Late touchdown lifts Otsego past Elmwood in Northern Buckeye showdown

Sep. 18—TONTOGANY — In a tense, defensive stalemate, the experienced Otsego Knights came up with the crucial plays when it counted as they defeated previously undefeated Elmwood on Friday night.

With a raucous, standing-room-only crowd on hand, the Knights scored the decisive touchdown with a little more than a minute left as Otsego defeated the Royals 16-12 in a tight Northern Buckeye Conference battle.

Fifth-ranked Otsego, which remained undefeated (5-0, 2-0 NBC), led 10-6 after three quarters. But upstart Elmwood (4-1, 1-1) took its first lead of the game with a little less than six minutes left.

Otsego senior quarterback Joseph Dzierwa responded by connecting with fellow senior Devin Coon on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 left to give the Knights a four-point lead.

The Knights' defense then came up with four huge, consecutive sacks to seal it.

"We knew coming in that they were a very good football team with very good skill guys," Otsego coach Matt Dzierwa said. "They played hard and our kids played hard. It was a good physical football game. The atmosphere was awesome. We want everyone to be safe. But it's great to have the fans and the students back. It's Friday night. It's a great thing."

On the game-winning toss, Joseph Dzierwa, Matt's son, rolled to his left and connected with a streaking Coon on a corner route in the end zone.

Coon credited his offensive line and his quarterback for coming through on the game-clinching TD.

"It's called 757 Arrow. It was a super good ball by Joe. He put it right in my hands," Coon said. "The line gave Joe a ton of time, too. We run that 10 times a week. I had a lot of space over there. So it was a good play call."

Dzierwa completed 12 of 24 passes for 196 yards and the one crucial score.

"It's a corner [route]. We run that a bunch in practice," Dzierwa said. "So it was nice to have it work in the game. The line was a huge part. They had a guy blitzing, the line did a great job picking up the blitzer and I had plenty of time to throw the ball."

Coach Dzierwa said the team's deep playoff runs the past two seasons prepared them for the moment.

"Honestly, we expect those kids to do that," he said. "They've been in plenty of big games around here for the last three years. We practice the two-minute drill just for these situations. I give our kids credit, they executed it. Devin ran a nice route and Joseph put the ball on the money."

The Royals forced an Otsego punt on the Knights' first drive of the fourth quarter. Elmwood quarterback Hayden Wickard then scored on a 48-yard TD keeper as he bounced a run outside and scampered down the sidelines for a 12-10 lead with 5:53 left.

Elmwood defensive back Alex Arnold came up with a huge interception to get the ball back for the Royals. The Knights' defense, however, stiffened again and forced an Elmwood punt.

Both teams played superb defense. Otsego limited an Elmwood offense that was averaging 54 points per game to just 263 total yards.

"All game long our defense really played well," coach Dzierwa said. "Toward the end, we knew we had to get after it. We knew we had to blitz a little bit more. Our kids got after it in the second half. Our kids knew what was at stake."

The Royals held a Knights offense that had averaged 38 points per game to 295 total yards. Elmwood forced four Otsego punts and had a key interception.

"It was exciting. It was a great atmosphere tonight," Elmwood coach Greg Bishop said. "We had some missed opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. That comes with the experience of being in these games. Hopefully, this gives us experience moving forward. They capitalized on their opportunities and that was the story of the game."

Otsego forced three Elmwood punts and four turnovers on down to go along with seven total sacks for minus-35 total yards. Elijah Roberts had three sacks, while Devin Farley and Blake Steele each had two sacks. Coon and Caden Hartman also had tackles for loss.

Otsego finished with 99 yards on the ground as Trent Leiter rushed for a game-high 86 yards. Chase Helberg had a game-high seven catches for 146 yards. Cook finished with five catches for 50 yards.

Elmwood had 154 rushing yards, led by Warwick's 84. Mason Oliver finished with 64 yards on 11 carries.

Wickard completed 13 of 20 passes for 109 yards with one passing TD and one rushing touchdown. Mason Mossbarger had six catches for 64 yards to lead Elmwood.

"We played in games like this last year," Coon said. "We knew Elmwood would play super hard. We just had to execute. Our defense was super ecstatic and played super hard. This feels super special but we still have a whole season to play."

Bishop said his defense played hard all night.

"Our kids played our tails off in all facets of the game," he said. "The kids fed off the energy of the crowd. This is a good experience moving forward to learn from these situations."

There was no score after one quarter. Otsego put together two sustained drives but missed a 26-yard field goal and failed to convert on a fake punt.

Otsego scored on a 5-yard run up the middle by Leiter for a 7-0 lead with 1:24 left in the first half.

Elmwood then answered by scoring on the final play of the second quarter. Wickard connected with Mossbarger on a 21-yard strike. Wickard had plenty of time and found Mossbarger open in the corner of the end zone. Mossbarger made a great catch and just got a foot in bounds. The Royals put together a quick 1:16 drive that covered 75 yards. Wickard threw for 64 yards on the drive. The extra point was blocked, however, and Otsego maintained a one-point lead.

Leiter broke off a big return on the second-half kickoff to set the Knights up at the Elmwood 38. Coon then booted a 38-yard field goal to take a 10-6 lead.

"It's nice to be 2-0 in the league but we know we have a very tough opponent next week against Rossford," coach Dzierwa said. "We're halfway through and our young kids are getting better and maturing. Hopefully, it bolds well down the road."

The victor still must face perennial power Eastwood (5-0), which is ranked No. 9 in the state poll.

"Elmwood is a great team. We battled through a lot of adversity," Joseph Dzierwa said. "We still have to face a bunch of really good teams coming up. We still have to work on a ton of things."

First Published September 17, 2021, 6:07pm