By Marty Gitlin

sports@vindy.com

NEW PHILADELPHIA

Let’s play a game of “Guess Who Won?”

Hint No. 1: Warren JFK led 27-0 in its Division VII state semifinal Saturday night before Canal Winchester Harvest Prep recorded a first down.

Hint No. 2: The Warriors totaled minus-30 yards of offense into the fourth quarter.

Hint No. 3: Nah, forget it.

Final score: JFK 48, Harvest Prep 7.

So this is why they instituted the running clock?

That game timer began its much-welcome descent at second one of the second half, which started with the Eagles leading 34-0 at Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium.

The key defensively was putting the reins on Warriors superback Daniel Bangura, who managed just 14 yards rushing before exploding for 70 on the final drive to provide their lone score.

“We have stressed all year taking the other teams out of their comfort zones,” said coach Jeff Bayuk, whose Eagles will seek their first state title since 1991 Saturday against Minster. “We knew that their comfort zone was [Bangura] and we took them out of their comfort zone.

“It was basically, ‘Let’s stop him before he gets going.’ We were worried about tackling. It was very apparent to us watching him in film that when he gets into the open field, he was scoring.”

The drama drained away before some fans settled into their seats. Less than a minute into the game, JFK quarterback Gregory Valent shed one tackle heading up the middle and saw nothing but green as he raced 72 yards for a touchdown. The rout was on.

After recovering a squib kick, the Eagles wasted no time scoring again, this time on a reverse by Jacob Coates. The winners had scored two touchdowns before their opponent snapped the ball.

JFK soon proved it could embark on long drives as well. Feature back Evan Boyd pounded away on run after run until Valent dove in to the end zone to stretch the lead to 20-0.

A long punt return by Coates allowed Valent to add a touchdown pass to Hyland Burton with the game still in the first quarter. A 1-yard Harvest Prep punt led to another Valent rushing score that made it 34-0, all but ensuring a running clock after intermission. The Warriors did manage a minor triumph with time running out in the half when Bangura provided their first earned first down.

“Once we got the early lead and into the second half we just wanted to run out the clock,” Valent said. “We just took our time and had some long drives.”

Bangura entered the game as the leading rusher in the country with 4,061 yards this season. He entered his locker room with 12 yards on 13 carries. It was Boyd who dominated on the ground with 101 of his 108 yards heading into the second half.

The Eagles put the cherry on top of their blowout victory while providing plenty of playing time for others. Running back Isaac Hadley scored on a 4-yard run late in the third quarter, then Boyd bolted 35 yards with a fumble to cap the scoring early in the fourth. Ironically, Boyd scored only on defense despite his game-high rushing total.

Not that it matters. All that really matters is that JFK will be playing for a state championship. That was decided before the first snap of the second quarter.

The Division VII title game between JFK and Minster kicks off at 10 a.m. at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Minster beat McComb 27-23 in the other state semifinal.