Upper Arlington made sure there would be no second straight Reynoldsburg surprise. The No. 2-seeded Golden Bears beat the No. 10-seeded Raiders 34-8 on Friday, Nov. 6, in a Division I, Region 3 regional quarterfinal at Upper Arlington, according to the statewide scoreboards published by The Columbus Dispatch and the Mansfield News Journal.
Reynoldsburg arrived as the region’s most dangerous low seed. The Raiders had stunned No. 7 Pickerington Central 19-15 in the first round — one week after losing to those same Tigers 41-13 in OCC-Buckeye play, a turnaround The Dispatch detailed in its first-round takeaways — and carried a 7-4 record into Friday night with designs on a second straight upset.
Instead, the Golden Bears controlled the night. Upper Arlington, which entered the postseason at 8-2, steadily built its margin and limited Reynoldsburg to a single score, closing out a 26-point win that was never really in doubt down the stretch.
The result improves Upper Arlington to 9-2 and ends Reynoldsburg’s season at 7-5. For the Raiders, the early exit still closes a memorable two-week run: a regular-season blowout loss avenged in the first round, followed by a trip to one of central Ohio’s most consistent programs.
Region 3’s other quarterfinals went to form around the Bears. Top-seeded Gahanna Lincoln edged Olentangy Orange 13-10, Olentangy Liberty shut out Olentangy Berlin 15-0, and Pickerington North routed Worthington Kilbourne 45-7, all according to the Dispatch and Mansfield News Journal scoreboards.
The Dispatch’s live second-round coverage noted that Pickerington North’s win sent the Panthers into a regional semifinal against Upper Arlington. North improved to 9-3 with its rout of Kilbourne, setting up a heavyweight rematch of two of the Columbus area’s deepest rosters.
Upper Arlington and Pickerington North meet Friday, Nov. 13, in the Division I, Region 3 semifinal, with the winner advancing to the regional final on Nov. 20. The state semifinals follow on Nov. 27, and the Division I state championship game is set for Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton during the Dec. 3-5 finals weekend.
Photo: ActuallyTSwany, CC BY-SA