No replies to this topic

[Rocketcorner News]

By Kevin Oberhaus

Week 12. OHSAA playoffs. Regional Semifinals. Patrick Henry knows all about week 12. The Patriots have been playing in week 12 for 6 straight years and 9 of the last 10. Very impressive.

Not only have they been playing in week 12 seemingly every year, they also know what to do when they geat there. WIN. Only once have the Patriots lost when playing in the Regional Semifinals. 2010 against Hillsdale 48-41. 7-1 record in week 12 since 2003 outscoring their opponents 293-144 in those games. Or 36.6-18.

2012 was no different.

Patrick Henry grinded out a win last week vs a very good Northwood team. After finding out their starting RB Tobey Hernandez would not be availabe during the playoffs, the Patriots just had 5 days to adjust to losing a player who had 1300 yards, 21 TDs and 136 total points. An extra week of practice sure paid off for PH.

The Patriots opened up the game from their own 20 and promptly drove 80 yards for an early 7-0 lead. Passes of 25 yards to Hoops and 29 yards to Nye set the tone for the game. Jones capped the drive off with a 7 yd TD run.

Brandon Cole would then recover a squib kick the hit off a Raider player to give the Patriots the ball right back. Jones would hit Peterson on the first play for a 37yd TD and give the Patriots a 13-0 lead before Columbia could even get their high powered offense on the field.

PH would be forced to punt and it was downed at the Raiders' own 1 yard line. Columbia QB Banyasz completed a 59 yard pass to get them out of trouble. The Raiders continued to druve and Banyasz connected with Walaszewski for a 13yd TD bringing them to within 6 with 2:29 to play in the 1st quarter.

A good kick return set up the next PH drive. Galen Powers then ripped off a 56 yd run down the Columbia sideline and stumbled towards the endzone coming up just short. Calvin Palmer would finish the job walking in from a yard out. A failed 2 point conversion gave the Patriots a 19-7 lead after 1 quarter.

"That first quarter they just came out and blew our doors off, simple as that," Columbia head coach Jason Ward said. "Their line was really big and really gave us a lot of problems tonight. But this is good for our kids because now they know what they have to do in the weight room to get us out of the second round."

The Patriot defense forced a Raider punt to the PH 22. Jones threw a strike to Zach Nye who the sprinted up the PH sideline (with head coach Bill Inselmann closely following) for a 78yd TD and a 27-7 lead after a Palmer 2pt conversion with 11:37 still in the 2nd quarter.

A Palmer 8yd TD run and a Prigge 17 yd TD run gave the Patriots a 41-7 advantage will 3:07 still to play in the half.

On the next possession, Jones hit Hoops for a 55yd TD and PH took a comfortable 49-7 halftime lead.

Patrick Henry amassed 502 yards of offense in the 1st half. Jones was 8-9 passing for 279 yards 3TDs. PH rushed for 223 yards and 4 scores.

Columbia had 161 yards total offense with 155 passing and just 6 rushing on 11 tries.

Columbia mishandled the 2nd half kick and started at their own 9. The Patriot D forced a punt that was only 17 yards. Three plays later the Patriots were now up 56-7 after Palmer sprinted 15 yards for his 3rd TD.

The Raiders would finally get a drive together as Banyasz hit Edmiston for a 10yd TD pass with 6:02 left in the 3rd.

That would wrap up the scoring as PH would put in subs to finish the game with a 56-15 victory.

The Patriots' defense was equally as impressive as their O. Banyasz was constantly harassed by Patrick Henry defenders all night. He managed just 31 yards on 14 carries and was 19 of 39 passing for 218 yards. The Raiders (10-2) mustered just 54 yards rushing against the oustanding PH defense.

Patrick Henry (10-2) advances on to face Liberty-Benton (11-1) who beat top seed LCC in overtime. Thisq will be PH's 8th trip to the Regional Final since 2003. They are 4-3 in those games last winning in 2009.

Patrick Henry 19 30 7 0 --56

Columbia 7 0 8 0 -- 15

First Quarter

PH -- Jones 7 run (Hoops kick)

PH -- Petersen 37 pass from Jones (kick blocked)

COL -- Walaszewski 13 pass from Banyasz (Zelinsky kick)

PH -- Palmer 1 run (pass failed)

Second Quarter

PH -- Nye 78 pass from Jones (Palmer run)

PH -- Palmer 8 run (kick blocked)

PH -- Prigge 17 run (Palmer run)

PH -- Hoops 55 pass from Jones (Palmer run)

Third Quarter

PH -- Palmer 15 run (Hoops kick)

COL -- Edmisten 10 pass from Banyasz (Banyasz run)

PH COL

First Downs 26 15

Rushing 43-323 21-54

Passing 291 218

Att-Comp-Int 10-11-0 19-39-0

Fumbles 1-0 1-0

Punts 3-39.8 5-32.2

Penalties 9-75 2-23

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Patrick Henry, Jones 7-53, Prigge 5-37, Palmer 17-134, Powers 5-80, Cole 8-17, Pfister 1-2. Columbia, Banyasz 14-31, Horn 3-22, Carter 1-1.

PASSING -- Patrick Henry, Jones 9-10-0-289, Kolpien 1-1-0-3 Columbia, Banyasz 19-37-0-218.

RECEIVING -- Patrick Henry, Hoops 5-120, Nye 3-110, Petersen 2-62. Columbia, Boey 6-43, Edmisten 4-45, Lambert 6-90, Carter 1-17, Walaszewski 2-23.