CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Chillicothe’s season ended Friday night, November 6, as the Cavaliers fell 35-14 to Miami Trace in a Division III, Region 12 quarterfinal at Herrnstein Field. Panthers running back Julian Baker took over the game on both sides of the ball, sending No. 5 seed Miami Trace to the regional semifinals while No. 4 seed Chillicothe closed the year at 8-3.
The night actually began the way the home crowd hoped. According to the Chillicothe Gazette, freshman quarterback Owen Wood found Karter Williams on a nine-yard touchdown pass with 7:09 left in the first quarter, giving Chillicothe a 7-0 lead. The advantage lasted almost no time at all. The Gazette reported that Miami Trace returned the ensuing kickoff to the 1-yard line, and Baker tied the game on the next play from scrimmage — an early warning of what was coming.
Baker was just getting started. After recording his first interception of the night, he broke a 92-yard touchdown run to put Miami Trace ahead 14-7 early in the second quarter, the Gazette reported. Thirty-six seconds later, following Baker’s second interception, Panthers quarterback Baron Phipps connected with a wide-open Evan Parsley on a 48-yard touchdown pass for a 21-7 lead. Chillicothe answered with an eight-yard touchdown run from Cartae Ligon to cut the deficit to 21-14 by halftime, but, as the Gazette noted, the Cavaliers never scored again.
The Gazette credited Baker, the Frontier Athletic Conference Player of the Year, with 29 carries for 300 yards and three touchdowns, plus three interceptions on defense. “He doesn’t stop. He’s patient, he allows things to develop and when a play is there to be made, he breaks off a big run,” Chillicothe coach TJ Carper told the Chillicothe Gazette. “There’s no panic in his game.”
Chillicothe had a standout of its own in Ligon, who rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown in the loss, according to the Chillicothe Gazette. The Gazette reported that Ligon finished a remarkable season with 1,745 rushing yards and 37 total touchdowns. Carper, speaking to the Gazette, called Ligon a generational talent and praised the maturity of his preparation, saying his approach was beyond his years.
The defeat does not erase what Chillicothe built this fall — an 8-3 record, a home playoff game, and a farewell to a senior class of 10, according to the Chillicothe Gazette. Carper told the Gazette those seniors helped lift a program that had endured 1-9 and 2-8 seasons, and he urged his players not to hang their heads. “This is just the start of the future of this program,” Carper told the Chillicothe Gazette.
What happens next splits two ways. Miami Trace, now 11-1, travels to Bellbrook for a Region 12 semifinal on Friday, November 13, the Chillicothe Gazette reported — Bellbrook advanced with a 49-14 win over Unioto on Friday night. For Chillicothe, the work turns to the offseason, when a young roster led by a freshman quarterback will try to build on this senior class’s foundation.