Harrison moves to 3-0

HARRISON, Ohio – The offensive juggernaut known as the Harrison Wildcats just keeps on rolling.

After hanging 40 points on Loveland in Week One in a 40-7 victory, 35 points on defending Indiana state champion and rival East Central in a Week Two 35-28 win, the Wildcats had their biggest offensive explosion yet in 2024, as they laid a 49-19 drubbing on previously unbeaten Indian Hill.

Indications, at least from the first quarter, gave the impression it would be a seesaw battle between the two squads. Indian Hill found success on the ground early with running back Devlan Daniels, driving inside the Harrison 30-yard-line. But then a pass by Braves QB Ethan Cole was tipped, and found its way into the hands of Wildcat DB Hank Rotert for an interception, and it only took two plays for Harrison RB Cole Koops to find a hole and rumble for a 78-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats an early 6-0 lead.

The Braves struck right back, however, as Cole made up quickly for the interception on Indian Hill’s previous possession, hitting wideout George Vollmer for a 47-yard touchdown pass to knot the score at 6-6 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw the Wildcats force an Indian Hill punt, and their offense took over again, driving down to the Brave 15-yard line. That’s when their other back in the backfield, Preston Flick, got the chance to get into the endzone as well, grinding his way for a 15-yard touchdown. A flea-flicker two point conversion from Wildcat QB Dickie Engel to wideout Josh Adelsperger to Flick made the score 14-6.

But like any good fight, Indian Hill threw a punch right back, as RB Devlan Daniels took a handoff on a third and one, and rambled 66 yards for another Indian Hill score. The extra point was good, and it was suddenly 14-13 and it looked as if the teams would go blow for blow the rest of the night.

Harrison quickly responded after giving up that score, as Engel hit wideout Josh Adelsperger for a 45-yard touchdown strike to extend their lead to 21-13. Then what started as a promising drive for the Braves, to the Harrison 42-yard-line, turned disastrous, as the Wildcats would snag their second interception of the night – this one by linebacker Brycen Deller. But that mistake by the Braves was quickly erased, as on the very next play, Harrison’s Engel threw his first interception of the game to Indian Hill linebacker Topher Wachtel, who proceeded to return it inside the Harrison 10 before an illegal blindside block wiped out the return.

With the Braves offense back on the field, Harrison again flipped the script, as the Wildcat defense picked off their third pass of the night – this one from Indian Hill’s other quarterback, junior Ben Sichel – with under two minutes remaining in the first half. Engel then drove the Wildcats 43 yards in two plays, both pass completions, finishing the drive with an 8-yard TD pass to RB Flick. With the extra point conversion, the Wildcats would go into the locker room up 28-13.

The second half saw the Harrison defense continue the pressure, as defensive tackles Scott Blair and Logan White found themselves continuously in the Indian Hill backfield stirring up trouble and nabbing a couple of sacks apiece.

After forcing a Braves turnover on downs, Engel drove the Wildcats back down the field with a balanced attack of passing and rushing, but ended the drive by tossing his second interception of the night, this one snagged by the Braves in the endzone with 5:33 left in the third quarter, and Indian Hill still had life.

Indian Hill could not capitalize on the turnover, though, as on the next possession, Wildcat senior Hank Rotert made his second pick of the game, which resulted in RB Cole Koops second touchdown of the night – a four-yard scamper – which extended Harrison’s lead to 35-13.

At this point, nothing was going right for the Braves offense, and they had to punt the ball away right back to the Wildcats, who again wasted no time adding points to the scoreboard. Engel hooked up with running back Preston Flick again on a 32-yard touchdown pass, making it 42-13 with 59 seconds left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw more stellar defense from Harrison, as DT Logan White wound up with his third sack on the night to force the Braves to punt on fourth and 22. After a return to the Indian Hill 30-yard line, two plays later found the junior Flick finding the endzone for the third time on the night – or the fourth if you count his two-point conversion in the first half – with a 28-yard scoring run to increase the lead to an insurmountable 49-13.

Indian Hill finally found the endzone again with 3:35 left in the game, as RB Devlan Daniels picked up his second score on the night with a touchdown run, but it was too little, too late, and the Wildcats would run out the remaining clock to end the game and improve to 3-0

Harrison head coach Derek Rehage said the offensive game plan worked well for the Wildcats Friday night.

“That’s what we teach our boys,” he said. “We’re going to run, set up the run, then take some shots over the top in the passing game. Dickie (Engel) does a good job of waiting for those opportunities, and Preston (Flick), Cole (Koops)  and Josh Adelsperger all do a good job for us. We had multiple pass plays of over 20 yards. We kept those safeties creeping up with the run game and Cole, and then we take some shots over the top.”

He was also impressed with his defense, especially once Harrison got a lead that forced Indian Hill into passing situations.

“We had a situation where our d-line could get after them,” he said. “Overall, our defense just gets after it. Our d-line is the strength of our team.”

Harrison moves to 3-0 on the year, and travels to Western Hills next Friday for a matchup with the 0-3 Mustangs. Indian Hill falls to 2-1, and travels next week to Mariemont.

BOX SCORE
Harrison 6-22-14-7 49
Indian Hill 6-7-0-6  19

SCORING PLAYS
H: Koops 78-yard run
IH: Cole 47-yard pass to Vollmer
H: Flick 15-yard run (Flick conversion)
IH: Daniel 66-yard run (Seinen kick)
H: Engel 45-yard pass to Adelsperger (Anderson kick)
H: Engel 7-yard pass to Flick (Anderson kick)
H: Koops 4-yard run (Anderson kick)
H: Engel 32-yard pass to Flick (Anderson kick)
H: Flick 28-yard run (Anderson kick)
IH: Daniel 25 run (kick failed)

RECORDS: Harrison (3-0, 0-0 SWOC); Indian Hill (2-1, 0-0  CHL)
UP NEXT: Harrison  at Western Hills (0-4); Indian Hill at Mariemont (1-2)

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