“I wanted to make sure I gave my team an opportunity to play on another Saturday,” said Wayne junior defensive lineman Mazon Walker, whose fourth-down near sack and hurry late in the fourth quarter essentially clinched a 20-6 Wayne victory at Welcome Stadium. “I had to make sure that I stepped up.”
Offensively challenged for the most part, Wayne again stepped up to its mightiest defensive challenge since beating Moeller in Week 2. The payoff is a Division I, Region 2 state semifinal appearance for the second straight season. Its foe likely will be Colerain (12-1), which beat Elder 41-11 also on Saturday at Cincinnati. The Ohio High School Athletic Association will announce state semifinal pairings and neutral sites today.
Wayne (13-0) leaned on its defense to post its most impressive win. Besides Walker’s big play, defensive linemen Wendell Wheeler and Mike Toliver also produced crucial series-ending sacks. Defensive back Alex Otto was good for a third-down stop for no gain that forced Davidson to opt for a fourth-quarter field goal.
That would prove fateful when Davidson went into catch-up mode after the teams were even 3-all at halftime. That was the first time Wayne hadn’t led at the break and one of the few times the Warriors didn’t earn a running second-half clock.
“I was pleased at halftime with the score and the way we had moved the ball,” said Davidson coach Brian White of the Wildcats (11-2), “but I also realized at the same time three points was not enough to beat that team. Our defense played well. Their athletes across the ball make things so tough for you.”
Playing in a fierce and biting wind, Wayne’s passing game that had produced so many fireworks for senior quarterback Messiah deWeaver was all but grounded, 4 of 8 passing for 41 yards. Instead, it was up to kicker Nate Strong, who delivered on field goals of 30 and 24 yards.
Wayne senior Daryl McCleskey had a 21-yard touchdown run with seconds remaining in the third quarter. Fred Pitts added a 5-yard TD run with 1:39 left after Walker’s clutch knockdown.
“There’s a lot of games we haven’t had to play four quarters,” Wayne coach Jay Minton said. “I think it shocked our guys a little bit, but we responded well and I’m real proud of them. We came out in the second half and our guys really executed well. We played our game more than their game. We knew what we were in for.”
Hilliard Davidson defeated Wayne 37-7 at Upper Arlington in a 2013 regional final.
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