The Paint Valley Bearcats ran their record to (11-0) Friday with a 39-36 win over (7-4) Grandview Heights in the Division 6/Region 23 Quarterfinals at Herrnstein Field.
Both teams combined for 811 yards in total offense, with Paint Valley scoring on five of their first six possessions.
The Bearcats amassed 467 total yards, with 374 coming on the ground. Running back Brayden Ison ran for 187 yards and scored three touchdowns while fullback Lane Mettler blasted his way for 116 rushing yards and scored twice. Iann Cockerell added another 63 yards while Bryce Newland threw 8/18 for 93 yards and a TD pass to Macky McDonald.
The Bobcats piled up 344 total yards, running for 193 while quarterback Kyle Casey connected on 12/19 passes for 163 yards. 9 of those passes went to 6'6 junior receiver Luke Lachey for 97 yards and two TD's. He is the son of OSU Hall of Famer Jim Lachey. Running back Harrison Morosky ran 107 yards and scored a TD.
Leading 39-36 in the closing two minutes of the game, the Bearcats were forced to punt, but the ball was bobbled, but the punter picked it up and ran and was grabbed by his face-mask by a Bobcats tackler, giving PV a first down where the ate up the clock for the win.
Paint Valley scored first, driving 67 yards in 11 plays, capped off by a Lane Mettler 4 yard run. The PAT was blocked, and PV led 6-0 at 6:27 of the first quarter.
Grandview Heights responded with a 52 yard drive in only 3 plays as Kyle Casey ran 20 yards for the tying score at 5:30 remaining in the first, followed by the PAT kick for a 7-6 lead.
That is the only time in the game that Paint Valley trailed, as they went on a 13 play/69 yard scoring drive for a 14-7 advantage on the first play of the second quarter, when Bryce Newland connected with Macky McDonald on a 10 yard TD pass. The two-point conversion run by Brayden Ison put PV up 14-7.
Paint Valley's defense held, but the Bobcats punt put the Bearcats on their own 1 yard line. The Bearcats were up to the challenge, driving 99 yards in 7 plays with Mettler scoring on a 30 yard run. The PAT failed and PV led 20-7 with 8:32 remaining in the half.
Grandview Heights cut that to 20-14 with 5:43 left in the half, as they put together a long 93 yard/8 play scoring drive when Casey hit Lachey on an 18 yard TD pass followed by the PAT.
Both teams would score again before halftime, with Brayden Ison racing to a 50 yard TD score at 4:26 remaining, capping a 73 yard/4 play drive for a 26-14 lead.
The Bobcats made it 26-21 at 2:38 remaining when Darrion Davis scored on a 14 yard run and PAT. That was the score at half.
Paint Valley scored first in the third quarter, going 78 yards in 8 plays, when Ison ran 41 yards for a TD followed by the PAT kick at 8:53 remaining for a 33-21 lead.
Grandview Heights scored less than two minutes later, going 50 yards in 5 plays on another Casey-Lachey combination for a 33-28 score with 6:56 in the third period.
The Bearcats got the short field, traveling 33 yards in 5 plays for a 39-28 lead with 11:27 left in the game as Ison darted 20 yards for the TD.
GH scored one last time, going 80 yards in 11 plays as Harrison Morosky scored on a four yard run to make it 39-36 with 5:20 remaining.
Each team had one turnover, but Grandview Heights had many costly penalties including the face mask that gave PV the first down in the closing minutes, where they ran out the clock. GH had 7 flags for 90 yards while the Bearcats had 5 penalties for only 40 yards.
Paint Valley had 21 first downs and Grandview Heights with 11.
(11-0) Paint Valley now faces (9-2) Shadyside in the Regional Semis next Friday, after Shadyside beat (7-4) Adena 34-6. The site will be announced Sunday.
(7-4) Southeastern saw their season end with a 28-16 loss at (10-1) Galion Northmoor.
Listen to the podcast of the WKKJ play-by-play on our link below, with post game comments from Paint Valley Coach Pete Hollon below the game podcast....
Post game comments from Pete Hollon in our podcast link below....