Granville runs away with victory over Utica

GRANVILLE – On a soggy night that saw a new homecoming king and queen of Granville High School crowned, the host Blue Aces built a big first half lead and cruised to a 48-14 victory over visiting Utica.

Despite new royalty being celebrated, it was the Granville offense that looked like the belle of the ball in the first half. Sophomore quarterback Cameron Crouch connected on two touchdown passes, but the rushing attack was the headline in building a 41-7 halftime lead.

Sophomore Brandon Haley had a breakout performance, carrying the ball 20 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns. His 1-yard plunge opened the scoring at 7-0 just three minutes into the game, and after Senior Jake Purdy scored the next touchdown on a 1-yard run, Haley ripped off a 39-yard score on the ensuing possession and a 21-0 Granville lead. Purdy also added another seven yard rushing score in the half.

Granville (2-4, 1-1) head coach JR Wait said younger players such as Haley are playing well, but the key is the senior leadership on the offensive line.

“We have some younger kids who are playing really well right now, but it really comes back to them (the four senior linemen) specifically. That’s our identity, that’s our rock and that’s what we’re going to ride for these remaining four games, they’ll take us where we’re going,” Wait said.

In addition to the four rushing touchdowns in the half accounted for by Haley and Purdy, Crouch’s two touchdown passes found senior Jack Peterson for a 17-yard score, and junior Patrick Chaykowski for 23 yards, both in the second quarter.

Utica head coach Ted Londot said that mistakes continue to plague his team as they look for their first win.

“We made a lot of little mistakes early that really cost us and dug ourselves a hole, and against this league week in and week out, you cannot do that. And until we figure out how to start better, we’re going to continue to be on this same plane. With that said, we came out and fought hard in the second half when we could have packed it in,” Londot said.

The first of Utica’s two scores came in the second quarter when Granville punter Craig Zies was forced to punt from his own end zone and mishandled the snap, allowing a Utica player to fall on the ball and cut Granville’s lead to 21-7.

The Redskins (0-6, 0-2) other score came with 1:24 left in the game as junior Noah Thompson scored on a 24 yard run.

Haley scored his final touchdown, and Granville’s lone score of the second half, on a two yard run with 9:10 left in the game.

In addition to Haley’s impressive rushing numbers for the Blue Aces, Purdy totaled 38 yards rushing to go along with his two scores, and Crouch was 7-of-14 passing for 109 yards to go along with his two touchdown passes.

Junior quarterback Brad Potes was 9-of-14 for 73 yards passing, and Thompson led the rushing attack with seven attempts for 32 yards for Utica.

Granville begins its Licking County League Buckeye division play on Friday, hosting Licking Valley at 7 p.m. while Utica begins Licking County League Cardinal division play hosting undefeated Heath Friday at 7 p.m.