeded Worthington Kilbourne 45-7 on Friday to improve to 9-3 overall.
“Now that I’m here at Upper Arlington, this is my own journey,” Reign said. “This was my first-ever playoff game, and to get to play here in our home stadium in front of our great fans really made it special.
“We used our (first-round) bye week to work on some routes and to tune up some little things, and we came out and played really well right away.”
Indeed, St. Clair completed all six of his passes for a total of 58 yards on UA’s opening drive, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Landon Angelos, which capped an 11-play, 73-yard drive, to put the Golden Bears up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
“Their quarterback played really well,” said third-year Reynoldsburg coach JoJuan Armour, who was a defensive back for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1999-2002, before playing six seasons in the Canadian Football League. “We sent a lot of pressure, but St. Clair is extremely smart and mobile. Our pressure didn’t bother him, and he made some good plays.”
St. Clair completed a pair of passes to help set up a 33-yard field goal by place kicker Edward Oakley on UA’s next possession.
Ben Strickland (27) paced Upper Arlington with 102 yards rushing, all in the first half, during the Golden Bears’ win over Reynoldsbug on Friday. Photo: Ralph Schudel
“Reign made some nice throws, and some good decisions to throw the ball away to negate bad plays from happening,” said seventh-season UA coach Justin Buttermore, who has led the Golden Bears to a 66-21 record and a regional semifinal or further each of the past six seasons. “His biggest development has been understanding that not every pass needs to be a completion, and he also did a nice job of throwing the ball away to avoid taking a sack or turning it over, which set us up for a few field goals tonight as well.”
On UA’s third possession, St. Clair fooled Reynoldsburg’s defense with a convincing fake handoff to running back Ben Strickland, before zipping the ball to tight end Marshall Reinke for a 19-yard touchdown.
Reinke had slipped past the Raiders’ linebackers, who bit on the play-action, and he caught the ball in stride as he crossed the goal line, without a defender anywhere within five yards.
“That play was put in by our head coach for this game, and it was really nice to execute it, because we had been working on it so long,” St. Clair said. “We faked a sideway run to bring the linebackers down, and (Reinke) ran a good route and made a good catch.”
After St. Claire connected with receiver Beckham Testerman for an 11-yard completion, eventually setting up a 29-yard field goal by Oakley to extend UA’s lead to 20-0 early in the second quarter; he only attempted four more passes, before exiting early in the third quarter, as the Golden Bears mostly ran the ball the rest of the game.
Strickland carried the load for the Golden Bears in the first half, rushing for all of his 102 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries in the first two quarters.
The junior was pressed into action after starting running back Drew Tolliver limped off the field midway through the first quarter, and backup running back Luke Agbunag was injured on the first play of UA’s second possession.
“Ben did a good job,” Buttermore said. “He was strictly playing junior varsity at the beginning of the year, but after our top two running backs (Drew Theado and Wagner Suh) have been out with injuries for several weeks, we’ve asked some guys to adjust to bigger roles, and to their credit, they’ve stepped up and played well.
“Ben was expected to get some carries tonight, but not the bulk of the carries, and he did a very good job.”
After Strickland darted up the middle untouched on a 20-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, he gave the credit to UA’s offensive line, which is led by right tackle Grant Dorsey, right guard Max Uritis, center Parker Ezzie, left guard Chris Gentner, left tackle Drake Dorsey and Reinke.
“Our offensive line did a great job and I was untouched because they blocked that play so well,” Strickland said.
Upper Arlington cornerback Grant Harold (1) intercepted a Reynoldsburg pass in the first half that led to a Golden Bear touchdown. Photo: Ralph Schudel
Strickland also juked a defender in the middle of the field with a quick jump-cut to his right en route to a second 20-yard touchdown run with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the second quarter, which gave the Golden Bears a commanding 34-0 halftime advantage.
“This was a pull play and (Reinke) had a great block to open a big hole in front of me, and I saw open grass to the right, so I cut back that way,” Strickland said. “Playing this much was kind of surprise because of some unfortunate injuries, so I just balled out the best I could for my boys.
“My coaches got me ready, and everything I did was thanks to our offensive line.”
UA’s defense smothered Reynoldsburg in the first half, giving up only 11 total yards and forcing two turnovers.
Cornerback Grant Harold intercepted a pass by quarterback Justin Heckman and returned the ball of Reynoldsburg’s 15-yard line, setting up Strickland’s first touchdown.
Safety Charlie Hunt later intercepted a pass by Heckman at the Raiders’ 45, leading to Strickland’s second score.
“Reynoldsburg has some tremendous athletes and they live on explosive plays, so we played a lot of zone to keep everything in front of us,” said Buttermore, who has led UA to a 4-0 record against Reynoldsburg, including Region 3 playoff victories in 2021 and 2022, and a 50-0 regular season win last season. “It was a great team effort, defensively.”
Strong safety James Janowicz, linebacker Vance Nicol and lineman Lorenzo Velasquez each sacked Heckman, and linebackers Josh Geistfeld and Ryan Hall combined to tackle punter Hammond Russell VI at Reynoldsburg’s 15, setting up Oakley’s second field goal.
“We knew we had to be physical and take away their explosive plays, and our whole defense did a great job,” Nicol said. “It feels great to keep our family together another week.”
Heckman was 11-for-21 passing for 157 yards and rushed for a team-best 41 yards on 12 carries, but tossed two interceptions and lost a fumble.
Running back Kavion Davis scored Reynoldsburg’s lone touchdown on a 1-yard run with 4:43 remaining in the game, and Russell VI ran in a two-point conversion.
But UA improved to 18-4 against Reynoldsburg all-time, while outscoring the Raiders 707-304 overall.
Reynoldsburg went a combined 5-16 during Armour’s first two seasons as head coach, but finished 7-5 this season after upsetting seventh-seeded Pickerington Central 19-15 in the first round of the playoffs on Oct. 30.
“Kudos to Upper Arlington because they are extremely well-coached and watching them execute mistake-free football this well is a pleasure to watch as an adult who loves this game,” Armour said. “I’m also extremely proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish here this year. Our kids don’t get into trouble, and they have changed our culture and are positive leaders in our community.”
Reynoldburg quarterback Justin Heckman threw for 157 yards and rushed for aa team-best 47 yards on Friday at Upper Arlington. Photo: Ralph Schudel