Football: Columbus Grove D earns return to state

LIMA — Columbus Grove returns to the state semifinals for the third year in a row, and the Bulldogs have their defense to thank.

The Bulldog D made a big stop early in the fourth quarter on a running play of fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard line, putting the momentum and the ball back to Columbus Grove. Two plays later, the Bulldogs' Trevon Baxter had his second touchdown catch of the day, completing a short screen pass long, 66 yards to be exact.

Columbus Grove (14-0) held on from there for a 14-0 win against Delphos St. John's (6-8) in the Division VII regional championship game at Spartan Stadium in Lima.

“I feel like that definitely built our confidence, shutting down their offense, and then our offense had to get going,” said Columbus Grove safety and running back Grant Eversole, who had two interceptions and another in the second quarter pass from Drew Boggs tipped. owned by Baxter.

The Bulldogs will face defending champion Marion Local in the Division VII semifinals Friday at 7 p.m. at a neutral site to be announced this weekend.

Columbus Grove held on for its second shutout of the season even as the Blue Jays, the first No. 15 seed to ever reach the regional championship, methodically moved the ball all night. The Blue Jays controlled the speed of the game, lining up each offensive play quickly before clearing the play clock by stepping back to look for calls from the sideline.

“I think our defense was the biggest thing,” Columbus Grove coach Andy Schafer said. “I guess you'd say it's a 'bend but don't break' mentality. We couldn't necessarily get off the field in the first half, but we didn't let them score either, and that was good.”

St. John's offense sputtered three times in the red zone, including in that crucial fourth quarter. The Blue Jays threw three interceptions and lost a fumble along the way.

“That was us on offense this year,” said DSJ coach Todd Schulte, whose team finished eighth in the mighty Midwest Athletic Conference but still won three playoff games. “…We would get a great drive, and then we would get a penalty, and that blocks our drive. That's us. Our offense seems to be two steps forward and three steps back.”

Columbus Grove defeated the Blue Jays 308-196, but 104 yards of that came on two scoring plays. Baxter caught a pair of short screen passes and switched gears on each of them, for a 38-yard TD pass from Kyle Hopkins in the first quarter and a 66-yard TD connection in the fourth quarter.

“It looked like I was about to get hit at first, but (lineman) Kylan Mayes made a great, great block, and Kyle Hopkins made a great throw,” Baxter said before acknowledging that he “hit the jets had turned on.”

Baxter finished with four catches for 111 yards and the two TDs. Hopkins completed 6 of 8 passes for 112 yards. Running back Trenton Barraza, the Northwest District co-offensive player of the year, finished with 106 yards rushing despite finding himself in a receiver spot for much of the fourth quarter as Eversole had eight carries for 51 yards.

Delphos St. John's responded with an unexpected twist. Connor Gaynier, who usually lines up at receiver and runs jet sweeps, had 19 carries for 96 yards before giving way to last week's leading rusher, Riley Mueller, who had five carries for 39 yards in the fourth quarter. Schulte said Mueller suffered an injury during Wednesday's practice, forcing a change in plans.

“This is the first time he's played running back this year, after one day of practice,” Schulte said. 'And those are our boys. They're resilient, they're going to do what we ask, and they're going to do it the best they can. They've done that all year.”

Schafer acknowledged that the Blue Jays gave them a tough game.

“You know you're going to get the best performance from the other team when you're in the regional finals, and they're the underdog,” Schafer said. “They definitely played their best football, I think, from what I saw on film.”

Now the Bulldogs face their toughest task yet: They go from the No. 8 team in the MAC to the No. 1 team, Marion Local. The Flyers won their 62nd straight game on Friday and reached the state round for the fourth straight year and 13th time in 14 seasons.

The Bulldogs are no strangers to the state semifinals, Eversole said.

“We've been there for the last three years,” he said. “It's something we're used to now. We have Marion Local, and you know they are the talk of the town. Obviously they are good, but we have to prepare for it this week and be ready to play on Friday night.”

Columbus Grove 14, Delphos St. John's 0

DSJ CG

11 First downs 13

157 Total yards 308

152 rushing yards 196

5 Passage distance 112

2-6-3 Passes 6-8-0

1-1 Fumbles-lost 1-1

2-33.5 Points 2-29.5

3-28 Penalties 2-25

Score per quarter:

Delphos St. John's 0 0 0 0 — 0

Columbus Grove 7 0 0 7 — 14

First quarter

CG-Trevon Baxter 38 pass from Kyle Hopkins (kick from Evan Verhoff), 8:56

Fourth quarter

CG-Trevon Baxter 66 pass from Kyle Hopkins (kick from Evan Verhoff), 9:45

Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter/X @Lima_Trinko.