Pickerington North overwhelms Lancaster from start to finish in 53-0 win
PICKERINGTON - Pickerington North had huge expectations heading into this season, especially with an experienced and talented team returning.
The Panthers lived up to those lofty expectations and more in Friday’s season-opening 53-0 dominating win over visiting Lancaster.
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The Golden Gales, on the other hand, has a young and inexperienced team and they were overwhelmed from start to finish.
“We have a group of guys where most of them this was the first time they played under the lights,” Lancaster coach Bryan Schoonover said. “We played against a team that has incredible talent and it’s the reason why they are ranked so high in the state. I thought our kids played hard and tough. We are going to get back to work and fix what we can fix and try to get better.”
Pickerington North took a 14-0 first-quarter lead and then exploded for 26 points in the second quarter and led 40-0 at halftime.
The Panthers had 338 total yards in the first compared to just 29 total yards for the Gales. For the game, Pickerington North finished with 432 total yards compared to just 34 yards for Lancaster, which managed just one first down.
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“With our team, we just focused on ourselves and just wanted to get better,” Pickerington North coach Nate Hillerich said. “We had eight penalties for 90 yards, and we played sloppy on offense at times, but I thought we played lights out on defense. I think we can have one of the better defenses in the state of Ohio. Offensively, we were sloppy, and we told our guys at halftime that we can’t play like that if we expect to get where we want to go.”
Senior running back Dawaun Green, who only played in the first half, finished with 95 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns on runs of 2, 6 and 4 yards.
Junior quarterback Landon O’Connell, who also only played in the first half, completed 14 of 21 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Both scoring tosses of 16 yards and 36 yards, went to Chris Louis Jr. Derick Ross had five catches for 95 yards, while Michael Taylor rushed for 83 yards on 12 carries.
Sophomore quarterback Richard Simpson had a pair of 8-yard touchdown runs in the second half to close out the scoring for the Panthers.
Pickerington North’s defense stifled the Gales’ offense, not allowing them to get their running game going, and when quarterback Trace VanGundy attempted to pass, he didn’t have much time. He was sacked five times for minus-34 yards.
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“Defensively, our kids are playing together, they’ve bought in, they run to the football, they are physical and that’s what you want,” Hillerich said. “Our players, our coaches, everybody is aligned, and they are playing hard for each other.”
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Pickerington North overwhelms Lancaster from start to finish in 53-0 win
