NEWARK, Ohio — Columbus East saved its season in the last ten minutes. Trailing 33-14 early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers scored three touchdowns in the final 10:15 and stunned Licking Valley 36-33 on Friday night, November 13, in an OHSAA Division III, Region 11 semifinal at Licking Valley’s Randy Baughman Stadium, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s live game report, which carried the Newark Advocate’s coverage of the game.
The comeback began with 10:15 to play. One snap after Dylan Keeley’s 5-yard touchdown run had pushed Valley’s lead to 33-14 with 10:25 left, East quarterback Dior Hansard hit Michael Thompson-Ayers for a 65-yard touchdown that cut the margin to 33-21, The Dispatch reported.
Hansard kept dealing. His 59-yard touchdown strike to Adreice Reed with 7:26 left made it 33-28, and after East’s defense held, Hansard finished the rally himself — a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:46 remaining, followed by his 2-point conversion pass to Thompson-Ayers, giving the Tigers a 36-33 lead they did not give back, according to The Dispatch.
The ending was hard to see coming at halftime, let alone in the fourth quarter. Valley, which led just 19-14 at the break, scored 20 consecutive points to build the 33-14 lead: Brody Rodgers’ 46-yard touchdown keeper on fourth-and-1 early in the third quarter, then Keeley’s 5-yard score early in the fourth, The Dispatch reported.
The first half swung back and forth. Hansard’s 2-yard keeper put East up 7-0 with 7:53 left in the first quarter, Rodgers answered with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Griffin Williams, and East’s defense turned Valley away at the Panthers’ 9 after Lou Goodlow’s 71-yard kickoff return, leaving it 7-7 after one quarter, according to The Dispatch.
Valley grabbed control in the second quarter. Keeley’s 13-yard touchdown run capped a 91-yard, 14-play drive for a 13-7 lead, Thompson-Ayers answered by turning a short sideline route into a 60-yard touchdown and a 14-13 East lead, and Rodgers found Damian Rudasill for a 4-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 with 17 seconds left in the half — the 2-point run failed — to send Valley in front 19-14 at halftime, The Dispatch reported.
For Licking Valley, the loss ends a second consecutive 11-1 season one round short of the regional final, the Newark Advocate reported. The Panthers had not lost since last season, and for three and a half quarters Friday they looked every bit the unbeaten team their record said they were.
The game was the Licking County headliner on a night our newsroom previewed in Thirteen Central Ohio Teams Chase Regional Finals in Friday Playoff Semifinals, and East’s win was the night’s biggest central Ohio upset — the No. 3 seed winning on the field of an unbeaten, 11-0 team. Across the bracket, the region’s other powerhouse also survived a scare-free night, as covered in Massillon Blanks Big Walnut 21-0 to Avenge Playoff Losses, Reach Regional Final.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: East’s opponent is set, but the regional final’s site is not. Steubenville beat Dover 21-14 in the other Region 11 semifinal, according to the statewide scoreboard compiled by Joe Eitel, and the OHSAA will announce regional-final sites on Sunday, November 15.
The rally had a backstory a week in the making. East reached Friday by beating Thornville Sheridan 42-28 in the quarterfinals on November 6 at Harley Field, a win the Zanesville Times Recorder credited to special teams — Thompson-Ayers returned a kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown and Dominique Edwards added a 55-yard return. The Dispatch’s prediction panel had unanimously picked Licking Valley in this semifinal, and the programs’ last meeting, in 2023, had gone to Valley 40-6, according to The Dispatch’s preview.
Thompson-Ayers finished as the rally’s central figure: touchdown catches of 60 and 65 yards and the go-ahead 2-point conversion catch, all from Hansard, who accounted for the keeper that opened the scoring and the keeper that finished it, per The Dispatch’s timeline.
For East, the win is the program’s deepest playoff run of this era built the hardest way there is — on the road, against an unbeaten team, from 19 points down in the fourth quarter. The Tigers have now won 11 straight since their only loss of the season.
What happens next: Columbus East (11-1) meets Steubenville (10-2) in the Division III, Region 11 final on Friday, November 20, at a site the OHSAA announces Sunday. The winner advances to the state semifinals on November 27.
Photo: w_lemay, CC BY-SA