Granville holds off late comeback attempt from Tri-Valley
By: Dylan Paris
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DRESDEN, Ohio (WOUB) The Granville Blue Aces came into Zach Anderson Stadium, looking for their first victory of the 2026-2027 season. It wasn’t an easy environment for the Blue Aces. The host Tri-Valley Scotties looked to stay in the win column, led by standout running back Leevi Wade, who came off a 332-yard and three-touchdown game in week one.
Tri-Valley’s head coach Austin Jones wanted to keep that momentum going, giving Wade the ball plenty of times on the Scotties’ first drive. Wade and starting quarterback Stone Spiker led the Scotties down to the Blue Aces’ 30-yard line, taking six minutes off the clock. Granville’s defense woke up, though, at the 5:35 mark; defensive back Dane McShane capitalized on a misthrow from Spiker, intercepting the Scotties’ starting quarterback. Granville cashed in on this opportunity with quarterback Jackson McMillan throwing a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Luke Bosse, giving the Blue Aces a 7-0 lead.
The second quarter turned into the Granville show. Another quick stop on defense led to McMillan’s second touchdown pass of the night, this time a 72-yarder to the speedster Carter Rhyan to give the Blue Aces a two-possession lead. Granville’s defense came up big again on their next drive, with Devin Bodie forcing Stone Spiker’s second interception of the night. The Blue Aces offense got up the field in no time once again, leading to running back Evan Seifert scoring a one-yard dive up the middle for six.
Stone Spiker said enough was enough, making a big play on defense and picking off McMillan. On offense, Leevi Wade made his impact, giving the Scotties their first points of the night on an impressive five-yard run into the end zone to make it 21-7. Granville got the last laugh of the first half, driving up the field in 30 seconds and kicking a field goal as time expired to take a 24-7 lead into the second half.
The third quarter dealt with more of a defensive battle, with both teams turning the ball over and punting multiple times, struggling to score any points in the full 12 minutes. However, the fourth quarter started with a massive momentum change. In the first play of the quarter, Tri-Valley’s AJ Pusz made an excellent read, intercepting McMillan’s pass and taking it all the way back to the house for six. It didn’t stop there. After a quick stop on defense, Spiker threw a 75-yard bomb to Lucca Gargasz on the first play of the drive. Tri-Valley made it a three-point ballgame with 8:45 left in the fourth.
The Blue Aces’ next drive didn’t go very far, as they lost 19 yards on the first play and punted once again, giving the Scotties one last chance to win the game. Tri-Valley decided to lean on their best player when it mattered most. Wade took the Scotties all the way down to the Blue Aces 30. With time running out, Tri-Valley dealt with a fourth down and decided to go for it and win instead of opting for the field goal and overtime. Wade got the ball on the short carry, and Granville’s defense came up strong, stopping Wade in his tracks and turning the ball over. The Blue Aces got into their victory formation and secured the win 24-21 in a nail-biter.