HARRISON — The Harrison High football team is moving on in the Ohio high school Division II playoffs courtesy of a 20-13 win over Trotwood-Madison.
The Wildcats will face No. 1 seed Anderson next Friday at a site to be determined in hopes of claiming the second regional title in school history. The 1988 team had the pleasure of the first regional title.
Here are five takeaways from Friday’s game:
1. Coach is a riverboat gambler
Harrison coach Derek Rehage went all in Friday, trying two onside kicks, a fake punt and multiple attempts on fourth down.
Rehage said the message all week was to play to win, and his team responded.
“We talked about it all week,” Rehage said. “We were going to onside it. We were going to take shots when we had the chance. We were going to throw the ball.”
2. Brady Lawhon: Man, myth, legend
Rehage put his faith in quarterback Brady Lawhon, and he delivered, completing 29 of 51 passes for 267 yards and three scores.
“We knew we couldn’t run the ball so we really didn’t try,” Rehage said. “We were going to chuck it. I thought our number was 50 and we had nearly 30 completions.”
Lawhon said he knew he had the controls and was ready to lead Harrison to the next round.
“It felt awesome,” Lawhon said. “I love those opportunities and the chance to make something happen.”
Rehage said it was an easy decision to put the ball in Lawhon’s hands.
“We felt we would go as far as (Lawhon) will take us,” Rehage said. “Tonight he threw two picks but he has only thrown two picks all year. He was excellent.”
3. The receivers accepted the challenge
Colton Rehage, Dillon Witt, Trey Fette, Kyle Davidson and Christan Roether were excellent all night, continually getting open against man-to-man coverage.
“That’s what we knew we had to do,” Rehage said. “We had to take shots. We had to throw some balls up and have receivers make plays and they did. All our guys had huge catches. We knew we would throw the ball to everybody and we trusted them to make plays.”
4. Defense continues to play big
Despite giving up a ton of size on the front, the Harrison defense neutralized the Rams’ running game while continuously getting pressure on the quarterback.
Trotwood-Madison turned the ball over on downs three times, including inside the 10-yard line and 20-yard line in the second half.
Rehage said his crew had played big all year, and he didn’t expect anything less.
“They are amazing,” Rehage said of his defense. “They have been that way all year. We haven’t given up more than 20 points in a game. We are just tickled to death with our defense.”
Rehage said his guys have been giving up size all year and continue to battle.
“The line has really grown in the second half of the year,” Rehage said. “They have been playing better each week. The line did a tremendous job tonight.”
5. Anderson
With the win, the Wildcats advance to face Anderson.
Anderson has been one of the favorites to win the state title all year, winning its regional semifinal game over Troy 50-7.
Lawhon said Harrison will show out.
“They are really good,” Lawhon said. “They have talent everywhere. We have to go out and not play scared.”
