WORTHINGTON — Pickerington North needed just 12 seconds to take control of its first-ever meeting with Worthington Kilbourne, and the Panthers never let go. Dennis White returned the opening kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown, sparking a 45-7 rout of the host Wolves on Friday, Nov. 6, in a Division I, Region 3 quarterfinal of the OHSAA playoffs. Sixth-seeded North improved to 9-3 and advanced to a regional semifinal, while third-seeded Kilbourne, which had a first-round bye, finished its season 9-2.
The opening kickoff was only the start. After Kilbourne drove deep into North territory on its first possession, Demetrius Curtis sacked quarterback Jackson Szabo on fourth-and-5 to turn the Wolves away empty-handed, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s live game coverage. Quarterback Demetrius Neal-Nesbitt then found Noah Dumas on a short shuffle pass for a 7-yard touchdown with 2:14 left in the first quarter, and North led 14-0 in a game many expected to be an offensive shootout.
Kilbourne briefly answered the way it has all season. Szabo hit Shawn Rice for a 32-yard touchdown with 11:11 left in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 14-7. Kilbourne entered the night averaging 42.6 points per game, and Szabo entered with 2,977 passing yards and 1,183 rushing yards on the season, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
North responded with the decisive stretch of the night, reeling off 21 straight points before halftime. Andyriq Thomas capped a 91-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, a drive set up by freshman Jayden Preece’s 55-yard run, to make it 21-7. Neal-Nesbitt followed with a 56-yard touchdown pass to Dumas, and after Curtis recovered a Szabo fumble, Neal-Nesbitt connected with Kymani Johnson from 10 yards out with 1:34 left in the half. The Panthers went to the locker room ahead 35-7, having dominated on both sides of the ball, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
The second half brought more of the same. Neal-Nesbitt threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to White midway through the third quarter, pushing the lead to 42-7 and triggering a running clock for the rest of the game. Niko Agganis added a 38-yard field goal late in the third quarter to close out the scoring at 45-7. Neal-Nesbitt finished 14 of 20 passing for 210 yards and four touchdowns, and Dumas was his top target with six catches for 99 yards and two scores, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s postgame takeaways.
As impressive as North’s offense was, its defense may have been the story of the night. The Panthers held Kilbourne to just 190 total yards and limited Szabo to 176 yards passing and 12 yards rushing — a dramatic drop for a quarterback who had accounted for more than 4,100 yards and 53 touchdowns entering the game. The Columbus Dispatch noted North was the first team this season to shut down the high-scoring Wolves, using constant pressure to keep Szabo from ever settling in.
North coach Nate Hillerich credited that defensive front, and his quarterback’s recent surge, after the game. “We’re built in the trenches,” Hillerich told The Columbus Dispatch. “Our defensive line, we’re throwing bodies at people. We can rotate bodies. Our team speed on defense is second to none in the entire state. To handle a quarterback like that is incredible.” Of Neal-Nesbitt, Hillerich told The Columbus Dispatch: “Our quarterback is playing with a ton of confidence. He’s been lights out the last two weeks.”
Kilbourne coach Mike Edwards pointed to pass protection as the difference. “We knew that was going to be the biggest challenge,” Edwards told The Columbus Dispatch. “We have a young o-line. North has a very good defensive line. I think we had the right scheme, it just comes down to can you do it one-on-one. You can’t double team everybody.” Rice missed the second half with a shoulder injury, according to Edwards in The Columbus Dispatch, and Grady Wanner led the Wolves’ receivers with five catches for 70 yards.
The win continues a sharp late-season turnaround for North. The Panthers closed the regular season with back-to-back losses, then opened the playoffs with a 37-0 shutout of Groveport Madison before dismantling a 9-1 Kilbourne team on its own field. “I think [the late regular-season struggles] made us a better team,” Hillerich told The Columbus Dispatch. North, which opened in 2003, had never faced Kilbourne before Friday night, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
For Kilbourne, the loss ends a standout season one round earlier than the Wolves hoped. The Wolves earned the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye behind Szabo’s remarkable junior season, but they ran into a North defense playing its best football of the year, and their only points came on the second-quarter Szabo-to-Rice strike.
North was not the only central Ohio team to advance Friday. Elsewhere, London held off Valley View 27-13 to reach a Division IV regional semifinal, and Licking Valley stayed perfect with a 22-15 win over Granville in a playoff rematch.
What happens next is a trip to one of Region 3’s top seeds. North plays at second-seeded Upper Arlington (9-2) in a regional semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13 — Upper Arlington advanced with a 34-8 win over Reynoldsburg. The winner moves on to the Region 3 final on Nov. 20. If the Panthers’ defense plays the way it did at Kilbourne, North will like its chances against anyone left in the bracket.