The Washington Blue Lions hosted Division I Westerville North for Homecoming 2021 Friday night.
The Blue Lions were originally scheduled to play Minford, but Minford cancelled on Washington Tuesday evening, forcing the Blue Lions to scramble to pick up a game.
A large home crowd was on hand for the annual event.
Westerville North came away with a 48-14 victory.
After the Warriors went three and out, Washington turned the ball over on their first possession. It was the first of four Blue Lion turnovers in the first half.
North executed a 16-yard touchdown pass play and with the extra point, led 7-0 at the 9:11 mark.
On Washington’s next possession, junior quarterback Raliegh Haithcock passed to junior A.J. Dallmayer for a long gain down the visitor’s sideline.
Penalties backed the Blue Lions up and they finally turned the ball over on downs.
On this possession, North’s Chris Campbell scored on a 13-yard run. The PAT was good, giving the Warriors a 14-0 lead with 5:43 to play in the first quarter.
Washington no sooner completed a pass on the following series, than the ball was stripped and recovered by Westerville North at the Blue Lion 36-yard line.
Soon Westerville’s Donavan Varney scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Buxton.
With 1:47 to play in the initial quarter, Westerville was in front, 21-0.
Washington got on the board with 6:49 to play in the second quarter when Haithcock connected with Dallmayer for a 15-yard pass play.
Junior R.J. Foose kicked the extra point to set the score at 21-7.
The Warriors responded with a 67-yard pass play from Buxton to Daniel Johnson with 5:04 left in the half. The point after kick was good, putting Westerville North in front, 28-7.
The Warriors’ defense made its presence felt with a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown.
A subsequent interception by North gave the visitors the ball at the Blue Lion 23-yard line.
A touchdown run covering 23 yards put North in the lead, 41-7. The extra point kick was no good.
The half ended with the score of 41-7.
In the third quarter, Westerville North scored on a Buxton to James McCreery touchdown play of 37 yards. The point after was good, giving North a 48-7 lead after three quarters.
With the running clock in force in the second half, Haithcock passed to Dallmayer for a 20-yard touchdown.
Foose’s kick set the score at 48-14 with 8:56 to play in the game.
Turnovers and penalties were costly for Washington, as the Blue Lions had five turnovers to one for Westerville North. Washington was penalized nine times for 95 yards.
“Playing against this competition will only make us better,” Washington head coach Chuck Williamson said. “We wanted to play. We felt our seniors deserved that.
“We don’t feel that we got dominated,” Williamson said. “The score shows that we did, but we don’t feel that we got dominated. There was no quit in these guys. They fought until the end. We don’t like the final score, but this will help us down the road.”
Westerville North (2-2) is scheduled to host Delaware Hayes next week.
Washington (now 2-2 overall) will host 3-0 Waverly next Friday.
Waverly was scheduled to play Chillicothe Friday, but that game was cancelled.
