JOHNSTOWN ― Johnstown boys lacrosse has come a long way in four years.
In fact, the Johnnies were even ahead of well-established Granville in the Mid-Ohio Lacrosse League standings entering their April 28 clash.
That’s why the visiting Blue Aces didn’t leave anything to chance. In a matchup that looked even on paper, they jumped to a 6-1 halftime lead, got goals from seven different players and rolled to an impressive 10-3 win in Frank Chambers Stadium.
Senior Bo Gravitt, getting a rare start in goal, made some stellar saves, as the defense kept the high-scoring Johnnies in check, while the offense owned time of possession, especially after they jumped ahead.
“It’s been a lot of mental work,” said Gravitt, who has committed to continue his career at Bethany, W.Va. College. “If you think you can’t do it, you can’t. We have a lot of respect for them, and we came out and executed against the challlenge.”
Midfielder Titus Terebuh, who led Granville (8-5, 3-3) with three goals, said Davis Williamson has started most of the games in goal.
“I thought he (Gravitt) played great,” Terebuh said. “He hasn’t gotten a lot of chances to play, and once he got the opportunity, he has made the most of it.”
Added coach Paul Kirk: “He’s played the last two games in goal and has done really well. I thought some of his saves gave us an energy burst.”
So did a well-balanced offense that helped the winners move up into a fourth-place tie in the league with the Johnnies (7-5 3-3).
Goals by Noah Gibson, Carson McConnell and Terebuh staked the Blue Aces to a quick 3-0 lead midway through the first period. After Jason Hettinger answered for Johnstown, Woody Struthers found the back of the net to make it 4-1, then scores by Landon Goss and Bobby Higginbotham pushed it to 6-1 at the break.
Will Taylor, who has had a pair of school record 11-goal explosions for the Johnnies, sliced it to 6-2 in the third, but Evan Seifert gave Granville a 7-2 lead heading to the fourth. With the patient Blue Aces milking the clock, Terebuh had two more goals down the stretch and Gibson added another, with Taylor netting his second for Johnstown. Gibson scored off a nice feed from Goss.
“We’ve talked about being more of a team and spreading the ball around,” Kirk said. “Hopefully, we can keep winning together.”
That hasn’t always been the case, Terebuh admitted.
“Tonight, we played with a lot of pace,” he said. “Everyone can score goals for us, but we have to make the plays happen, and keep the pressure on. We have to play more consistently.”
Coach Levi Jacob has steadily brough the Johnnies along, but admittedly was a little frustrated with the performance. Still, he gave Granville a lot of credit.
“We wanted to get a win in the jayvee game, and that didn’t happen,” he said. “We thought coming in it (the varsity game) would be tight. We were coming off a tough loss against (league leader) Bexley, but we played well and they had to keep their starters in. Granville’s goalie played an incredible game. He blocked us and their defense did, while they did an amazing job of working the clock.”
Kirk and the Blue Aces knew how improved Johnstown was.
“We came in ready to play,” he said. “It was one of those nights. We had a good one, and they had a bad one.”
Jacob was excited to get Taylor back after he missed the last two games with injury. He also had an assist, while veteran senior Ben Smith was again steady in goal.
“This is our program’s best season thus far,” Jacob said. “We knew coming in we would probably have a good year, so we added some better teams to the schedule. These are some tough games against these teams, and we have to be aggressive against these teams. We turn right around and go to Dayton Chaminade-Julienne on Thursday, and we really need to get a win as the season winds down.”
Each team has one league game left, the Johnnies at Jonathan Alder while the Blue Aces host John Glenn. Johnstown also has Big Walnut and Newark, and Granville faces Bishop Watterson, Gahanna and Westerville South as postseason play quickly approaches.
Gravitt said beating Johnstown was important.
“We did not want to lose, and it showed that we wanted it more,” he said. “We’ve made some progress this season. As things have improved, a lot of underclassmen have stepped up.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville boys lacrosse spreads the wealth in win against Johnstown
Reporting by Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
