SALEM, Ohio — The No. 12 seed University School Preppers beat No. 4 seed Salem 14-10 on Friday, November 6, in a Division III, Region 9 regional quarterfinal at Salem, rallying from a 10-0 deficit and surviving a goal-line stand in the final minute. According to USA TODAY, the victory was University School’s first playoff win since 2016, and Ohio Varsity reported the Preppers improved to 7-4 with the win.
The result was remarkable for another reason: until Thursday, University School did not know whether it would play this weekend, who it would play, or where. The Preppers, from Hunting Valley, spent more than a week caught in a legal fight that was never about them — and then, given one chance to play, they made it count on the road against a Salem team that finished its season 8-3.
The saga began when the Ohio High School Athletic Association removed Cleveland Glenville, the No. 5 seed in Region 9, from the postseason after an investigation into student participation violations involving Ginn Academy. USA TODAY reported the OHSAA banned the program for using ineligible players, and Ohio Varsity reported the decision sent University School, the No. 12 seed originally scheduled to visit Glenville in the opening round, directly into the second round.
What followed was a week of court rulings. A Cuyahoga County judge issued a temporary restraining order on November 3 that briefly put Glenville back in the bracket, according to USA TODAY’s reporting on the case. Then, on Thursday, November 5, Ohio’s Eighth District Court of Appeals granted the OHSAA an emergency stay, putting the removal back in effect. Only then did University School learn, on Thursday, that it would travel to Salem on Friday night — one day to prepare for the biggest game of its season.
Salem looked ready to end the story early. According to YSN Live reporter Matt Mowery, the Quakers put together a nine-minute opening drive that ended with a 27-yard field goal by Ronin Sutter and a 3-0 lead. Moments later, University fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Salem’s Bairon Exline capitalized with a 7-yard touchdown run, with Sutter’s extra point making it 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, YSN Live reported.
The Preppers answered in the second quarter with the kind of drive their week demanded. Ohio Varsity reported University marched 16 plays before Tylar Robinson scored on a 10-yard touchdown run — a scoring run also reported by USA TODAY and YSN Live — and Sonny Siegler’s extra point cut Salem’s lead to 10-7 by halftime. A defense that had spent a week in limbo had settled in, and a game that looked like a rout had become a fight.
The game turned in the opening minute of the third quarter. Junior quarterback Nico Morelli connected with Robinson on a 60-yard touchdown pass, and Siegler’s extra point gave University its first lead of the night, 14-10, according to both Ohio Varsity and YSN Live. It was Robinson’s second touchdown of the game, and it would be the last scoring play of the night.
YSN Live reported Morelli threw for 135 yards and Robinson finished as his top target with four receptions for 102 yards and both University touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving. Salem leaned on its ground game, with Zander Kinsey carrying 26 times for 115 yards and Exline adding 73 yards on 20 carries and the Quakers’ only touchdown, according to YSN Live. University overcame four turnovers to win, YSN Live reported, a statistic that makes the defensive finish that followed even harder to explain — and even harder for Salem to accept.
That finish nearly went the other way. Ohio Varsity reported two errant snaps late in the fourth quarter handed Salem excellent field position for one final possession, and the Quakers drove inside the University 10-yard line. Linebacker Bobby Farrell broke up a third-down pass in the end zone, Ohio Varsity reported, and Salem’s fourth-and-goal attempt from the 9-yard line, with about 30 seconds remaining, fell incomplete, according to YSN Live. University ran out the clock, and a week that began in a courtroom ended in a celebration nine years in the making.
The win was part of a wild Friday night across Northeast Ohio’s regional quarterfinals. Elsewhere, unbeaten Mayfield held off a Wadsworth rally 32-21 to reach the regional semifinal, and the defending champions rolled again as Kirtland blanked Brookfield 50-0 to reach the Division VI regional semifinal. For Salem, Friday’s loss closed an 8-3 season that included a home playoff game — a campaign the Quakers can hold up with pride even as it ends a week earlier than they hoped.
What happens next: University School’s reward is the toughest road trip left in Region 9. The No. 12 seed Preppers (7-4) visit No. 8 seed Youngstown Ursuline (8-4) in a Division III, Region 9 regional semifinal on Friday, November 13, at 7 p.m., according to Ohio Varsity’s semifinal schedule. Ursuline earned its place by knocking off top-seeded Willoughby South 41-26 on Friday, ending the Rebels’ perfect season. The winner advances to the Region 9 final on Friday, November 20, one win from the state semifinals — a place nobody in Ohio, least of all the Preppers themselves, could have mapped out for University School just one week ago.
Photo: TomahawkBRAWL, CC BY-SA 4.0