Springfield clinches outright GWOC championship with victory at Northmont

The fourth quarter was played on a running clock.

“We had a heart to heart at halftime,” Douglass said. “Coach (Conley) Smoot talked to the defense about staying focused and playing with a clear mind. When we play with a clear mind, we are a very hard team to handle. We didn’t have school today, so we broke our normal routine, and they can’t handle that. It took them 24 minutes to find out what they needed to do.”

Springfield (8-1, 6-1), ranked fourth in the state in Division I, lost only to Fairmont in the regular season. After that loss, it outscored its final four opponents 186-35.

Centerville and Springboro tied for second in the GWOC at 5-2, one game behind Springfield. Centerville beat Wayne 38-35. Springboro closed the regular season with a 34-24 victory at Miamisburg.

The Wildcats tied Wayne atop the GWOC with a 6-1 mark last season. Northmont won the title with a 6-0 league mark in 2020, the first season the league played without divisions.

Springfield beat Northmont twice last season in Springfield — once in Week 10 and again in the first round of the playoffs — by a combined score of 89-7. The Wildcats lost 38-35 in 2020 in their last visit to Northmont.

On Friday, Springfield beat Northmont with five touchdown passes by Bryce Schondelmyer. He completed 18 of 29 passes for 285 yards. He threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter, two to Anthony Brown.

“We came out a little sluggish,” Schondelmyer said. “We were still leading at halftime, which was good, but we knew we could step up our game a little bit. All credit to (Northmont). They came out ready to play.”

Jayvin Norman ran for two touchdowns in the first half and then put the finishing touches on the 28-point third quarter with a 97-yard touchdown run with 6 seconds to play.

“The coaches got mad at us because that wasn’t us in the first half,” Norman said. “We came out (in the second half), and we wanted it.”

Norman ran 14 times for 149 yards and also caught a 4-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

Brown caught five passes for 166 yards. The Kentucky Wildcats commit wore UK gloves. He finished the regular season with 45 catches for 940 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“He’s special,” Douglass said, “and I’ll tell anybody from Ohio State to USC to Alabama, whoever, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to UK, and they’re going to be really happy in Wildcat country.”

Springfield will move on to the playoffs as one of the top seeds in Division I, Region 2. The Wildcats will seek another deep run after three straight state final four appearances and a loss in the championship game last season.

“We just want to make it to state again,” Norman said. “That’s the biggest goal.”