HARRISON, Ohio — Harrison’s quarterback threw for three touchdowns, and Harrison’s defense made the last one count. The second-seeded Wildcats beat No. 3 seed Trotwood-Madison 20-13 on Friday night, November 13, at Bill Kuntz Field in an OHSAA Division II, Region 8 semifinal, according to TriStateFootball.com’s Week 13 Blitz report. The Cincinnati Enquirer’s scoreboard and The Columbus Dispatch’s statewide scoreboard both confirmed the 20-13 final.
Brady Lawhon threw three touchdown passes for Harrison, TriStateFootball.com reported. He hit Christian Roether for an 8-yard touchdown and Trey Fette for a 22-yard score to give Harrison a 14-7 halftime lead, according to TriStateFootball.com.
The second half tested the Wildcats’ nerve. Lawhon found Colton Rehage for a 10-yard touchdown with 11:29 left, TriStateFootball.com reported, and Harrison recovered its second onside kick of the half — a special-teams gamble that kept the ball, and the clock, on the home sideline.
Trotwood-Madison got its chance anyway. The Wildcats turned the Rams away on downs at the Harrison 21 with 2:49 remaining, TriStateFootball.com reported, sealing Harrison’s second straight one-score playoff win.
The win came with a measure of revenge. Harrison avenged last year’s 49-0 postseason loss to Trotwood-Madison, TriStateFootball.com reported — a 49-point defeat answered, one year later, with a seven-point win on the same stage of the tournament.
Lawhon’s season line explains how Harrison keeps winning these games. The Wildcats’ quarterback had thrown for 2,229 yards and 23 touchdowns against only two interceptions entering Friday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported in its semifinal preview, on a team that a week earlier needed his fourth-quarter drive to beat Talawanda 22-21 in the quarterfinal.
The regional final is now an all-local championship. In the other Region 8 semifinal, top-seeded Anderson routed Troy 50-7 on Friday, according to the Enquirer’s scoreboard — which means the two teams that spent Friday night on opposite ends of southwest Ohio’s scoreboard extremes, a rout and a grinder, meet with the regional title between them.
What happens next: Harrison (10-2) faces Anderson (11-1) in the Division II, Region 8 final on Friday, November 20, at a site the OHSAA announces on Sunday, November 15. The winner advances to the state semifinals on November 27.