North Olmsted, OH-
Behind a 362-yard rushing attack led by senior running back Jared Kelley and sophomore running back Matthew Chalkwater, the North Olmsted Eagles defeated the Valley Forge Patriots 42-34 in a Division 2, Region 6 OHSAA first-round playoff matchup on Friday night in North Olmsted.
First Half
North Olmsted jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on the second play of the game, as Kelley took a carry up the middle and ran past the Patriot defenders for a 57-yard score. Kelley showed ability as both a runner and receiver on Friday, finishing with 199 total yards on 14 touches.
After a fumble by Valley Forge’s Ben Farson on the ensuing drive, North Olmsted senior quarterback Xavier Balson found his favorite target, junior receiver Collin Willard for a 39-yard touchdown. Balson had a strong first half, throwing for 118 yards and a touchdown, however, struggled in the second half, failing to complete a pass after the 2nd quarter. Willard was also hot and cold, making a spectacular touchdown reception in the first quarter, but also dropping a potential touchdown later in the game. The Eagles will need both players to play up to their potential to continue in the playoffs.
Photo by Hannah Hrusovsky
Down 14-0 going into the second quarter, the Patriots started to climb back. Valley Forge runs a Wing-T offense and attempted only 2 passes on Friday night against 53 rush attempts. In order to succeed, the Patriots needed short fields, and they got just that with an interception by junior linebacker Daniel Scheffler on a 4th down, which gave them the ball in North Olmsted territory. The Patriots marched down and junior running back Ben Farson scored the first of his three touchdowns with an 11-yard run.
However, North Olmsted needed just two plays to score again, as Chalkwater ran through the Patriots defense for a 30-yard touchdown to put them up 21-7. North Olmsted’s offensive line dominated the Patriots, as the Eagles ran for 362 yards on 36 attempts – over 10 yards per carry. Each time Chalkwater or Kelley would get a handoff, they would have 5-6 yards to run without being touched.
Second Half
Despite being behind two scores going into the second half, the Patriots never quit. Valley Forge won the second half 27-21, but it was not enough to defeat the Eagles.
As previously mentioned, the Patriots needed short fields to score, and senior punter Riley Hein helped the Valley Forge effort by pinning the Eagles back at their own 1-yard line to start the 3rd quarter. After nearly giving up a safety, the Eagles went three-and-out, setting up Valley Forge at the Eagles 33. After 7 running plays and two offsides by North Olmsted, Elijah Williams carried for a 6-yard touchdown to make it 21-13.
This would start a stretch of 7 consecutive scoring drives between the two teams. Back and forth they went, trading scores.
Photo by Hannah Hrusovsky
Following the Patriots score, Chalkwater busted runs of 31 and 25 yards, scoring on the latter, to put North Olmsted up 28-13. Following that up was Farson again for the Patriots, scoring on an 8-yard run to make it 28-20. The Eagles followed with Chalkwater again for an 25-yard run, putting the Eagles up 28-13 going into the 4th quarter.
But the Patriots could not be put away. While the Eagles were full of explosive plays (5 plays of 30+ yards), the Patriots were far more methodical, seemingly always getting 3rd down conversions to extend drives. The Patriots marched once again down the field on the Eagles, and this time, junior quarterback Dan Kiewel kept the ball for an 8-yard touchdown run. The Patriots had 5 different players carry the ball over 5 times, and each of them are options on every play, with heavy amounts of motion and misdirection. Kiewel rarely kept the ball, except for this scoring play, which confused the Eagles defense and gave him an open lane to score.
Needing a stop, the Patriots again could not stop Blackwater and the Eagles rushing attack. Hurt by a poor kickoff and an illegal substitution, the Patriots were again gashed by Blackwater, this time for an 8-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles up 35-20 with 3:57 left in the game.
In what seemed like an insurmountable margin for a rush-only team, the Patriots gave their star running back, Ben Farson, the ball again on an outside run. Farson, who was the most elusive player in the game, made a few players miss and busted off a 63-yard run down the sideline to pull the game to 35-27 with 3:11 yet. After failing to recover the onside kick, in a familiar story, the Patriots again were gashed by the Eagles on the ground, surrendering a 48-yard rushing touchdown to Kelley, who simply outran the gassed Patriots defense to put the game out of reach for the Patriots, 42-27. While Farson had the most elusiveness, Kelley’s pure speed was the x-factor in the game.
Nonetheless, there was no quit in the Patriots, who would score in 1:30 after some miscues by the North Olmsted defense, with Farson scoring his third touchdown of the game, making the game 42-34 with 1:31 left. But after yet another failed onside kick, the Eagles ran out of the clock to secure an eight-point victory.
What’s Next
Valley Forge finishes the season at 7-4. North Olmsted will face Highland in Medina next week in the second round of the OHSAA playoffs.
Notable Stats
Connor Pozniak (Valley Forge): 10 rushes, 122 yards
Ben Farson (Valley Forge): 9 rushes, 93 yards, 3 TD
Jared Kelley (North Olmsted): 12 rushes, 166 yards, 2 TD, 2 catches, 33 yards
Matthew Chalkwater (North Olmsted): 10 rushes, 128 yards, 3 TD
Xavier Balson (North Olmsted): 7-20, 118 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 9 rushes, 41 yards
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
North Olmsted: Jared Kelley, 57 run (kick good, 11:44)
North Olmsted: Collin Willard from Xavier Balson, 39 pass (kick good, 7:24)
2nd Quarter
Valley Forge: Ben Farson, 11 run (kick good, 10:28)
North Olmsted: Matthew Chalkwater, 30 run (kick good, 10:08)
3rd Quarter
Valley Forge: Elijah Williams, 6 run (kick failed, 2:55)
North Olmsted: Matthew Chalkwater, 25 run (kick good, 0:09)
4th Quarter
Valley Forge: Dan Kiewel, 8 run (kick good, 7:20)
North Olmsted: Matthew Chalkwater, 7 run (kick good, 3:57)
Valley Forge: Ben Farson, 63 run (kick good, 3:11)
North Olmsted: Jared Kelley, 48 run (kick good, 2:56)
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