SHARONVILLE, Ohio – Despite facing one of the toughest defenses they have played all year, the Anderson football team came to Princeton's Pat Mancuso Field with a lot of confidence in their explosive offense.
Anderson's offense won the first quarter, jumping out to a 14-point lead, and the Raptors ran past Withrow 49-28 in the Division II, Region 8 championship of the Ohio High School Athletic Association football tournament.
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Anderson, now 13-1, is in the state semifinals for the first time since 2008 and will play top-ranked Massillon Washington (14-0) Nov. 24 in the state semis at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus. Withrow finishes 12-2.
Anderson lost 46-42 to Kings in a heartbreaker in the regional final last year.
"Last year we were walking off the field crying, and now we have tears of joy," Anderson's Caden Piening said. "We're going to have a great week of practice next week and we're going to go on to the final four."
"It feels great," Anderson's Brodey Berg said. "Going to a state final four, it feels amazing. We've been working for this since a week after we ended last season. It's huge."
Anderson came in averaging 41 points per game on offense facing a Withrow team that allowed six points per game on defense, and no more than 14 in any game
The Raptors made an early statement that Friday would be different, leading 21-7 after the first quarter with 198 total yards. Quarterback Justice Burnam completed 8-of-11 passes for 158 yards in the quarter.
"This week, nobody was really nervous," Piening said. "Obviously, there were nerves about the game, but everybody was prepared and we knew we had to lock in for this game. We knew we had to come out explosive, hit them in the mouth as soon as the game started."
Anderson outgained Withrow 523-399.
"We wanted to start fast," Anderson head coach Evan Dreyer said. "Their speed is something you can't relate to in practice. We did a really good job on offense. For us to start out fast and get a lead made everyone more comfortable."
Anderson scored 35 points in the first half
Anderson outgained Withrow 323-248 in the first half.
Burnam completed 16-of-19 passes for 249 passes and five touchdowns and rushed for 32 yards and a score against an athletic Withrow defense led by Kentucky commit Terhyon Nichols.
Half of Withrow's yardage came on the two big plays from Quintin Simmons, a 58-yard TD catch off of a short pass from quarterback Luke Dunn to the sideline, and a 63-yard TD run.
Anderson had wide-open receivers for its first two touchdowns.
Brodey Berg was open on the left sideline for a 37-yard TD on Anderson's first drive of the night. On the team's second drive, Berg and Piening got open downfield well behind the Withrow defense. Burnam decided to throw to Piening. He completed the pass and Berg came over to get a key final block.
Burnam later found Berg open in the side of the endzone for a 16-yard TD.
Both teams went for it on fourth down deep in its own territory in the first half.
Trailing 14-7, Withrow converted on fourth and two from its own 39 but committed a holding penalty and had to punt.
In the second quarter, leading 21-14, Anderson went for it on fourth-and-3 from its own 27. Berg ran for 5 to the 32, and the Raptors went on for an 80-yard touchdown drive.
Besides the two big plays by Simmons, Dunn found Kristian Bonner for a 41-yard catch late in the half to help set up a TD drive and pull Withrow within 14 at 35-21.
"We've got some really good players that made a lot of plays," Dreyer said. "They were focused; they wanted this game. They have a really good defense. They're fast. We got lucky at times. They have one of the best safeties in the country (Nichols) and we just tried to stay away from him and we were able to do that and play with some tempo."
Anderson stays strong in the second half
Withrow took the second-half kickoff and went 85 yards in nearly six minutes. Dunn completed a 29-yard pass to Nicholas and an 11-yard strike to Kristian Bonner on fourth down. Nichols scored to pull the Tigers within seven at 35-28.
Anderson answered after starting at the 50, going 50 yards in nine plays. Burnam threw his fifth touchdown of the game to Mike Smith in the back of the end zone with 3:42 to go in the third quarter.
Withrow drove down the field. In the final seconds of the third period, senior Joey Emrick intercepted Dunn at the goal line to stop a scoring threat, and the score remained 42-28.
"I'm really proud of our defense to contain them to 28 points with how many plays they had and the players they have," Dreyer said. "They have some special kids over there. Our defense did a great job: Patterson McHugh, Joey Emrick, Leo Muehlenkamp, Ace Alston and the defensive backs contained their passing game just enough."
Anderson drove down and scored again on an 80-yard drive. Burnam threw a 22-yard pass to Berg to midfield and a 15-yard pass to Piening to the Withrow 31. Piening capped it off with his second TD of the night, an 11-yard run.
"It's awesome," Berg said. "We got a special team here. Everybody's been putting in the work since day one. We knew we could make it this far, and we take it week by week."
Senior sendoff
The Tigers have 24 seniors, led by Dunn at QB, Demetrius Howard at running back and University of Kentucky commit Terhyon Nichols.
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