Olentangy 49 Thomas Worthington 14

High School Football
Home Team: Thomas Worthington Cardinals
Visiting Team: Olentangy High School
Venue: Thomas Worthington Stadium (Worthington, Ohio)
Game Time: 7 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

It was a perfect fall evening, the first one of the season, and a football game seemed like just the thing. With the price of gas these days, I didn't want to drive to Dayton to see the Trojans, especially since they seemed likely to win in a runaway (they did, 42-7, with the entire second half played under a running clock). Since the local team was at home, I decided to wander over there instead.

We've been in Worthington since 2014, and in that time I think this was my fourth time seeing a game here (although apparently I've only written about one before—and one had a long lightning delay, and I might not have stuck around long enough for the game to resume). There's always enough time between visits for me to forget that I don't love watching a game from the home side. All the railings are lined with chain-link fencing, and I haven't found a great spot to sit where it's not in the view. When I come in future, I should just go across and sit on the visitors' side.

But on this night I didn't. I got there probably around 25 minutes before kickoff, which was plenty of time to find the best spot I could and settle in for the pregame ceremonies. It was homecoming, so the kids on the court walked out and were introduced with their parents and families. I was absurdly touched by the kid whose intro made sure to include that he loves his dogs.

Olentangy was 1-4 coming in and Thomas was 2-3, but OHS is generally a very good program (they knocked the Trojans out of the playoffs in 2019, 42-10) and their schedule has been tough. It looked early on like they were going to name the score, as Thomas made a number of critical mistakes and was down big before the first quarter was halfway over. But they settled in after that, and the two teams played pretty even for a while. It was 27-7 at halftime, and I left when OHS scored to make it 42-14 with five minutes left to go.