Two teams remained unbeaten and one undefeated team fell in the games covered by The Dispatch in Week 4 of central Ohio high school football. Read our takeaways from New Albany's 28-21 win over Upper Arlington, Watterson's 35-13 victory over Cleveland Glenville and St. Charles' 44-2 rout of Ready on Sept. 11.
Ackermann’s huge night powers New Albany to win
Senior Mason Ackermann came up with three of the biggest individual plays of the night, returning an interception of Reign St. Clair 41 yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter, adding a 2-yard touchdown run late in the third and then making a key tackle on fourth down early in the fourth to power the visiting Eagles (3-1) to consecutive wins for the first time in almost two years.
Still, Ackermann couldn’t name enough teammates
in trying to deflect credit for his effort.
“I don’t even think I played that well, but the guys around me are who made us win this game,” Ackermann said.
Ackermann’s fourth-down stop came with New Albany leading 21-7 but UA having driven to the Eagles’ 16-yard line. Quarterback Charlie Hunt, who saw considerable time as a receiver complementing St. Clair, the starter, ran left on fourth-and-3 but was stopped a yard shy of the first down.
Six plays later, Jett Jerwers’ 43-yard touchdown run down the New Albany sideline made it 28-7.
New Albany ran for 210 yards, 163 of those after halftime.
First-year Eagles coach Mark Solis agreed his offensive line eventually wore down UA (3-1), which was bidding for a second consecutive 4-0 start.
“We had a belief all week, a great plan,” Solis said. “We brought in a whole new system … and these kids have bought in from day one. They love to be coached. They love structure and they want to be held accountable. We ask our kids to do hard things.”
New Albany run game wears down Upper Arlington
Solis told Jerwers, who had 37 carries for 300 yards through the first three weeks, that he might have to be a workhorse Sept. 11.
The Harvard commit responded in kind, finishing with 176 yards on 29 carries – seven of which went for 9 yards or more. Jerwers ran for 136 yards in the second half, when the Eagles at times resembled the wing-T based program of the past few decades despite more overall balance.
“We came out hot, wanting to prove something, and we did that tonight,” Jerwers said. “Conditioning-wise, all summer we worked hard and it paid off at the end. … We’ve been working on spreading the ball and using the whole field. We want to use all of our players.”
New Albany’s other touchdown came from quarterback Drew Jackson, who tossed a 43-yard score to Chase Jackson on the Eagles’ second possession.
Drew Theado’s 92 yards on 18 carries paced UA. He scored two 1-yard touchdowns in the final minute to narrow the final margin.
“I hate to use the excuse that we came out a little flat, but it certainly seemed like we came out a little flat,” UA coach Justin Buttermore said. “We have played pretty well but even within those games, those weren’t great performances … and tonight it caught up with us.”
–Dave Purpura
Watterson rallies past Cleveland Glenville
Faced with a 13-0 deficit on its home field at Ohio Dominican, Watterson scored 35 straight points to improve to 4-0 and extended its winning streak to 34 games.
The two-time reigning Division III state champions have not lost since the 2023 state final, and when the streak looked to be in jeopardy against Glenville, the Eagles flipped the script on their fellow state power. They rallied late in the first half to take a 14-13 lead and then pulled away after halftime.
Coach Brian Kennedy believes the comeback will be another character-building moment for his team, which has moved up to Division II this season.
“We gave up big plays,” Kennedy said. “I knew our offense would get going. That’s a great team. That’s probably the best team we’ve seen the last two years. Nobody panicked. The good thing for us is we have a bunch of seniors.”
Glenville (2-2) was making its second trip to central Ohio this season. The Tarblooders beat Olentangy Liberty 34-13 on Aug. 28, but 11 players were later suspended from school and suspended for two games after being accused of shoplifting more than $4,500 worth of merchandise from a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Grove City on Aug. 27.
Glenville won the Division IV state title last season for its third championship in four years.
Watterson quarterback helps fuel comeback
Junior quarterback Dash Hoy played a key role in the comeback, completing 6 of 14 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns with one interception and rushing for 40 yards. He continues to develop in his first season as the starter.
“Dash made some big boy throws tonight,” Kennedy said. “That was big time and our offensive line just took over that game. Dash stayed in the pocket, and he made really good throws. Credit to him.”
A transfer from Buckeye Valley before his sophomore year, Hoy played wide receiver in the first half of last season before sitting out the second half and postseason because of OHSAA transfer rules.
“We all have stuff to improve on, no matter what,” Hoy said. “It’s really cool to watch people develop. I’ve developed a good amount and it’s really cool to see all the pieces come together now.”
Senior Caden Mangini rushed for 95 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries and had a 57-yard reception in the second quarter.
Junior Austin Alles came up big late in the first half, with his 24-yard punt return helping to set up his 28-yard touchdown catch from Hoy for a 14-13 lead with 46.2 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
–Frank DiRenna
St. Charles shows why perfect start goes beyond offense
St. Charles did not need its offense to take control against visiting Ready. Its defense did that before quarterback Nolan Beyer and a veteran group of receivers began cashing in.
The Cardinals (4-0) produced 16 first-half points without their offense taking the field, setting the tone for a dominant win.
Noah Gude returned a fumble 30 yards for the opening touchdown, Brycen Brown brought an interception back 34 yards for another TD and Liam Allwein tackled Markel Small in the end zone for a safety. Ready (2-2) had only 46 total yards at halftime and punted five times in the first half.
St. Charles used faster defenders in certain situations and let them attack.
“We’ve got some guys with good speed that we sub in during special situations,” coach Anthony Colucci said. “We let them pin their ears back and wreak havoc, and it’s really paid off for us the last two weeks.”
That made the offense’s job easier, and Beyer was efficient when opportunities appeared, finishing 7 of 10 for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Trey Davis caught three passes for 56 yards and two scores, and Allwein had two receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Allwein’s 53-yard score was not a designed route. He began the play in protection, found no one to block and released downfield.
“I just slipped out,” he said. “Beyer found me, and it was up the hash. That’s it.”
Despite the lopsided win, Colucci found at least one thing to correct. Ready’s defensive ends generated pressure, and Colucci said the pass protection must improve.
Ready looking for answers after second straight loss
After scoring 99 points in its first three games, Ready’s offense never found its footing against St. Charles. The Silver Knights now must make sure their struggles don’t carry over to next week.
Their problems compounded almost immediately against the Cardinals.
Ready’s opening possession ended with a fumble returned for a touchdown. Ethan Mutnich later threw a pick-six, and a high pitch near the goal line resulted in a safety.
Penalties repeatedly pushed Ready into difficult down-and-distance situations, and St. Charles didn’t allow the Knights to cross midfield before halftime.
“You can’t take anything from them,” coach TJ Burbridge said. “They’re a very good football team. They made plays. We can’t do some of the things we did, but they had a great game.”
Ready created its best opportunity by recovering an onside kick to begin the second half.
The Knights reached the St. Charles 5-yard line before losing another fumble. Small later blocked a punt through the end zone for Ready’s only points.
The concern now is making sure two consecutive losses do not alter the direction of the season.
“I told them we can’t let it turn into three,” said Burbridge, who helped the Knights recover from a deeper hole in 2024. They started 1-4 but reached the Division IV, Region 15 playoffs and defeated Jonathan Alder 18-17 in the first round before finishing 7-5.
–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 4 games in Columbus area
