By Rick Cassano
HARRISON – One outstretched hand kept Harrison High School’s football season very much alive Friday night.
Bronson Baker blocked Talawanda’s 38-yard field-goal attempt as time expired, setting off a wild celebration and preserving a 22-21 victory for the host Wildcats in a Division II, Region 8 quarterfinal at Bill Kuntz Field.
“I was so happy. I screamed my lungs out running across the field,” said Baker, a junior outside linebacker. “That’s probably the best moment of football I’ve ever had. I can’t think of another moment like that.”
Second-seeded Harrison had to win the hard way and grabbed the lead just once when Brady Lawhon hit Christian Roether for a 2-point conversion with 5:03 remaining.
Talawanda, the No. 7 seed, responded by driving from the 22 to the 22 and giving itself a chance to topple the Wildcats, but Baker came up the middle and thwarted Brayden Kent’s field-goal try.
“Oh God, that was insane, just crazy,” said Lawhon, a senior quarterback. “I was not expecting that. Our offense didn’t play the best in the first half. I wish we could’ve played better, but our defense stepped up in the first half and the offense stepped up in the second half. It was just awesome.”
Harrison (9-2) knocked off the Brave 20-7 in Week 8 and had to overcome a spirited effort by Talawanda (9-3) on Friday, one week after THS stunned La Salle 35-34 in overtime.
The Wildcats will play in a regional semifinal for the fourth straight year next Friday when third-seeded Trotwood-Madison (8-2) comes to town. The Rams ended Harrison’s season 49-0 in 2025.
“We get the game here, which is a huge advantage for us,” Wildcats coach Derek Rehage said. “The crowd got into it tonight. It really was a lot of fun. Emotions were high and the kids made plays. It was just like last year in this game when we won on the final play against Kings. That’s why we play such a tough nonconference schedule, to get us ready for games like this.”
It was a brutal defeat for the Brave, who dominated time of possession and gained nearly 100 more yards than the hosts.
Talawanda coach Andy Stuckert praised his 25-member senior class for elevating the Brave’s stature over the past two seasons, which included a combined record of 19-5.
“There’s some classes that came before them that we said dropped the anchor and stopped the ship, but these guys righted it and actually got a little momentum going,” Stuckert said. “We can’t walk out of here happy, but what I just told them was when these seniors were freshmen, if we would’ve told them they’d be 1 point away from going to a regional semifinal, I think everybody would’ve laughed at us in our community.
“I told them it’s going to take some time to understand that because the hurt is going to sting for a while, but when that goes away and they actually sit back and see it, they’re going to realize what they’ve done here to change Talawanda football. I’m very proud of them.”
The Brave led 7-0, 14-7 and 21-14 on two short touchdown runs by Oliver Bennett and a 42-yard scoring burst by Ethan Hainline. That last score came with 2:18 left in the third period and Talawanda got the ball right back on the ensuing kickoff when the Wildcats mishandled a squib kick.
But the Brave eventually gave the ball up on downs at the HHS 20 and Harrison responded with a gritty drive that ended with Lawhon’s second TD run of the night. On the play before that, Lawhon connected with Colton Rehage on a crossing pattern for a 31-yard gain to the 1 on fourth-and-10.
“That’s kind of a route we’ve installed since Day 1 in camp, just that concept,” Lawhon said. “It’s been great for us.”
Derek Rehage said it only took him a few seconds to make the decision to go for 2.
“I kind of felt like we were going to find a way. That’s why I went for 2,” Rehage said. “We have that pedigree of being in this game four straight years. We’ve won this game four straight years, and we’ve made plays to win a lot of close games this year. I was going to put all the pressure on Talawanda.”
He figured even if Harrison didn’t convert, the Wildcats’ defense would get the ball back and give Lawhon a chance to direct a game-winning drive.
“I was going to put the ball back in Brady’s hands either way,” Rehage said. “If I’m going down, I’m going down with No. 11.”
The conversion pass play was designed to go to either Colton Rehage or Roether, who turned out to be open over the middle.
“We had motioned Colton over, and we kind of thought they were going to rotate,” Derek Rehage said. “That’s why we have a double option off that.”
Roether, a junior tight end who caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Lawhon to open the second stanza, said he didn’t have time to contemplate the magnitude of the moment as the 2-point attempt unfolded.
“That’s a play we put in like Week 5 and we’ve been practicing it every day since,” Roether said. “I would say it’s one of our go-to plays. All I was thinking was make sure you’re open and catch the ball. That’s really it. And when I caught it, the feeling was amazing. It’s like a wave of nervousness just flushed out of me.”
Lawhon said he wasn’t surprised by the decision to go for 2.
“That’s the type of coach he is,” Lawhon said. “It’s ballsy, just go for it, and I love that. I knew we were going to get it. They all went to Colton and left Christian wide open. Just perfect.”
Stuckert said he wasn’t necessarily expecting Harrison to make a 2-point try, “but if you’ve got something you really like in that situation, I don’t know why you wouldn’t do it.”
Jake Van Gorden completed 16-of-23 passes for 202 yards for the Brave -- he got picked off once by Jack Denier in the second quarter. Hainline rushed 15 times for 102 yards.
Stuckert said he wasn’t concerned about leg strength when Kent lined up for the last play of the evening, though the THS coach admitted he’s not a big field-goal guy.
“You’re really hoping that everything’s clean in that situation,” Stuckert said. “It’s high school football, so the kicking game is usually the last thing to come around. Our guys do a good job, but we’re not necessarily a team that takes a lot of field goals during the year. That might be my fault for not having them better prepared.
“I’ve got to look at the film. I don’t know if it was low trajectory or if it was just a great play by them. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. I’m proud of our kids for getting down there to even have the shot.”
Talawanda converted one fourth down, an 8-yard pass from Van Gorden to Hainline on fourth-and-5, on that final drive. When Kent came out for his field-goal attempt, Roether said the HHS sideline was doing everything it could to ramp up the pressure.
“I was pacing up and down the sideline and trying to get the whole sideline up and moving with some excitement,” said Roether, who missed three games in the second half of the regular season with a persistent ankle injury. “Just be loud – that was our whole goal. We had to get in their heads.”
Baker was ready to make a big play and said he knows a few things about blocking kicks.
“Earlier this year against Withrow I moved to the middle near the long snapper and blocked a kick the same way,” Baker said. “I felt it tonight. I knew I had to be there. I went over the right guard and jumped up and smacked it with my right palm. It was just action and instinct.”
Baker said it wasn’t a great overall performance by Harrison, but clutch plays made the difference.
“We showed up when we needed it and balled out,” he said. “Tonight we celebrate. I will not forget this one. This is the highlight of my career.”
The Wildcats earned a first-round bye last week, and Lawhon said while it was a good thing physically, the down time had a negative effect on the team’s momentum and routine.
Lawhon was 11-of-17 for 143 yards through the air and paced Harrison on the ground with 39 yards on 11 carries. The Wildcats rushed for just 96 yards as a team.
Derek Rehage credited the Brave for their tenacity. It was 7-7 at the break after Lawhon completed a long flea-flicker pass to Kyle Davidson that was wiped out by a penalty late in the first half.
“The game script just went against us,” Rehage said. “We had the holding call down to the 3 on the gadget play and that totally just changed the whole perception for Talawanda. It kept them in it and kept them believing, and they made plays. It’s tough for anybody to play a team twice. They really did a good job of taking advantage of some of the things we don’t do well.”
Top-seeded Anderson (10-1) will host No. 5 Troy (10-2) in the other Region 8 semifinal next week. The regional final will be played at a neutral site Nov. 20.
Talawanda 7-0-14-0 -- 21
Harrison 0-7-7-8 -- 22
T: Oliver Bennett 1 run (Brayden Kent kick)
H: Christian Roether 15 pass from Brady Lawhon (Michael Wiesemann Jr. kick)
T: Bennett 3 run (Kent kick)
H: Lawhon 7 run (Wiesemann Jr. kick)
T: Ethan Hainline 42 run (Kent kick)
H: Lawhon 1 run (Roether pass from Lawhon)
Records: T 9-3, H 9-2