High School Football: Late pick seals Springfield victory at Springboro

In the final minute, Springboro drove to the Springfield 15-yard line. Then Springfield’s Jahmiere Daniels intercepted a pass in the red zone, clinching Springfield’s third straight victory since an 0-3 start.

“We won,” Springfield coach Maurice Douglass said. “That’s all that matters.”

Springfield (3-3, 3-0) opened the season with losses to Winton Woods (5-1), Walsh Jesuit (5-1) and Trotwood-Madison (4-2). It has outscored Miamisburg (1-5, 0-3), Centerville (1-5, 1-2) and Springboro (3-3, 1-2) 86-7 in Greater Western Ohio Conference play.

Springboro (3-3, 1-2) lost to Springfield for the seventh straight season. This was the closest of the seven games.

Springfield took a 14-0 lead into halftime against Springboro.

Deontre Long ran 36 yards for a touchdown, his fifth of the season, with 10:44 to play in the second quarter. He ran for a season-high 220 yards on 20 carries. He’s averaging 95.8 yards per game.

“He’s been huge for us all year,” Douglass said. “He’s taking advantage of what they give us.”

Springfield scored what would turn out to be the game-winning touchdown on the final play of the first half. The Wildcats snapped the ball with six seconds to play and scored when Christopher Wallace threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Keyes.

It was the 10th touchdown pass of the season for Wallace and first touchdown catch for Keyes. Wallace completed 18 of 28 passes for 176 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Springfield almost added a third touchdown with seconds left in the third quarter. Sherrod Lay Jr. turned a short pass into a 60-yard gain but was called down just short of the goal line. With a chance to take a 21-0 lead, Springfield instead turned the ball over.

Springboro capitalized on the turnover. Max Miller threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Noah Billinski with 11:49 remaining in the game. That’s the only score Springfield has allowed in three GWOC games.

Springboro got the ball twice more after its touchdown, but both drives ended with interceptions. Springfield had three interceptions in the second half. Amileo Norvell Jr. and Tre Montgomery had the others.

Springfield’s victory sets up a Greater Western Ohio Conference first-place showdown against Wayne (4-2, 3-0) in Huber Heights in Week 7. Wayne beat visiting Northmont 45-6 on Friday.

“It’s a big matchup,” Douglass said. “It’s at their house. We’ve just got to play GWOC football. We’ll have a great week of preparation and see what happens at the end of 48 (minutes).”