Week 3 of central Ohio high school football showed once again why all three phases of the game matter. Read our takeaways from Gahanna Lincoln's 14-13 overtime win at Olentangy Liberty, Worthington Kilbourne's 56-35 victory at Canal Winchester and Pickerington North's 27-0 win at Pickerington Central.
Defense comes up big for Gahanna Lincoln
Considering the role it has played in Gahanna’s 3-0 start, coach Bruce Ward said it was fitting that his defense came up with the biggest play of the game against Liberty (0-3).
Clinging to a one-point lead, the defense clinched the win by stopping Grayson Davis short of the goal line on a 2-point conversion try in overtime.
Davis scored on a 10-yard run to pull Liberty within a point, and after Gahanna was called for offsides on the extra point, the Patriots
opted to go for the win.
The Lions’ defense, however, was up to the task.
“It’s fitting,” Ward said of the defensive stand. “I told our kids at halftime, our defense is carrying us. Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going, but you will have those. It’s a team game.”
Gahanna’s Leon Cummings scored on a 10-yard run on the opening possession of overtime to break a 7-all tie.
Cummings’ 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the lone score of the first half. He finished with 100 yards rushing on 25 carries, and Grey Kegley completed 13 of 22 passes for 140 yards.
Mark Thorpe III had two interceptions for Gahanna, which has outscored its opponents 73-23.
“It’s hard to win a football game in the state of Ohio on Friday night,” Ward said. “I don’t care what the records are. Ohio football is good, so that’s difficult by itself. To be the type of team that everybody wants to be, you have to win all types of ways.”
Olentangy Liberty coach stands by overtime decision
Trailing by one point in overtime and with his team at the 1-yard line after the Gahanna penalty, Liberty coach John Sansbury stood by his decision to go for the win.
“I like the way the guys played. They played hard to the very end,” Sansbury said. “They never gave up. We had exactly what we wanted. ... We’re going to go for that every time.”
Having struggled for most of the game, Liberty’s offense came through with an 89-yard drive, tying the game at 7 on Alex Leonard’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Kaidan Schmelmer with 6:40 left in regulation.
Leonard passed for 92 yards and Davis ran for 42 to lead the Patriots, who suffered their second close loss in three weeks. Liberty lost its opener 15-12 to Lakewood St. Edward.
“The offense will get going at a full pace,” Sansbury said. “We just have to put it together. The defense is playing outstandingly. They’re keeping us in it and that’s who we are. We’re a good defensive team, and good special teams. We have to run the ball on offense and throw it and get it going.”
–Frank DiRenna
Rice, Szabo power Worthington Kilbourne rout of Canal Winchester
If everyone else in the stadium was impressed by the undefeated Wolves’ 56-point outburst, which brought their scoring average to 52.3 points per game through three weeks – and three lopsided wins – coach Mike Edwards expected it too much to be surprised.
Junior quarterback Jackson Szabo enjoyed another huge night, completing 22 of 34 passes for 414 yards and seven touchdowns – five of which went to classmate Shawn Rice.
Rice, who transferred from East early in the 2025 season and only now is getting to play, finished with 254 yards on 12 catches after amassing just three catches for 80 yards the past two weeks. He had touchdown catches of 16, 6, 75 and 5 yards by halftime, staking Kilbourne to a 49-14 lead.
“That’s just how our offense is,” Rice said. “We have multiple guys who can make plays at any given moment. It is just whoever is having the best day.”
Szabo, who connected with six receivers, also threw touchdowns to tight end Grady Wanner (5 yards) and receiver Garrett Wilkinson (12 yards) in the second quarter.
“With the talent we’re lucky to have at the receiver and quarterback positions, we knew we were going to be able to score and keep tempo,” Edwards said. “The guys we rely on, the linemen, Jackson Szabo, everybody, they showed up tonight and played like we know they can play. [Rice] is special. We have known it since he stepped into our building. He was on our practice squad [in 2025] and tore us up all year.”
Rhoads’ early touchdown sets tone for Kilbourne defense
Edwards said the 4-2-5 defense to which Kilbourne switched this season was ideal to be more aggressive against the run, and that showed on Canal’s first play from scrimmage when quarterback Kian McGhee fumbled after an 11-yard gain.
Linebacker Brendan Rhoads and lineman Mason Cost chased the ball to the goal line and Rhoads picked it up for the game’s first touchdown just 40 seconds in.
“We were hoping for some turnovers to happen,” Edwards said.
From there, Kilbourne by and large dominated. Of Canal’s 122 rushing yards in the first half, 66 came on one burst from Jamari Snow, and similarly 75 of its 76 passing yards came on one play, a pass from McGhee to Rai’montez Hughley to set up Snow’s first touchdown.
“We tried to focus on the run … and just be the more aggressive team, hit them harder than they hit us,” Rhoads said.
The lone bright spot for Canal (1-2) – and possibly the only negative for Kilbourne – was that Snow finished with 239 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries.
Snow scored from 5 yards in the second quarter, 7 yards in the third and 50 on Canal’s final possession with 1:15 left.
Basil Henderson scored from 6 yards late in the first quarter and McGhee threw a late 29-yard score to Jason Hersch.
–Dave Purpura
Pickerington North’s defense, special teams set tone in rivalry shutout
The Panthers showed there is more than one way to control a game.
North (2-1) didn’t pile up yards or consistently finish drives in its shutout of Central. Instead, its defense and special teams owned the night.
It started before either offense ran a play.
After winning the coin toss and deferring, the Panthers recovered an onside kick at the Central 49-yard line.
“We worked on it all week in practice, and we knew we wanted to do it and go out and execute it,” kicker and punter Niko Agganis said. “The way we were doing it in practice, we knew we were going to go out and get it.”
North later recovered a muffed punt, Agganis twice pinned Central at its 1-yard line and Carter Frank returned an interception 12 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Agganis also made field goals of 21 and 25 yards.
“We were lights out in those phases,” North coach Nate Hillerich said. “The defense just was relentless.”
North unofficially held Central to 66 yards, including 14 through the air. The Tigers never seriously threatened to score.
North’s offense also wasn’t glowing.
The Panthers finished with 184 yards and repeatedly hurt themselves with penalties. Still, Demetrius Neal-Nesbitt scored on a 17-yard keeper, Jayden Preece added a 14-yard touchdown and Kymani Johnson made a one-handed, 40-yard reception.
“We had some big plays, explosive plays, got in the red zone,” Hillerich said. “We just couldn’t finish drives. A lot of it was self-inflicted wounds.”
Pickerington Central offense searches for answers
Central hasn’t been in this situation for more than four decades.
The Tigers are 0-3 for the first time since 1985, and they’ve scored only three points in those losses.
A number of Central starters are sophomores, especially on offense, where false starts, negative plays and too many third-and-long situations made it difficult to build any rhythm.
“I’m happy with the effort of a lot of the guys,” coach Jeff Lomonico said. “A lot of guys had great effort out there. They have nothing to show for it in three weeks.”
The defense gave the Tigers opportunities to remain competitive.
It repeatedly held after being placed in difficult situations and kept the margin within 13-0 at halftime. But the offense couldn’t sustain a drive long enough to change the game.
The Tigers used both Winnie Garnett IV and Toure Benton at quarterback, continuing their search for someone who can settle into the position and provide consistency.
“We’re trying to get somebody to be comfortable, be confident and move the ball a little bit,” Lomonico said. “We’ve got to watch film and figure that out again.”
–Scott Gerfen
High school sports reporters Frank DiRenna and Dave Purpura can be reached at sports@dispatch.com and at @DispatchPreps on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio high school football takeaways from Week 3 games in Columbus area
