Orrville 50, Gilmour Academy 43, 3 OT: Orrville prevails in a classic in Division V, Region 17

TWINSBURG, Ohio - It was three overtimes, two 200-yard rushers and one victor moving on in the OHSAA state football playoffs Saturday night.

The Division V Region 17 semifinal matchup between the No. 1 seed Orville Red Riders (9-2) and the No. 4 seed Gilmour Academy Lancers (11-0) was a game to remember with a final score of 50-43, favoring the Red Riders.

On fourth and goal in the third overtime and needing a touchdown to force a fourth overtime, Lancers quarterback Michael Snelling rolled right, under pressure from the Orville defenders, and threw toward the back of the end zone but no Lancer could come up with the catch.

“Just the way we drew it up ... take it into triple overtime,” said Doug Davault, Orrville coach. “You have to give [Gilmour] all the credit in the world, they battled their butts off.”

With a halftime score of 22-7 favoring the Red Riders, it seemed as if Orrville had taken control and would roll throughout the rest of the night. The Lancers had different plans as they fought back throughout the third quarter, making the score as tight as an 8-point game.

“Good teams are never out of it,” said Gilmour coach Chris Kosiorek. “Unfortunately someone [has to] lose and we took that tonight.”

Fans filed into Twinsburg Stadium Saturday evening expecting to see fireworks, mainly because of who was running the ball in this particular game. For Orrville, sophomore running back Marquael Parks was the one to watch and he delivered. Parks on the night rushed the ball 30 times for 207 yards and four touchdowns, including all three of Orville’s overtime touchdowns.

For Gilmour Academy fans showed up to see CJ Charleston, and like Parks, Charleston also delivered. Over the course of the matchup the senior running back touted the ball 27 times for 232 yards and three touchdowns. Charleston didn’t see the field in most of the fourth quarter, or any of the overtime due to a lingering rib injury.

In total, 927 yards were accumulated on offense, 499 yards for Orville, 428 yards for the Lancers.

Orrville will move on to play Manchester in the Region 17 Finals.

Zach Harley is a freelancer from Parma, Ohio.