For central Ohio high school football teams, what started Aug. 1 with the first day of practice ends Friday with Watterson and Olentangy Liberty playing in state finals at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
Watterson (16-0) has defeated Toledo Central Catholic (14-2) 19-14 in the Division III title game, avenging a 27-7 loss in last year’s state final. The Eagles captured their third championship; they also won it all in 2010 and 2002. Junior quarterback Drew Bellisari and senior running back Zack Weber helped lead the way, as they had done all season.
Check back to Dispatch.com for more from Watterson’s victory (see live game updates below). We’ll also have live updates here from Liberty’s game Friday night against Cincinnati Moeller.
The Eagles’ defense stood tall in the final minutes, holding Central Catholic outside midfield and stopping the Irish on fourth-and-24 to clinch a 19-14 win and their third state championship. It is Watterson’s first title since 2010 (its first title came in 2002).
Much more coverage to come.
The Eagles are 89 seconds from the Division III state championship.
Quarterback Drew Bellisari scored on a 9-yard keeper to put Watterson ahead 19-14, capping a 15-play, 80-yard drive that started with 7:12 left.
Watterson went for a two-point conversion to make it a seven-point lead, but offensive pass interference nullified the play. The Eagles tried again from the 18, but Bellisari was tackled on the play.
Now the Eagles must hold a five-point lead for less than 90 seconds to capture the championship.
Eagles quarterback Drew Bellisari completed his first two passes of the game on successive attempts, and the second went for a 52-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Dominic Theado, a tight end, on fourth-and-1 at the Watterson 48.
That made it 14-13, but Mike Antry’s extra-point attempt that would have tied the game was blocked with 10:26 left in regulation.
But moments after Weber’s touchdown, Central Catholic took the lead right back when Jeremiah Fuller returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown of his own. The Irish lead 14-7 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.
And that was the score as the game moved into the fourth quarter. Weber has just surpassed the 100-yard mark, and the Eagles will start the final quarter of regulation with first-and-10 on their own 39.
Finally, the Eagles have pulled into a 7-7 tie with 1:06 left in the third quarter.
Senior running back Zack Weber broke two would-be tackles in scampering straight up the gut 28 yards to the end zone, capping a 12-play, 90-yard drive that consumed 4:15 and started with a key fourth-down stop on the other end of the field.
And we have ourselves a brand new ballgame.
Central Catholic again drove deep into Watterson territory, using 6:39 off the clock to advance to the Eagles’ 9 before a Beydoun lost a yard on a fourth-down keeper.
The Irish hurt their cause with successive negative-yardage plays and a hold on the drive, although they got some of that yardage back on a Watterson personal foul.
Now the Eagles, still trailing only 7-0 with 5:21 left in the third, have a chance to shake off their first-half offensive doldrums and potentially turn the game around.
Also as I was writing this update, attendance has been announced at 4,410 as the sun sets on northeast Ohio.
With the score only 7-0 in favor of the Irish, the statistics are a tad more lopsided.
Here are the important numbers …
Total yards: Central Catholic 162 (70 rush/92 pass), Watterson 44 (all on the ground. Drew Bellisari has the longest run, of 12 yards.)
First downs: Central Catholic 10, Watterson 2
Top Irish stats: Ali Beydoun 11-of-17 passing, 92 yards and 3 rushes-11 yards, TD; Tyler Morgan 14-61. Four receivers have two catches apiece for Central Catholic.
Top Eagles stats: Zack Weber 9 carries-27 yards and Drew Bellisari 7 carries-17 yards. Bellisari is 0-of-3 passing and has three punts for 117 yards.
Also: Watterson has yet to run a play across the 50. They have four penalties for 50 yards, including the interference call late in the half. Four Central Catholic penalties for 38 yards.
The Irish drove to Watterson’s 6 in the final seconds of the first half, aided by a questionable pass interference call on the Eagles’ Joe Hayes, but got no further and took a 7-0 lead into halftime.
Central Catholic kicker Blake Moody missed a 23-yard field goal attempt wide left as time expired.
Central Catholic got the ball back with 2:09 left in the half. On fourth-and-8 at Watterson’s 30, Beydoun looked down the right sideline for Victor Singleton, who was covered by Watterson’s Joe Hayes. There was some contact between the players, but Hayes was called for interference despite appearing to keep his eye on the ball and not signficantly impeding the progress of Singleton, a junior who has more than 20 offers as a cornerback, including from Ohio State.
The Irish drove to the Eagles’ 23-yard line early in the second quarter before Watterson’s Ben Uhlenhake, a sophomore linebacker, came up with the first turnover of the game.
Uhlenhake, one of six sophomore starters on the defense, intercepted Beydoun and gave Watterson possession, thwarting a drive that could have seen the Eagles go down two scores.
But Watterson could not capitalize and was forced to punt. Central Catholic began its next drive at its own 7 with 3:28 left in the half.
Sophomore quarterback Ali Beydoun’s 4-yard touchdown run with 3:58 left in the first quarter put the Irish ahead 7-0.
There was a momentary delay to check whether Beydoun crossed the goal line, but the play stood. Some television replays indicated the call could be overturned.
Beydoun, who is 3-0 as a starter in relief of injured senior Isaiah Fox, scored to cap an eight-play, 52-yard drive that took 3:14.
That remained the score after a quarter. Central Catholic hurt itself in the final two minutes of the quarter with personal foul and holding calls, and Watterson will start the second with first and 10 at its own 37.
Greetings from high atop Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, where the sun is shining about 20 minutes before the Division III state final. That’s more than it did last year at this time for the first Watterson-Central Catholic matchup.
And it’s certainly better than Thursday night, when it snowed throughout the the Division II final. Fun to watch from home, but maybe not as much from in the stands.
In any case, Central Catholic won the opening coin toss and deferred, so Watterson gets the ball first with a chance to set the tone. The Eagles rushed for only 68 yards in last year’s final but should get considerably more than that today with a solid ground game led by senior Zack Weber.
We shall see. Kickoff beckons. Stay with us all afternoon for updates.
Poll:Vote for central Ohio’s best football state championship victory since 2000
Former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer was among those who had a pregame message for the Eagles in a video posted on the team’s X account. Meyer’s son, Nate, played football and baseball at Watterson.
Liberty (13-2), which has reached a final for the first time after losing in semifinals in 2016, 2017 and 2018, plays Moeller (14-1) in Division I at 7:30 p.m. The Patriots have one of eight Ohio Mr. Football finalists in senior quarterback Andrew Leonard and a do-it-all offensive threat in senior Jake Struck, who has 14 touchdown receptions and 13 scoring runs. Moeller’s quarterback, Matt Ponatoski, was named Mr. Football on Thursday.
All championship games air live on Spectrum News 1. They also can be streamed live via OHSAA.tv, where each game can be purchased for $9.99.
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