Circleville steals The Tiger Bowl in Greenfield
By: Jonas Conn
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GREENFIELD, Ohio (WOUB) – After a slow first half, Circleville rallied on the road and outlasted McClain in a 28-21 overtime thriller.
McClain, led by quarterback Hudson Lovett, was looking for its first 5-0 start since 1959. Following a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers drew first blood after McClain’s Leland Bond went over the top of Circleville’s Alec Spadlin for a 35-yard touchdown.
On Circleville’s ensuing drive, junior receiver Tristen Carmichael appeared to secure a catch for a first down. However, McClain defensive back Hunter Peabody wrestled it away from him as he went down. The play was ruled an interception, and the Tigers capitalized on the very next play. Lovett threw another bomb up, and Gavin Anderson hauled it in for a 34-yard score. McClain’s two touchdowns were just 20 seconds apart.
In need of an answer, Circleville finally got its offense going. A long drive with heavy emphasis on the ground game was capped off by senior Ray Ezell, who punched it in from two yards out to cut the lead in half.
Lovett wasn’t done yet, however. After McClain drove into the red zone, the quarterback kept it himself and scampered his way to a ten-yard touchdown. Both teams failed to score before the half, and McClain went into the break leading 21-7.
In the second half, Circleville senior Kiser Cassidy led the Tigers’ comeback trail. Just minutes into the third quarter, he found the end zone to cut the score to 21-14. Then in the fourth, he broke free for a 43-yard rushing touchdown to tie it up with 9:38 to go.
The teams traded possessions for the rest of regulation and remained deadlocked, forcing overtime. Circleville got the ball first and marched right up to the goal line. On fourth down, Captain called his own number and dove into the end zone to put the Tigers up for the first time all game, 28-21.
Needing a touchdown to tie, McClain got one final possession. But just four yards away, the Tigers’ offensive line allowed Circleville junior Blake Patterson into the backfield untouched. Patterson jarred the ball loose with a heavy hit on Lovett, and Evan Vandagriff recovered the fumble to seal it for Circleville.
Circleville improves to 4-1 after the walkoff and will host Hamilton Township next Friday. McClain loses their perfect record and will attempt to pass that fate along to undefeated Chillicothe next week.