FAIRFIELD, Ohio – As expected, Friday night’s Ohio Division I, Region 4 game between fourth-seeded Princeton and fifth-seeded Winton Woods was a battle.
And at the end of that battle, it was the Vikings – after a furious fourth-quarter comeback – moving on to the regional semifinal with a thrilled 23-22 victory over the Warriors.
The Warriors received the opening kickoff, and with the Vikings kick going out of bounds, gave Winton Woods great starting field position at their own 35-yard-line. Princeton forced a three and out, then had one of their own, as the Viking offense couldn’t get going on their first possession and were forced to punt it back.
Winton Woods got the offense untracked in a big way on their second possession of the game, however. After two false starts, which dropped the Warriors back 10 yards, on third-and-long, QB Bryshawn Brown hooked up with wideout Jon’ir Travis for an 80-yard touchdown, giving Winton Woods an early 7-0 lead.
The Warriors would extend that lead to 9-0 late in the first quarter, after a muffed Princeton punt led to a safety for Winton Woods. That lead became 16-0 halfway through the second quarter, as Brown again hit Travis for a score, this time a 34-yard TD pass. Princeton was able to muster some offense at the end of the first half, hitting a 25-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 16-3.
That field goal gave the Vikings some life, and that carried over into third quarter, as Princeton returner Andrew Wells took the second half kickoff and sped 90 yards for the touchdown to make it a 16-10 game.
Winton Woods’ Brown, however, tossed his third TD of the game to open the fourth quarter – this one to wideout Marquize Reese – and it was 22-10 Warriors, and Princeton’s season was on life support, especially after a fumble by the Vikings put Winton Woods right back inside the Princeton 10-yard-line and threatening to put the game out of reach.
That’s when the Viking defense, so stout all season long, came up big, as DB Gianni Simpson picked off a Brown pass to end that threat. Princeton would later score on a TD pass from Lauris Barnes to Neamiah Neal to close the gap to 22-17.
The Princeton defense did its job again, forcing Winton Woods to punt from inside their own 10, and took over with roughly 2 minutes remaining in Warrior territory. Then Neal caught his second touchdown of the game, a 30-yarder, to put the Vikings ahead 23-22 with less than two minutes remaining.
Winton Woods made it to midfield in their last attempt, but got no further. Princeton moves to 9-2 on the season, and faces top-seed and undefeated Elder next Friday. Winton Woods concludes their season at 9-3.
SCORING BY QUARTERS
Winton Woods: 9-7-0-6-22
Princeton: 0-3-7-13-23
SCORING PLAYS
W: Jon’ir Travis 80-yard pass from Bryshawn Brown (Michael Galeas Reyes kick)
W: Winton Woods safety
W: Travis 34-yard pass from Brown (Galeas Reyes kick)
P: Nate Messer 25-yard field goal
P: Andrew Wells 90-yard return (Messer kick)
W: Marquize Reese pass from Brown (kick failed)
P: Nehemiah Neal pass to Lauris Barnes (Messer kick)
P: Neamiah Neal 30-yard pass from David Hambrick (conversion failed)
RECORDS: Winton Woods (9-3); Princeton (9-2)
UP NEXT: #4 Princeton at #1 Elder (11-0), OHSAA Division I, Region 4 playoffs
Get the complete scores from all of this week’s action on the Underground Sports Shop Scoreboard at TriStateFootball.com/scores.
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