Eighth-seeded Hilliard Darby went into Toledo and stunned top-seeded Whitmer 24-21 on Friday night, Nov. 6, in a Division I, Region 2 quarterfinal, according to the statewide scoreboards published by The Columbus Dispatch and the Mansfield News Journal. The Panthers’ three-point win ended the season for a Whitmer team that had lost only once all year.
Whitmer (9-2) entered the night as the region’s No. 1 seed with one of Ohio’s most productive offenses. The Dispatch reported in its pregame coverage that the Panthers were averaging 38.7 points per game, powered by senior running back Jamon Holmes, who had rushed for 1,239 yards and 21 touchdowns, and junior quarterback Carter Born, who had thrown for 1,645 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Darby (8-4) arrived with momentum of its own. A 44-14 win over Miamisburg in the first round gave the Panthers their first three-game winning streak since September 2022, according to The Dispatch, and Darby’s own backfield balance — senior Kohen Kornegay’s 1,333 rushing yards and nine touchdowns alongside senior Braylon Griffith’s 965 yards and 11 touchdowns — gave the Panthers two proven ways to move the ball.
The matchup paired that balance against a Whitmer defense that had been living dangerously. The Dispatch noted before the game that Whitmer had given up 73 points over its previous three games while overcoming it by scoring 129. On Friday night in Toledo, the Panthers’ offense could not bail the defense out one more time, managing 21 points against a Darby team that has now won four straight.
For Whitmer, the loss closes a 9-2 season that brought a top seed and a first-round bye to Clegg Drive, but ended at home in the quarterfinal round. Darby’s seniors, meanwhile, extended a postseason run that began as the region’s No. 8 seed and now owns a win over its No. 1.
Darby was not the only team to shake up Region 2 on Friday. In the region’s other quarterfinals, Wayne edged Beavercreek 35-34, Springfield shut out Kettering Fairmont 38-0 and Perrysburg rolled past Galloway Westland 42-6, according to the Dispatch and Mansfield News Journal scoreboards — leaving Darby as the lowest seed still standing in the region.
Darby advances to the Division I, Region 2 semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13, at Huber Heights Wayne, which held off Beavercreek 35-34 in Friday’s other Region 2 quarterfinal. The winner of that semifinal moves within one victory of the state semifinals, with the state championship games set for Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton in December.
Photo: MrJacon000, CC BY-SA 4.0