State-ranked Harvest Prep pulls away from Licking Heights late and wins 34-18

Photo by John Suchan

This Week 8 football matchup between Harvest Prep and Licking Heights was built up as a game of two teams going opposite directions. The Warriors of Harvest Prep came into the game with a record of 6-1 and the Hornets of Licking Heights had a 2-6 record.

Currently, the Warriors are ranked No. 19 in Ohio according to Max Prep. They are ranked No. 8 according to the AP poll in Division V.

The game was the last to be played at Licking Height’s old stadium as they plan to open their new stadium next year, it was also senior night for the Hornets. So, there was a lot of emotion and reminiscing on this Friday night.

The game started as if Harvest Prep would run away from Licking Heights early as they jumped on top 12-0. The Warriors quarterback Dezmond Porter was a big reason for that start as he helped lead his squad down the field relatively easily.

But then the Warriors started making mistakes and turned the ball over twice in the second quarter. After Harvest Prep fumbled the ball away midway through the quarter, the Hornets finally broke through with a touchdown as the team’s quarterback Jaylynn Fillmore ran to the endzone for a five-yard score that made the score 12-7. Licking Heights was able to get the ball back again at the four-minute mark and converted on a field goal to cut the lead to 12-10.

The Hornets continued their run of good fortune when they connected on a 71-yard pass play from Fillmore to Josiah Ayers after starting at their own four-yard line Fillmore then finished the impressive drive with an 18-yard burst up the middle for another touchdown. The Hornets couldn’t convert on the two-point attempt but still went to halftime up 16-12.

The second half was then a back and forth and vying for good field position. Eventually, the Warriors regained the lead late in the third quarter on a nice drive led by their quarterback Porter.

Licking Heights though wouldn’t go away and kept fighting on defense and forced Harvest Prep to punt. The punt attempt for the Warriors was a bad one as the ball sailed over the punter and through the back of their endzone which resulted in a safety. The score was 20-18 at the six-minute mark.

The big opportunity for the Hornets, however, turned ugly as they had run out of gas on offense and the Warriors were determined to stop them defensively. On the next offensive series, the Hornets turned the ball over on downs. The Warriors then scored another touchdown quickly to push the lead up to 28-18. Licking Heights then turned the ball over on the next possession and Harvest Prep punched it in again with another touchdown to take a comfortable 34-18 lead.

The hard-fought efforts by both squads kept this game close and while the Hornets haven’t had a winning record this season, they certainly played tough on their Senior Night.

Harvest Prep continued their winning streak and are now 7-1 on the season. They will likely continue to climb in the rankings.