UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio — Pickerington North waited a year for this game, and then waited until the final seven minutes to win it. The sixth-seeded Panthers upset second-seeded Upper Arlington 14-10 on Friday night, November 13, at Marv Moorehead Stadium in an OHSAA Division I, Region 3 semifinal, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s live game report. The Mansfield News Journal’s statewide scoreboard, High School On SI’s statewide scoreboard and the Delaware Source’s roundup all confirmed the 14-10 final.
Upper Arlington struck first and struck fast. Quarterback Reign St. Clair hit a wide-open Paxton Bjork for a 37-yard touchdown just 3:06 into the game, capping a 72-yard, seven-play drive, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Bjork and running back Drew Theado were both making their returns after being out for several weeks, the Dispatch reported, and Theado carried four times on the opening drive.
Theado finished the first quarter with 39 yards on nine carries as the Golden Bears led 7-0 after one, according to The Columbus Dispatch. But North’s defense — a unit that had piled up 105 tackles for loss and 40 sacks while allowing only 8.4 points a game this season, according to the Dispatch’s semifinal preview — spent the rest of the night making Upper Arlington earn every yard.
North tied the game in the second quarter on a gift and a quick strike. Two plays after a fumbled exchange gave the Panthers possession inside the Upper Arlington 10, Demetrius Neal-Nesbitt threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Kymani Johnson, tying the game at 7 with 9:17 left in the first half, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The game stayed tied through halftime and through a scoreless third quarter.
The third quarter nearly broke it open the other way. North linebacker Demetrius Curtis appeared to return an interception 52 yards for a touchdown, only to have the score negated by a block-in-the-back penalty, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Upper Arlington’s defense held, North punted from its own 44, and the game went to the fourth quarter still tied 7-7.
Upper Arlington reclaimed the lead early in the fourth. The Golden Bears drove as far as North’s 7-yard line before a sack backed them up, and Edward Oakley kicked a 33-yard field goal to put Upper Arlington ahead 10-7 with 9:35 left in regulation, The Columbus Dispatch reported. In a game both defenses had controlled, a three-point lead with nine and a half minutes left felt large.
Then the punt changed everything. An uncharacteristically short punt from Oakley gave North the ball at midfield, and the Panthers went for it all on the first play: Neal-Nesbitt unloaded a pass down the center of the field to Noah Dumas, who sprinted into the end zone to put North ahead 14-10 with 6:55 left, The Columbus Dispatch reported. North’s defense protected the lead the rest of the way, and the Panthers closed out the upset.
The revenge layer made the win land harder. Upper Arlington beat North 30-27 in last year’s playoffs, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s preview, and North’s players had circled a rematch ever since. “We’ve been talking about this game for the whole season, knowing it was a possibility,” North linebacker Demetrius Curtis told The Columbus Dispatch before the game, acknowledging the matchup was “personal” after last year. On Friday, his defense allowed 10 points to a team that had averaged far more, and his offense produced the two touchdowns the moment required.
Region 3’s other semifinal produced the same shape of night: fourth-seeded Olentangy Liberty upset previously unbeaten Gahanna Lincoln 14-10, as covered in Olentangy Liberty Stuns Unbeaten Gahanna Lincoln 14-10 to Reach Regional Final. Two 14-10 road wins, two top-two seeds eliminated, and a regional final between the two teams that did it — November football in central Ohio rarely lines up this cleanly.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: the Region 3 final pairing is set, Pickerington North (10-3) against Olentangy Liberty (8-4) on Friday, November 20, but the site is not. The OHSAA will announce regional-final sites on Sunday, November 15, according to the Canton Repository’s bracket report. What is also settled: North has now beaten a 9-2 team on its own field while allowing 10 points, and Upper Arlington’s season ends at 9-3, with its last two losses in November both coming in the tournament rounds it had aimed for all fall.
For the standard the Region 3 champion will eventually chase, see Watterson Routs New Albany 45-12 for 41st Straight Win, Regional Final. Watterson’s 41-game winning streak is the mountain waiting beyond the regional round; North’s path there runs through a Liberty team playing the same confident, low-scoring November football the Panthers just used to end Upper Arlington’s season.
What happens next: Pickerington North (10-3) faces Olentangy Liberty (8-4) in the Division I, Region 3 final on Friday, November 20, at a site the OHSAA announces Sunday, November 15. The winner advances to the state semifinals on November 27, one win from the state championship game in Canton.