Titans use 17-point second quarter to blow past Panthers

CLYDE — A week ago, Ottawa-Glandorf saw its 11-point second-quarter lead evaporate after it fumbled a kick and allowed a quick score against Otsego. On Saturday against Elyria Catholic, Ottawa-Glandorf saw its 7-point first-quarter lead balloon to 24 after a fumbled kick and a quick score. Eventually, the Titans got the 31-6 win in the Div. V, Region 18 Regional Semifinal against the Panthers. The Titans will next play Kirtland—who boasts one of the longest winning streaks in high school football—after it beat Canfield South Range, 38-15. "A little bit of a change from last week," Titan head coach Ken Schriner said with a laugh. "The kids played well. Defensively, we created some turnovers for our side, which is awesome. "The offense in the first half — we were able to click and move the ball up and down the field and put some points on the board." From the get-go, you could tell the Titans weren't going to squander the lead like they did just one week ago. Starting the game with the ball, O-G put together a 14-play, 76-yard drive that took over seven-and-a-half minutes, leading to a Landen Jordan 10-yard touchdown pass to Colin White to make it 7-0 with 4:22 left in the first quarter. "Coach has been preaching that all year — that first drive is always the most important one," White said. "It gives us such a momentum boost and really propels us to win the game." "You always question if you're going to take the ball or defer, and they ended up deferring, so we got the ball," Schriner said. "To be able to march it down the field and just give our kids confidence was huge right off the bat." It was the only score of the first quarter, and it remained that way until there was 5:07 remaining in the first half. That was when Ian Fenbert scored the Titans' second touchdown to make it 14-0. The Titans got the ball back instantly as —just as Otsego did a week ago — by forcing the Panthers to fumble the ensuing kickoff. Jordan (202 yards passing, 3 TDs) threw his second touchdown of the half. On third-and-6, Jordan rolled out to his right and threw a 14-yard touchdown to Rodney Meyer to make it 21-0 with 2:06 left in the first half. But — after giving up their third touchdown of the half — the Panther offense was finally able to move the ball against the Titans' defense. In four plays, it gained 33 yards and had the ball down to O-G's 47-yard line with just over a minute left to try and make it a two-score game. Colin White had other plans as he jumped the route, picked off EC's Brady Cook, and returned it all the way to the Panther 18 with a minute left in the second half. O-G eventually got it down to EC's 10 and Dylan Birkemeier nailed a 27-yard field goal as the clock expired,to go up 24-0 at the midway point. "That was a huge momentum changer," O-G quarterback Landen Jordan said. "I knew after he hit that field goal, we were gonna be up to three scores and it was gonna be hard for them to come back. "But we talked (at halftime) and said to not get too comfortable because this is a good team. And we didn't and we came out and got the job done." For a moment, the Panthers looked as if they might make things tight after Brady Cook scored on a four-yard run to make it 24-6 with 8:58 left in the third quarter But the Titans squashed that after Jordan connected on a screen pass to Cy Rump for a 58-yard touchdown that effectively ended the game. "Our guys up front did a great job with the blitzes too," Schriner said. They had a number of blitzes and didn't get to him a whole lot—maybe a few times they hit late, but a great effort" But the Panthers were driving yet again, only to be stopped by Caleb Kuhlman's interception. As a defensive unit, the Titans forced Elyria Catholic into five turnovers (3 INTs, 2 fumbles). "We all get our opportunities. Last week, I got the opportunity to block the field goal and the pick tonight; but it's always everyone on the field making plays," White said. "Caleb (Kuhlman) made a ton of plays tonight and we had three or four interceptions. Kuhlman finished with 83 yards receiving with an interception. "It was just a spread of the wealth tonight and I'm proud of the way we played." Ottawa-Glandorf &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;17 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;— &emsp;&emsp;31 Elyria Catholic &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;6 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;— &emsp;&emsp;6 FIRST QUARTER O-G — Colin White 10 pass from Landen Jordan (Dylan Birkemeier kick) SECOND QUARTER O-G — Ian Fenbert 3 run (Birkemeier kick) O-G —Rodney Meyer 14 pass from Jordan (Birkemeier kick) O-G — Birkemeier 27-yard FG THIRD QUARTER EC — Brady Cook 4 run (run failed) O-G —Cy Rump 58 pass from Jordan (Birkemeier kick) TEAM STATS O-G &emsp;&emsp;EC First Downs &emsp;&emsp;17 &emsp;&emsp;9 Rushes-Yds &emsp;&emsp;38-131 &emsp;&emsp;49-257 Comp-Att-Int &emsp;&emsp;12-23-2 &emsp;&emsp;10-20-3 Passing Yards &emsp;&emsp;202 &emsp;&emsp;163 Penalties-Yds &emsp;&emsp;3-25 &emsp;&emsp;6-40 Fumbles-Lost &emsp;&emsp;0-0 &emsp;&emsp;2-2 Punts-Avg. &emsp;&emsp;2-21.0 &emsp;&emsp;2-27.0 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – Ottawa-Glandorf, Fenbert 24-87-1, Jordan 11-37, Kuhlman 1-8, Rump 2- (-1). Elyria Catholic Ellis 8-40, Budinger 4-26, Thomas 5-7, Cook 3-3-1. PASSING – Ottawa-Glandorf, Jordan 12-23-2, 202 yards. Elyria Catholic, Cook 10-17-3, 106 yards, Ellis 0-3-0, 0 yards. RECEIVING – Ottawa-Glandorf, Kuhlman 5-82, Rump 1-58-1, Meyer 2-29-1, White 2-20-1, Buddlemeyer 2-13. Elyria Catholic, Ginley 4-44, Kenneally 3-36, Carandang 1-12, Bundinger 1-7, Ellis 1-6.