The opening round of the OHSAA football playoffs wrapped up Friday night for Stark County-area high school teams.
Green pulled off a road upset. Malvern dominated at home, as did Manchester. Louisville lost a heartbreaker.
Here’s a look at the night’s highlights.
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Tyson Hunka leads Green football to OHSAA playoff upset
Green 21, Garfield Heights 6
Division II, Region 5
GARFIELD HEIGHTS — Tyson Hunka threw three touchdown passes — two of them to Evan Reed — as Green pulled off the No. 11-vs.-No. 6 upset Friday night.
Hunka completed 14 of 20 passes for 186 yards, the three scores and no interceptions as Green (6-5) won its fifth straight game after a 1-5 start to the season. Hunka added 38 yards on 14 carries. He also threw a TD pass to Evan Georgiou.
Reed caught five passes for 73 yards and the two TDs. He rushed for 70 yards on 19 carries. The dynamic senior also had 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception on defense
Robert King completed 13 of 25 passes for 139 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Garfield Heights (9-2), which hosted its first playoff game in school history. Nehgel Pickett caught the TD pass and finished with four receptions for 51 yards. King Young caught seven passes for 63 yards and ran four times for 75 yards.
Green advances to play at No. 3 seed Fitch (8-1) next week.
Hasaan Kaba’s TD in final seconds beats Louisville football
Westerville South 14, Louisville 10
Division II, Region 7
WESTERVILLE — The Wildcats’ Hasaan Kaba caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Evan Williams with three seconds left to down the visiting Leopards in a first-round playoff thriller.
Kaba’s touchdown answered No. 12 seed Louisville taking the lead just 90 seconds earlier on Owen DiMarzio’s 67-yard touchdown reception from Cody Zahler.
After a scoreless first half, Parker Daum gave Louisville a lead with a 25-yard field goal. The score stayed 3-0 until South’s Ian Gordon scored on a 21-yard run with 7:59 left in the fourth quarter.
DiMarzio caught two passes for 68 yards and ran 20 times for 59 yards for Louisville (6-5), which totaled 181 yards of offense. Zahler was 6-of-17 passing for 117 yards and two interceptions.
Evan Andrews led No. 5 South (9-2) with 144 yards on 18 carries. He completed two of his 15 pass attempts and tossed two interceptions. The Wildcats also lost two fumbles.
Phil Partin, Ayden Meade lead way in Manchester football playoff win
Manchester 45, Richmond Edison 14
Division V, Region 17
FRANKLIN TWP. — Phil Partin and Ayden Meade each ran for two touchdowns, and Tyler Pappas threw two TD passes to guide the host and No. 7 seed Panthers (8-3) to a victory over the 10th-seeded Wildcats (6-5).
Partin ran 95 yards for his first TD, and finished with 146 yards on 14 carries. Meade ran for 65 yards on 11 carries. Pappas completed 9 of 25 passes for 107 yards. Jake Livingston and Gavin Gindlesperger each caught a TD pass.
Manchester’s Cam Hostler recorded two interceptions, Trent Hodgkinson added one interception and Brycen Mauger blocked a punt. Hayden Higgins made 6-of-6 PATs and a 26-yard field goal.
“Defensively, we were lights out,” Manchester coach Kevin Stacy said. “We got pressure on the quarterback and we made some plays in the secondary, sparked by senior cornerback Cam Hostler. Our run defense has been stout all year and was again tonight. My staff did a great job preparing and game-planning their scheme, which was not easy to do on one week’s prep.
“I was proud of our resolve after not playing very well in the first half offensively. Our two running backs [Meade and Partin] both eclipsed 1,000 yards tonight, which is so impressive. Our offensive line has been phenomenal. Tyler Pappas made some incredible throws and kept us balanced. We still haven’t peaked and we are excited for this next challenge in Girard.”
Girard is 10-0 and the No. 2 seed in Division V, Region 17.
Julius Gore powers Malvern football to home playoff win
Malvern 34, Ashtabula St. John 0
Division VII, Region 25
MALVERN — Julius Gore rushed for more than 200 yards to help the Hornets outgain their visitors 410-60 in a shutout win.
Gore ran for 221 yards and two TDs on 24 carries. The Hornets rolled up 305 yards rushing on 35 carries, as Roy Simmons added 50 yards and a TD on six carries.
Simmons also caught a TD pass from Jaxon Jones, who threw two TD passes. Simmons made four catches for 49 yards. Aiden Sprague made a team-high five catches for 39 yards, while Josh Untch caught Jones’ other TD pass.
Jones completed 11 of 17 passes for 107 yards with no interceptions.
Malvern’s defensive limited the Fighting Heralds (5-6) to just two first downs, as they accumulated more penalty yards (70) than total offense (60). Malvern’s Brodie Powers made five tackles, while Luke Thomas and Owen Ball made four each. Powers and Thomas each had a tackle for loss.
Fifth-seeded Malvern (7-4) advances to play at fourth-seeded Monroeville (9-1) in Round 2.
Other Stark County high school football playoff games
Salem 21, Northwest 15
CANAL FULTON — The 10th-seeded Quakers won on the road, knocking off seventh-seeded Northwest (6-5) in Division IV, Region 13. No details were provided to the Repository on the game. Salem (7-4) advances to play second-seeded Glenville (7-3).
Columbus East 43, Canton South 21
COLUMBUS — Fifth-seeded Columbus East pulled away at home in the second half to beat Canton South (5-6) in Division IV, Region 15. No details were provided to the Repository on the game. East (10-1) advances to play fourth-seeded Unioto (10-0).
The Canton Repository sports department can be contacted via email at sports@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County high school football playoff scores, recaps. See who won in Round 1
Reporting by Josh Weir, Cliff Hickman and Chris Beaven, Canton Repository / The Repository
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