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11/23 - 7:00 PM Football Final St. Edward 42 Olentangy Liberty 16
MANSFIELD, Ohio — Lawson Nash admitted he’s never thought about entering a football game looking to get four takeaways. But on Friday night in the Division I state semifinal, the football kept finding the St. Edward junior defensive back.
Nash had two interceptions and recovered two fumbles, one of which he took for a touchdown, to help the Eagles knock off Olentangy Liberty, 42-16, to reach the Division I state championship game for the third time in five years.
“I was in the right places at the right times,” Nash said. “My coaches had a great gameplan. I was just there.”
Nash intercepted Olentangy Liberty quarterback Mitchell Okuley on the second play of the game, helping to set up a four-yard touchdown run by Jordan Castleberry to give St. Edward (10-3) the lead at 7-0.
Okuley responded early in the second quarter with an 11-yard TD run to cut the Eagles’ lead to one at 7-6.
Minutes later, Nash stepped up to make his biggest contribution and give St. Edward full control of the game. Linebacker Teon Smith hit Okuley on a quarterback keeper, popping the ball loose. Nash was there to scoop the ball out of the air and take it 51 yards for the touchdown, extending St. Edward’s lead to 14-6.
“That was a huge play. Great hit by Teon, opportunistic play by Nash there, and he takes it all the way back. He’s got great speed,” St. Edward coach Tom Lombardo said. “He’s been big. But there’s been different guys that stepped up for different games. Everybody’s had a taste of it. And now we get another chance to go out again.”
St. Edward took a 21-6 lead into halftime after another Castleberry 4-yard TD run and an Olentangy Liberty (9-5) field goal. Castleberry’s second score was set up by Nash’s third takeaway of the game, which was an interception.
The Eagles allowed just seven more points in the second half. They have allowed fewer than 20 points in three of their four playoff games.
“They’ve been really great. When we need them, they come up,” St. Edward quarterback Garrett Dzuro said. “They’re something special.”
Dzuro found the end zone twice in the third quarter. He scored on a 23-yard run, then threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Quintel Kent.
Following another Okuley touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Joseph Formani went two yards for the final score of the game.
In addition to forcing four takeaways, the Eagles also held the Patriots to just 1-for-12 on third-down conversions and only 82 yards rushing.
The win sends the Eagles, who started the season 0-2, to the Division I state championship game for the third time in five years. St. Edward won the championship games in 2014 and 2015.
“We grew from (those two losses) and the biggest thing is we learned from the mistakes that we made in those games,” Nash said. “We never put our heads down. So we kept going from there, and it was all green lights from there.”
The Eagles will take on Cincinnati Colerain in the state championship game in Canton on Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. The Cardinals knocked off defending champion Pickerington Central, 28-14, in the other Division I semifinal.
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