Pickerington Central rushing and special teams shred Lancaster
By: Austin Yau
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LANCASTER, Ohio (WOUB) – The Lancaster Golden Gales hosted the Pickerington Central Tigers for homecoming. The Tigers were hoping to get their third straight win and return to .500 on the season. The Tigers were successful in that goal, winning 40-7.
Pickerington Central set the tone early when Edmund McCallister went 88 yards avoiding all tacklers for a kickoff return touchdown to give the Tigers an early 7-0 lead.
The Tigers scored another touchdown on their next drive, this time on a QB keeper by Toure Benton, who fought his way through the tackles for a 10-yard score. Evan Schrickel attempted the fake PAT on a pass play but was unsuccessful, meaning the Tigers only led 13-0.
Not only was the Pickerington Central offense rolling, but the defense forced a fumble on the Golden Gales next drive that was recovered by Mike Mensah, giving them the ball back in the red zone. Just a few plays later, McAllister punched in a short-yardage touchdown, and after the PAT, the Tigers were well in control up 20-0.
Lancaster drove deep into the Tigers’ territory, but their effort was halted with an interception by Allie Kamara.
The Tigers would make the most of that interception, as McAllister got his third touchdown of the evening on a 58-yard run. The PAT went wide right of the uprights, meaning the Tigers held a 26-point advantage.
Another great scoring chance arose for the Golden Gales as they worked their way into the red zone on a long connection between Carter Carlisle and Elijah Brown, but a brutal incompletion on fourth down kept Lancaster off the board.
Neither team was able to capitalize on their chances to finish out the first half, and the Tigers went into halftime with a big lead.
It felt like deja vu for the Golden Gales as they started the third quarter with a drive deep into the Tigers’ half, but once again, an incompletion on fourth down doomed their drive.
However, the Golden Gales would get a second chance just two plays later as Pickerington Central fumbled the ball, giving Lancaster the ball back on the 12-yard line.
The drive almost fizzled out, but an encroachment penalty by the Tigers gave Lancaster a second wind. After barely getting stuffed on the one-yard line, the Golden Gales finally got on the board courtesy of quarterback Carlisle sneaking the ball in, cutting the lead to 26-7.
Yet on the ensuing kickoff, the Golden Gales were hit with another bout of deja vu as Jordan Sanders returned the kickoff 93 yards for the score, putting the Tigers back up 33-7.
Pickerington Central head coach Jeff Lomonico spoke on the two kickoff returns: “Early in the year we struggled with special teams … we revamped our special teams and made it more of a priority, and the kids are really busting their butts.”
Lancaster had a chance to add another score to their tally but could not find the end zone, tossing a pick-six that was called back, and then could not convert on fourth down once again.
The Tigers added one more score late as Isaiah Ford put them up 40-7 to start the running clock.
The win returned the Tigers to .500 on the season and kept them atop the OCC-Buckeye at 3-0 in conference play, with Groveport-Madison being the only other 3-0 team in conference.
Pickerington Central hosts Newark next week for another conference matchup, and Lancaster renews their rivalry against Logan on the road.