Calilien Grant avoids a tackle by Wayne defensive lineman Avant Hunter after catching a screen pass for a 23 yard gain and a first down at the Warriors’ 26 during Northmont’s game winning drive.
Photos Ron Nunnari | Register-Herald
Deuce Cortner celebrates as he heads into the end zone on a 19 yard quarterback keeper to score the go-ahead touchdown.
Brady Lupton returns a Wayne kickoff early in the third quarter.
Wayne quarterback Tyrell Lewis scrambles away from a potential sack by Northmont linebacker Terrence Harrell.
Bryson Daniel dives in an attempt to block a 30 yard field goal by Wayne placekicker Jaydon Heinrich.
Wayne wide receiver Gage Miesse hauls in a pass after finding a seam between Northmont defenders Gavin Milby (33) and Djuan Sales.
HUBER HEIGHTS — The odds were stacked against Northmont on Friday at Wayne’s homecoming football game. The Warriors entered the game with a 3-0 conference, and 5-1 overall record.
The Thunderbolts had yet to win a conference game (0-3) and were 3-3 overall.
The football gods appeared hell bent on derailing any efforts Northmont made to play a competitive game with a series of bizarre plays, some resulting in penalties.
Northmont got slapped with 14 penalties for 135 yards. Wayne tallied nine penalties for 101 yards.
In the end, the Thunderbolts overcame a 24-7 deficit to score a 26-24 victory to spoil the Warriors homecoming game.
“This is a big rivalry game, and as you could tell we were pretty excited at the end,” said Northmont coach Tony Broering. “It was a great game and a hard hitting game. Both sides played hard. I was really proud of the boys.”
The strange plays began on the Thunderbolts second possession, a trend that continued the entire game.
Da’lin Wilkins hauled in a pass near midfield and appeared down by contact, but a Wayne player came up with the ball. Starting at the T’bolts’ 45 Wayne capped an eight play drive with a two yard run by Isaiah Thompson. Jaydon Heinrich’s kick put Wayne up 7-0.
Heinrich added a 30 yard field goal with eight seconds left in the opening quarter to boost the Warriors’ lead to 10-0.
Northmont cut the deficit to 10-7 on a six yard TD run by Calilien Grant and the PAT by Jon Warren at 10:42 in the second stanza.
Wayne took a 17-7 halftime lead on a 39 yard touchdown pass from Tyrell Lewis to Jussiah Williams-West and the PAT by Heinrich.
Willims-West returned the second half kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. Heinrich’s kick put the Warriors up 24-7.
The momentum swung in Northmont’s favor when Wayne drove to the Thunderbolts’ seven where outside linebacker Cedric Works reached up at the line of scrimmage to intercept a Wayne pass.
Starting at its 15, Northmont drove 85 yards and scored on a 15 yard screen pass from Deuce Cortner (10-21, 187 yards, 2 TD, one interception) to Calilien Grant for a touchdown. Warren’s kick cut Wayne’s lead to 24-14 with 5:56 left in the third quarter.
Grant rushed for 113 yards on 21 carries with one TD and caught three passes for 53 yards and one TD.
Wayne was forced to put with Northmont taking over at its one yard line. The T’bolts drove 99 yards in 13 plays with Da’lin Wilkins scoring on a 10 yard pass from Cortner to cut Wayne’s lead to 24-20 less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.
After a Wayne punt the Thunderbolts put together a seven play drive with Cortner scoring on a 19 yard quarterback keeper to take the lead, 26-24 with 6:24 remaining.
Cortner iced the victory by intercepting a Wayne pass at the Northmont 42. From there the Thunderbolts drove to Wayne’s 17 and ran out the clock to preserve the victory.
Northmont’s homecoming game is Friday when the Thunderbolts host Springboro (1-6, 1-3).
Reach Ron Nunnari by email: [email protected].
