Springboro rallied from a 17-7 deficit in the fourth quarter Friday, beating Centerville 21-17 on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Evan Ruzzo with 14 seconds remaining.
“I just said, ‘This is right here; give it all you’ve got,’” said Ruzzo, a senior who threw 12 touchdown passes and ran for three scores in the first five games. “The O-line got push. I had a lead blocker in front of me. I just leaped over the line.”
The Elks, ranked second in the Division I state poll, suffered their first loss and fell to 5-1 and 2-1 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference. With No. 5 Springfield also losing Friday, 24-21 at home to Fairmont, Springboro (5-1, 3-0) finds itself alone atop the league with four games to play.
“It means everything,” Ruzzo said. “Our defense stepped up big time. Offensively, we didn’t play a great (first) half. But this team shows so much heart, and they just don’t ever give up.”
Springboro celebrated the victory first with its band and then with its student section, which flooded the field. Then in the locker room, player after player and coach after coach took their turns dancing in the middle of a crowd of players. At one point, coach Ryan Wilhite was lifted into the air by the players.
This was that type of emotional victory. Springboro ended a two-game losing streak in the series.
“Nothing was easy tonight,” Wilhite said. “Defensively, (Centerville) is so good, and they cause you to do things you don’t really want to do and get out of your game plan. It seems like you’re always off schedule on your play calls. But we had some big plays. Some guys stepped up and made some huge plays. Evan Ruzzo, I mean, he got beat tonight a little bit, but he just kept coming back for more. Defensively. I thought we got a lot of stops in the second half, which we really needed.”
Springboro’s comeback started with a touchdown run by Willizhaun Yates with 2:38 left in the fourth. That cut Centerville’s lead to 17-14.
After a failed onside kick, Springboro forced Centerville into a 4th-and-2 with 1:27 left. The Elks punted, but the snap was fumbled, and then the punt was blocked. Springboro returned the ball to the Centerville 11-yard line with 1:12 to play.
“We didn’t have any timeouts, so we knew we knew a punt block gave us the best chance on the short field,” Wilhite said. “So we kind of sold out for that one.”
Ruzzo saw the punt block and said, “This is our opportunity. Let’s take advantage of it.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Centerville had control of the game for most of the night. It took a 14-0 halftime lead on two touchdown passes by Drake Wells to Jamar Montgomery.
Wells first connected with Jamar Montgomery for a 12-yard touchdown with 2:08 left in the first quarter.
Then one play after an interception by Springboro’s Zach Wells, Nic Bruder picked off a pass for Centerville. The Elks capitalized on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Wells to Montgomery.
Wells has eight touchdown passes. These were the first touchdown catches of the season for Montgomery.
Centerville appeared to take a 21-0 lead late in the third quarter, but a 1-yard run was wiped away by a penalty. Springboro capitalized on its next possession as Ruzzo ran for a score to trim the Elks’ lead to 14-7 with 1:35 left in third.
Jackson Courville kicks a 27-yard field goal to give Centerville a 17-7 lead with 6:44 left in fourth.
The rest of the way, Springboro showed the same fight that helped it beat Fairmont 21-19 the previous week. It rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit in that game.
“We have a lot of heart, and I love each and every one of these guys,” Ruzzo said.
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