LEXINGTON — Lukas Ousley’s surgically repaired knee isn’t as good as new.
It’s even better.
After missing his entire senior season at Shelby with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, Ousley helped the North build a 17-0 halftime lead and hold on for an entertaining 24-20 win over the South in the 2014 North Central Ohio Football Coaches Association All-Star Classic at Lexington High School.
“It doesn’t seem like I missed my senior season, it really doesn’t,” said Ousley, who will play college football at Otterbein University in Westerville. “I never thought once about my knee all week.”
Ousley was scheduled to be Shelby’s starting quarterback for a third year last fall before sustaining a knee injury late in the Whippets’ third and final preseason scrimmage. Surgery was performed at the Ohio State medical center.
“I got through two scrimmages and then in the last scrimmage with 30 seconds left, I tore my ACL,” said Ousley, who returned in time to play baseball in the spring. “I had surgery and about seven months of therapy. My (recovery) was picture-perfect. There were no setbacks. It was text book.”
Ousley orchestrated a quick scoring drive late in the first half to spot the North to a 17-0 lead. The abbreviated drive was highlighted by a long completion to Madison running back Kalvin Gordon and capped by a scoring strike to Ashand’s Max Stringer.
“Coach came up to me and sound, ‘Kalvin you are going to get on the weak side and run a fade.’ He said, ‘You’ve got to beat the outside linebacker,’ and I said, ‘I got you, coach.’
“When I saw the ball in the air, I knew I could catch it. It was a little behind me, but I still made the play and it was one of the biggest plays of the game.”
Gordon found himself all alone behind the South secondary.
“When I was in the open field, I didn’t know if somebody was behind me,” Gordon said. “The H running back, we hadn’t done any routes at all. They probably weren’t expecting it. I really wasn’t expecting it until coach told me. I was actually surprised.”
(View an image gallery of the game by clicking the above text)
The 6-foot-2 Stringer took care of the rest, winning what was essentially a jump ball over a pair of South defensive backs.
“It was real fast offense. It was almost like two-minute offense,” Ousley said. “It was a high snap (on the touchdown pass) and I fumbled it. He was running right down the side of the field and I pretty much threw him a jump ball and he made a very athletic play, to say the least, to go up and catch that ball.”
The South finally woke up in the second half. The North recovered an onside kick to start the half but couldn’t take advantage of the field position. A botched fake punt by the North on fourth and seven from the South 44 gave the South new life. Two plays later, quarterback Tyler Boatwright of Ontario rolled to his left before throwing back across the field to a wide open Alex Armistad of Galion on a wide receiver screen. Armistad did the rest, scoring from 60 yards out to make it 17-7.
Galion’s Nick Flowers intercepted a pass for the South on the North’s next possession and the South marched deep into North territory only to fumble the ball away. The South’s next possession ended in another fumble deep in its own territory and the North took advantage when quarterback Tyler Pritchard of Upper Sandusky scored on a 1 yard keeper to give the North a 24-7 advantage with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter.
“I just think we came out flat in the first half and the other team came out ready to play some football,” South coach Chioke Bradley of Mansfield Senior said. “We weren’t ready to play football in that first half. What you saw was one team playing the game the way that it should be played: hard, tough and physical. And another team that was still at Arlin Field (site of South practices).
“We’re a much better football team than what we played in the first half and we came out and showed it. We did everything we could to win that football game.”
The South trimmed the North’s advantage to 24-14 when quarterback Jalen Reese of Mansfield Senior hooked up with Ontario’s Cameron Mack on a 5 yard scoring strike with 3:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.
After the South recovered an onside kick, Colonel Crawford quarterback Nate Klingenberger found Ontario’s Josh Plieninger for a 44 yard touchdown to make it 24-20 with 2:43 to play.
That was as close as the South would get, however, as an untimely unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave the North a first down deep in South territory with about a minute to play.
“We definitely came out flat in the first half,” said South defensive end and Defensive Most Valuable Player Travon Harris of Mansfield Senior. “Everybody woke up in the second half, but we dug ourselves too deep a hole.
“Still, it was pretty fun. I got to meet guys from everywhere this week. It was a great experience.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
