Wayne can’t hang on to early lead in loss at Pickerington Central

The Wayne High School buses, delayed by traffic on Interstate 70, arrived at Pickerington Central Football Stadium about 20 minutes before the 7:30 p.m. start time Friday.

Teams typically have finished with their pregame warmups by that point. Wayne coach Roosevelt Mukes knew there wasn’t much he could say to prepare his players for the break in routine. He just knew it was a bit of adversity they would have to overcome.

“You’ve got to control the controllables,” Mukes said. “Control the things you can and then just try to come out and compete.”

Officials delayed the kickoff by five minutes. That still didn’t give Wayne much time to get ready. Players did the best they could, running pass routes in the grassy area outside the locker room.

Considering those circumstances, Wayne played well at the start of the game, building leads of 7-0 and 15-14. The momentum didn’t last, however, and Pickerington Central used a 21-0 scoring run to take control of the game and coast to a 38-28 victory in Week 2.

“We’ve just got to just continue to get better,” Mukes said. “As a whole, our guys compete. Our guys want to get better. I wouldn’t trade that for the world.”

Wayne fell to 1-1 after a season-opening 31-24 victory against Fairfield in Huber Heights. It’s the third straight season Wayne has opened with a victory against Fairfield and then lost to Pickerington Central.

Pickerington Central, which beat Gahanna Lincoln 45-14 in Week 1, improved to 2-0.

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Wayne took a 7-0 lead on an 8-yard touchdown run by Jamier Averette-Brown in the first quarter.

Pickerington Central tied the game at 7-7 on the next possession, scoring on a 3-yard pass from Rocco Williams to Nick Bousquet.

In the second quarter, Williams threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Arreyon Washington to give Pickerington Central a 14-7 lead.

Wayne’s Isaiah Thompson answered with an 18-yard touchdown run. Wayne added a two-point conversion run to take a 15-14 lead with 7:41 left in the first half.

The rest of the first half and most of the third quarter belonged to Pickerington Central.

William threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Nelson. Jordan Sanders III ran 11 yards for a score with 1:04 left in the first half.

With 8:29 left in the third, Edmund McAllister III ran five yards for a touchdown, extending the Pickerington Central lead to 35-15.

McAllister led the Tigers with 106 yards on 15 carries. Williiams completed 13 of 16 passes for 175 yards.

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Thompson scored on a 3-yard run late in the third quarter to end Pickerington Central’s’ 21-0 run. Wayne quarterback Kye Graham added a 63-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Graham completed 14 of 32 passes for 149 yards with two interceptions. Thompson rushed 18 times for 93 yards. Averette-Brown caught four passes for 74 yards.

This was the fourth straight year Wayne and Pickerington Central, a two-time state champion (2017 and 2019), have played.

Wayne won the first matchup 10-9 in Week 3 in 2022, lost 25-20 in Week 2 in 2023 and 45-40 in Week 2 in 2024.

“We like the challenge,” Mukes said. “We’re up for the challenge. Our guys know when you come to a place like Wayne, these are the games you want to play.”