CANAL WINCHESTER — Around dusk Saturday evening, the lights at Harvest Prep’s Jack Johnson Field went out as the second half of the 14th annual Mid-Ohio All-Star Football Classic was getting under way.

Several minutes were played in the gloom of fading sunlight, a couple auxiliary lights and the lights of the scoreboard. The facility had been hit by lightning late last week, and one of the four banks of lights never did come back on.

The game itself, pitting recently-graduated seniors from 32 different schools in Central and Southeast Ohio, including Logan and Nelsonville-York, had already taken on “lights-out” characteristics long before that.
The Buckeye and Ohio teams generated little offense, combining for a grand total of six first downs through three-and-a-half quarters, and the Ohio squad looked to be on its way to victory.

But the action finally picked up in the game’s final five minutes, and the Buckeye squad — featuring five Chieftains and two Buckeyes — took a late lead.

However, Clint Howarth of Granville kicked a 36-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining to rally the Ohio past the Buckeye, 19-17.

The Chiefs were represented on the Buckeye squad by tailback/linebacker Clay Morgan, guard/tackle Cary Maclaughlin, defensive tackle Stephen Miller, offensive tackle Derek Shirey and wide receiver/defensive back Jaushua Huntsberger. Nelsonville-York had defensive end Thomas Williams and offensive tackle Randy Dennis.

Maclaughlin stood out for the red-clad Buckeye team, sacking Ohio quarterbacks twice and contributing another tackle for loss. Morgan rushed for 13 yards on five carries, and Huntsberger, Miller and Shirey all saw action as well.

The two teams had a little more than a week to prepare for Saturday night’s game. The Classic, sponsored by the Mid-Ohio Diagnostic Center, went on hiatus last summer after 13 seasons, with the most recent games having been played at nearby Canal Winchester High School through 2007.

Saturday night, the two teams combined for just 274 yards of total offense, 13 first downs, seven turnovers and a blocked punt. However, the game’s final five minutes helped make the game memorable.

The Buckeye team missed two first-half field goals before Howarth booted a 20-yarder with 2:10 left in the first half to put the Ohio team in front. It was 9-3 Ohio after each team’s kicker attempted three uncontested 25-yard field goals during the halftime break, with Howarth converting two and Matt Romanowski of Canal Winchester one.

A fumbled snap from center by the Buckeye squad turned into seven Ohio points at the outset of the third period. The Buckeye fumbled at its own 5-yard line, and two plays later Derek Acosta of Licking Heights scored on a 4-yard run and Howarth added the extra point for a 16-3 Ohio lead with 10:50 left in the third period.

A little later, with the lights still out and darkness setting in, the game was delayed for about 15 minutes to allow the lights to gradually come back on.

It took much longer than that, however, for either team’s offense to come on. Neither team managed a single first down in the third quarter and, in fact, the initial first down of the second half didn’t come until the seven-minute mark of the final stanza.

By that time, however, the Buckeye had pulled within 16-10. Ohio had returned the favor of losing a fumble deep in its own territory, having turned the ball over to the Buckeye on its own 3-yard line on the final play of the third period.

Three plays into the fourth stanza, Berne Union’s Colton Speelman went off tackle for a 1-yard touchdown run, and Romanowski added the PAT kick with 11:12 remaining.

With less than five minutes left, the Buckeye recovered another Ohio fumble and took over at its own 46. A 16-yard keeper by quarterback Ross Householder of Fairfield Union kept the drive alive before he connected on a swing pass with New Lexington’s R.J. Starkey, who rambled 27 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the Ohio 1.

Speelman then scored on another right-tackle plunge with 1:39 left to tie the game and Romanowski booted the extra point for the Buckeye’s first lead of the night, 17-16.

But Ohio quarterback Casey Hood of host Harvest Prep rallied his team to victory in those final 99 seconds.

He kept the winning drive alive by taking a fourth-and-one keeper six yards to the Buckeye 49 with 45 seconds remaining, then hooked up with Harvest Prep teammate Archric Sims on passes of 15 and 18 yards down the right sideline to drive deep into Buckeye territory.

The Ohio team completed 10 passes on the evening — eight of them Hood-to-Sims hookups for 85 yards.

After a pair of incomplete passes and a three-yard loss — on which Hood positioned the ball near the middle of the field to give Howarth a better angle — and a Buckeye time-out to freeze the Ohio kicker, Howarth calmly drilled his game-winning 36-yarder with plenty to spare.

Buckeye QB Nick Adams of Berne Union connected with Romanowski with a 34-yard pass play to get the ball to the Ohio 46 with three seconds to play, but the game came to an end when Pickerington Central’s Cory Crosby sacked Adams for a 9-yard loss at time expired.

Buckeye 0 3 0 14-17

Ohio       0 9 7   3-19

Scoring Summary

Ohio: Clint Howarth 20 field goal, 2:10, 2Q

Ohio: Howarth 25 FG, 0:00, 2Q

Ohio: Howarth 25 FG, 0:00, 2Q

Buckeye: Matt Romanowski 25 FG, 0:00, 2Q

Ohio: Derek Acosta 4 run (Howarth kick), 10:50, 3Q

Buckeye: Colton Speelman 1 run (Romanowski kick), 11:12, 4Q

Buckeye: Speelman 1 run (Romanowski kick), 1:39, 4Q

Ohio: Howarth 36 FG, 0:11, 4Q

Team Statistics

First Downs: Buckeye 5, Ohio 8

Plays: Buckeye 55, Ohio 55

Rushes-Yards: Buckeye 35-79, Ohio 30-24

Passes-Yards: Buckeye 5-20-1-77, Ohio 10-25-2-94

Total Yards: Buckeye 156, Ohio 118

Fumbles-Lost: Buckeye 2-1, Ohio 4-3